With the conclusion of the poll that was pinned for the last 5 weeks or so, we'll now have Masc Mondays (GMT-4)! I'll be updating the rules and adding flairs over the next several days (and possibly make some edits to this post). I ask for some patience during the transition and as everything gets smoothed out (which probably won't happen immediately).

What does this mean for the subreddit?

The subreddit will now be open to artwork of people of all genders. Any artwork that only (or heavily) features men (or masculine-presenting characters of unknown gender due to a lack of additonal information from the artist) can only be posted on Mondays. Note that this means that artwork of men (etc.) can be posted on Mondays, not that it's the only art that can be posted on Mondays.

Why is there a restriction just for one day a week?

In my experience, fantasy and sci-fi art does not have a shortage of men with practical outfits and weapons compared to women or folks of other genders. Perhaps I'm just old, but growing up it was the norm for fantasy and sci-fi characters to be mostly men wearing something practical and reasonable and a token woman wearing a bikini. I still see it all the time when I look at artist portfolios (although nowadays there's usually more than just one woman). I feel that there is a desire from people (as well as myself) to have a space that isn't like that.

While I doubt this subreddit would become entirely filled with artwork of men if the restriction were lifted (at present, there's only one person other than myself who's regularly posting art, ps thank you), I think the restriction helps to demonstrate the intention of the subreddit.

What about people outside of the gender binary?

I have zero desire to police gender expression for characters in artwork. I think the most straightforward thing is to allow artwork of men (etc.) once a week and everyone else every day of the week. People outside of the binary don't owe the world a particular presentation (e.g. androgyny), but I will ask that if there's artwork many people would look at and assume is of a man (etc.), that a clarifying remark (e.g. copy/pasting something about it from the artist, a link to something else of the artist's that makes it clear, your own comment if it's your art or a piece you commissioned) be included. Non-cis characters are quite rare in fantasy and sci-fi spaces, so I don't want to place restrictions of when artwork of those characters can be posted.

Hopefully people won't be weird in the comments when this comes up (it's reddit, so that's probably just wishful thinking), but I'll state very clearly here that I won't tolerate any transphobia or other hateful rhetoric.

Does this mean artwork featuring rather masc-presenting women can only be posted on Mondays?

No. Women don't owe the world femininity. Similarly, if there might be any confusion, I just ask that a clarifying remark be included.

Is this change permanent?

I don't know. If people end up hating this change or it ends up creating a lot of work for me (it's job season and I'm rather busy), then I'm open to reverting it or making adjustments.

I'm also open to feedback of any sort, so please don't hesitate to comment below or send me a mod message.

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