Claiming that traditional playing cards are examples of “gender inequality,” a woman has introduced a redesigned deck that eliminates kings and replaces them with a “genderless” character.
Dutch woman Indy Mellink, told the press that she became interested in canceling the king when she came to wonder why the king should be considered a step higher than the queen in a deck of playing cards, the New York Post reported.
The Dutch psychology student claims that her redesigned deck is an effort to fight “inequality.” So it is off with the King’s head.
“If we have this hierarchy that the king is worth more than the queen, then this subtle inequality influences people in their daily life because it’s just another way of saying ‘hey, you’re less important,” she exclaimed. “Even subtle inequalities like this do play a big role.”
The 23-year-old woman also lamented the racism she saw in traditional decks of cards.
“It’s always a white king, queen, and jack. Whether that’s intended or not; they’re certainly not people of color,” she told Card Player Lifestyle.
Mellink says she sold out of her first printing and is now looking to sell the genderless cards on a wider basis online.
Thus far, she has sold more than 1,500 decks with the genderless face cards.
The activist card designer did admit that it takes some time to figure out how to play with her decks. But Berit van Dobbenburgh, head of the Dutch Bridge Association, insisted that revisiting the “inequality” in card decks is good.
“It is good that we reflect on gender neutrality,” van Dobbenburgh assured the media. However, she added that it might be too difficult to redesign the game of Bridge to incorporate the new design.
“I wonder if it’s worth it. But gender neutrality, I am all for it! It’s great that someone of this age has noticed this. It’s the new generation,” van Dobbenburgh added.
Mellink also noted that she came up with her new face card designs while being locked down by her country’s coronavirus policies.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.