ST Is there an in-universe explanation for the abundance of female First Order troops?

Because Disney wants to try and draw in new fans who may not have seen/cared about SW before, as well as bring back the older ones. So, why not do this? There's no reason why the FO wouldn't have female officers really.

 

Hat tip to those who pointed out the FO needs bodies more than they need to care about gender. Though non humans need not "apply" it would seem...

 

Yes i will try to find it.

Here's what JJ said, “Star Wars was always about, you know...it was always a boy’s thing, and a movie that dads take their sons to. And though that’s still very much the case, I was really hoping that this could be a movie that mothers can take their daughters to as well. So I’m looking forward to kids seeing this movie and to seeing themselves in it, and seeing that they’re capable of doing what they could never imagine was possible.”

 

At a recent New York screening for this week’s new animated release, Strange Magic - on which he served as executive producer- George Lucas revealed how the new film in part helped him leave the Star Wars franchise behind. After revealing that this project has been 15 years in the making (predating two of the Star Wars prequels), Lucas explained to Page Six how Strange Magic is somewhat of an inspirational successor to Star Wars. Said the filmmaker,

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/One-Reason-Why-George-Lucas-Isn-t-Making-Star-Wars-Movies-69253.html

 

It was an oversight. That's all.

 

I mean attitudes have changed quite a bit in general over the last almost 40 years.

I don't think that GL is some sexist who doesn't care about women/girls, far from it. He didn't HAVE to make Leia as awesome as she was back in the day after all. I just think that it was one of those things where, people just didn't think about this sort of thing as much back in 1977-83. As nld3 put it, it was an oversight on both his and everyone else's parts.

These days, they do. Heck when the new trilogy was first announced, I myself very quickly said "you know, what if they made the new Jedi hero a woman this time? That'd actually be kind of cool."

 

I hate this subtext that the Empire was racist or anti-alien. The reason for all white British dudes was another oversight by Lucas who didn't even think he had a hit. He changed that in Empire. The Aliens are very costly to do. And the Empire sure used Alien Bounty hunters in Empire when the budget went up. Plus Paplatine had Alien Administraters in ROTS. Sly Moore is one. Plus even Darth Maul was an Alien.

 

I agree they need to change it up. I don't want to see Luke or Anakin types for every new trilogy. I do remember somewhere Lucas said he doesn't do evil women. Well now that he's out we can have a villainous female. I wish they had stayed with Snoke as a female. It would have been a cool battle Rey vs. Female Snoke.

 

The whole "sexist and xenophobic Empire" thing seems like it was mostly a case of other writers feeling the need to explain why the Imperials tended to be older white British dudes in the films. Because, in the films themselves, there's really not much evidence given that the Empire operates like that.

Also if you notice, The Rebellion also made up of pretty much all White guys in both ANH and ESB. Leia is really the only prominent female there. It isn't until ROTJ, when they likely had more money and the effects had improved (plus someone might have pointed it out to them), that we start getting alien members of the Rebellion, and a few POC pilots, and Mon Mothma shows up for a scene.

 

As a kid we all noticed that the Empire had zero non humans. The FO has zero non humans (to date or shown on screen). The Empire would surely use anyone in the underworld to get what it wants done (bounty hunters, we don't need their scum!). Racist, I did not indicate that. We did not pick up on that from watching the OT. Bias against non humans, ya, I still feel that one. We never get any scene of the OT Imperial senate to see what became of it in terms of non human presence. So it was easy for us to think the Empire sure as heck didn't want non humans in the military. The FO seems the same given that they could have plopped in some (heck 1) non human officers and did not in TFA.

 

Sometimes these EU book writers feel the need to clone every idea from the Nazis when there were plenty of Empires to borrow from. The Roman Empire being the better to equate the SWs Empire too. Now the art direction & the uniforms flags are starting to look too 3rd Reich like now. Its just a little easy. The Empire had a futurist slight 3rd Reich look.

 

Exactly.

 

A bit off topic perhaps... "Where are you taking this..... thing"
did not help me back then or now, that the Empire was not so keen on non humans. GL certainly had not gotten the whole story out at that point, still, the Empire never changed in terms of presence in its military ranks the rest of the OT. At least the rebels did.