Maybe you should fix that. We've agreed multiple times that it's lore breaking. Maybe one person is ok with hypothetical CSM existing but they don't so it's purely hypothetical. Most of us don't see much support for it though. It was a cool discussion but this thread has mostly served its purpose at this point.
The problem of women going to war in the 40k universe is the same as in reality. It doesn't mean women aren't capable of waging war, problem is a society who implemented armed forces with tons of females is basically social suicide, meaning a woman is more important than man from a biological standpoint. By this i mean that if you have 1 guy and 5 females you can make theoretically 5 families, recuperating losses due to war or disease much quicker. If you have 5 guys and 1 female the rate of recovering manpower is extremely weak and slow compared to the above mentioned case (only 1 family in this case). In situation A you can have 5 kids in a span of 9 months, in situation B only 1. This is the true reason of women not being sent to wars and being one of the first victims in a war. Any nation needs a stable supply of workforce so they will protect the most important elements that take part in the process. In a technical sense men are more dispensable and are more apt (physically and mentally) for a conflict. The Emperor being the smartest and most powerful human being in existence and being around for thousands of years would surely understand the concept, he did allow women to serve but never mass recluted them as he did males to wage war. Meaning even in the 40k universe women can choose to fight generally speaking whilst men are being sought after for actively to fight even to the point of force recluting men who don't want to. SM and CSM can only be male because only male SM and CSM are produced, their organizations having a non-female policy concerning turning them into SM. CSM can't produce CSM females either for the technology and process required to make a SM was made taking the males biology into account, so the organs and other manipulations are solely made for male bodies. This does not mean however that females can't become outstanding soldiers in the 40k universe, the SM for example respect the SoB for their commitment and martial discipline, SM have also encountered extremely dangerous females from both xeno and human stock. It also doesn't mean that women can't play as SM or whatever they like, i know of women that have a brilliant insight into martial disciplines and it is a great honor for me to fight alongside them or against them.
Why? That's fallacious logic. Chaos Marines are traitor Space Marines....who are all male. Sure, you might get some freaky, warp-spawned hybrids, especially in Slaanesh groups, but they wouldn't be 'male->female' pure switchovers; you'd get someone with too many of one part and not enough of another or all the parts mixed up and....yeah. 'Squwick' springs to mind. Also, I feel this entire topic (not just this thread, but the origin of it) is disingenuous from the start. It always sounds like people going "But why can't women be badass too, this isn't fair!!" when, actually, they're being willfully blind. Yes, Space Marines, Chaos Marines and Orks are all male/semi-neutral. That 'only' leaves Chaos cultists (of every patron, not just Slaanesh fyi), Eldar, Imperial Guard, Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, Tau...Yeah, totally a small selection there. And as for the badass factor? Uh, Female Commissars? Female Inquisitors? Commander Shadowsun of the Tau? The ladies of the 41st millenium don't know the meaning of the word 'sexism', because anyone trying to partake in it has since has a bolt pistol jammed into their mouth and fired multiple times...
...Someone has clearly not read, like, ANY of the IG lore or anything to do with Cadia, for instance. This is the 41st Millenium, where Gender prejudice, and your rights as a civilian, do not exist. Now pick up that Throne-damned rifle, recruit!
You just named an exception, Cadia due to its strategical importance maintains a state of constant warfare and thus need every able bodied recruit they can get their hands on. I didn't mention that women aren't allowed to serve i only said that they aren't made to in general (exceptions aside and depending on the culture or organization of the homeworld). Relatively speaking there are more males serving under arms than females. It's an observation i make and it can be flowed but in most novels the standard soldier is generally male.
We could SoBs and IGs working with the SMs as a single faction. We could even make IGs our Free to play counterpart to the orks. Although it may tilt population towards the imperium. ... We could have Chaos sisters of battle, traitor IGs + CSMs as the Chaos faction aswell. Although eldar and orks may end up with disproportianetely little content.
Like I said, the Imperial Guard is an equal-opportunity employer. WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?↖ (Also, I could not find an actual IG recruiting poster that used that line. I shall report this heresy to the Inquisition for immediate investigation.)
I find your 'facts' dubious at best, given the novels, for the most part of what I've read, have had a fairly even mix, and the Tabletop and video games are no representation at all, because the generic moulds are male and it's easier to copy-past one male 3D model than it is to add female variation. Space Marine was especially guilty of this, with its hundreds of hundreds of TOTALLY IDENTICAL Orks. There is no world, ever, where Orks are 100% identical. Even in the more organised clans like the Blood Axes. Lazy, shoddy junk that was... /tangent Also, you're still trying to apply real-world logic to the 41st millenium, where 'logic and reasoning' are almost tantamount to admitting Heresy.
As I understand it the IG take on women and men in equal capacity if they can. A lot of the IG core idea borrows from the soviet warmachine of the second world war who also employed women in their ranks Throw all the bodies at the enemies, give your soldiers minimal equipment and respite and just keep swarming until your ranks break or your enemy breaks. Gender matters not as long as you can die willingly (or unwillingly) for the emperor. The reason you see more male versions of the toys for example is simply because the tabletop audience is almost entirely male and it's a male power fantasy they're selling
