[UA] UA unintenionally sexist?

[Patrick O'Duffy]

Peter Hindman wrote:

>    I hate to even get into this, but.  Facts are good.
>
>    I'm looking at the discussion of the Freak, p. 21, UA main rules.  The
> Freak is an 'it'.  This would seem to qualify as the 'main' reference, as
> it's the only reference to the Freak given in the index of the main rules,
> and no supplement has gone into a great amount of detail.  I can find two
> other references.  One is in _Statosphere_ , p. 36; no pronoun is used.
> The other is in _Lawyers, Guns and Money_, p. 93; the Freak is called
> 'He/She/It' once, then referred to as 'it' thereafter. There may be
> published references that do use male pronouns; I don't claim to have done
> an exhaustive search.  I do seem to remember people referring to the Freak
> using male pronouns *on the list*; while this would appear to represent
> something, it doesn't seem fair to me to level that something against the
> game as published.

Well, I'm wrong.  No two ways about it.

>    Furthermore, on the balance of male vs. female characters:
>    In the main rulebook:
>    Protagonists in the game fiction sections:  1 male, 1 female.
>    Antagonist in the game fiction section:  1 male.
>    'Major Individuals':  6* male, 2* female, 1 Freak.
>    'Supporting Cast/Major Groups':  8* male, 6* female.
>    'Supporting Cast/Minor Groups':  4 male, 3 female.
>    'Supporting Cast/Dukes':  3 male, 3 female.
>    'Supporting Cast/Sample Player Characters':  3 male, 1 female.

And don't forget the character generation section - 1 male, 1 female.

>    *:  'Sometimes, the Comte is a woman.' -- _Statosphere_.

Stated in a supplement, though, not the main book.  There's nothing to imply
such there.

>    Now look at _Postmodern Magick_.  This seems to be the most skewed:
>    'Supporting Cast':  19 male, 5 female, and the Rahyab.

This is certainly what I was thinking of.  I remember even when reading it
that it seemed like an overwhelmingly male cast.

>    Here's a fun new topic:  is UA 'racist'?  Discuss.

I think not.  It showcases people of all races in all sorts of roles, from
high flyers to lowlives.  And nothing in the game's tone or elements caters to
one race more than another.

--
Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia

Sumo is the most perfect of sports.  It has elegance, ceremony, danger,
art, speed, and, most important, two fat bastards smacking the shit out
of each other.

 - Spider Jerusalem, TRANSMETROPOLITAN #26



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