Challenging gender bias in playing cards
Updated / Tuesday, 19 Jan 2021
14:03
Why should a king be worth more than a queen?
Indy Mellink, a Dutch card fan, was explaining a game to her cousins last summer when she asked herself: why should a king be worth more than a queen?
The 23-year-old forensic psychology graduate, encouraged by her father, decided it was time to break with the centuries-old tradition of sexual inequality in playing card decks that rank men above women. 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 said in an interview. Even subtle inequalities like this do play a big role.
Indy Mellink, a Dutch card fan, decided it was time to break with the centuries-old tradition of sexual inequality in playing card decks that rank men above women by creating a deck without kings and queens.
Why should a king be worth more than a queen? Dutch card fan Indy Mellink has designed a genderless card deck in which the images of a king, queen and jack were replaced with gold, silver and bronze bars.
Piers Morgan has hit out at the new playing cards (Image: GETTY)
Many players admitted to the student that they had not been conscious of sexual inequality in decks before.
She was told that switching would take some getting used to.
Berit van Dobbenburgh, head of the Dutch Bridge Association, said: “It is good that we reflect on gender neutrality. It would be complicated to make a formal switch because that would require updating the rules.
Piers Morgan has hit out at the new playing cards (Image: GETTY)
Trending But gender neutrality, I am all for it! It’s great that someone of this age has noticed this.