Re: [semi OT] Women wargamers -longish

In a message dated 98-09-10 23:54:18 EDT, you write:

<< Most women just don't find squat, heavily armoured/gunned things
appealing.
 I know this sounds absurd, but it has to feel right. the closest I can
get
 to explaining this is that it shouldn't look like a rhino, it should
look
 like a panther (if you're going to catch the average woman's eye) - and
 that's the animals I'm referring to (I have this funny feeling that
tanks
 or something share these names). Either that or it has to have
character
 (i.e. be cute, humourous, unexpected or brightly coloured). I think
this is
 why female wargamers like dragon figures so much.
 
 b) Abillity to suspend disbelief. Its much easier to get a woman to
play if
 its at least one step back from today. Thus pre-WWI (maybe with the
 exception of bi-planes) and Space or Fanatasy based games appeal - at
least
 to me and the other female wargamers I've come across. I don't know
what it
 is exactly, but if its too much like what the military is envisaged to
be
 like now then I'm not interested. For instance I love FT, but I'm
fairly
 ambivalent about SG, DS and if given the choice would pick FT or
another
 period/genre altogether. 
	Maybe I don't speak for all women here, but this does seem to be
one of
 the biggest turn offs for the women I know, or have observed, who have
ever
 come into contact with wargaming (whether they then tried it for
themselves
 or not).
  >>
>From the female starship captions/admirals on TV and in books you find
some
common traits:
1) Commands-most of the female captions don't command "the big ships,"
but
faster more maneuverable ships.  My hypothisis is that these ships need
more
skill to run effectively, and that there talents (i.e. thinking instead
of
going in guns blazing) are better suited to this type of command.
2) Female captions are more likely to think before acting.  This also
aplys
(at least from my observations) to real life.... 
You won't find (please corect me if I am wrong) a woman caption
commanding a
Battleship on a permite bases, but a faster (and smaller) warship (if a
warship at all).  Some exsamples from books:
Caption 	 Ship:
Janeway 	Intrepid-class scout ship/ Light Cruiser
Murakuma      ?????-class Battlecruiser

I think that part of the reason that more women are playing war games is
that
it does not take a much brain power as say an RPG (as a guy I am making
observations about sertin trends) or some thing that alows a person to
try to
think there way out of a situation instead of shoot there way out.  
My $.02
Bye
Stephen
P.S. Most of the female wargames that I have battled with and aganst
have
never commaned a Dreadnought or above, they seem to like faster-more
maneuverable ships, ships that if you put them infront of a
Superdreadnought
they would get fried, but they can make shure that that never happends.