Woman’s gender-neutral playing card deck replaces King, Queen and Jack

Genderless playing cards designed by Indy Mellink lie on a table in Oegstgeest, Leiden, Netherlands.(Picture credit: Reuters)

“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.”

After a lot of trial and error, she designed a genderless deck in which the images of a king, queen and jack were replaced with gold, silver and bronze.

Indy Mellink’s family and her boyfriend play cards in Oegstgeest, Leiden, Netherlands. (Picture credit: Reuters)

Friends and family snapped up the first 50 decks of GSB (Gold, Silver, Bronze) cards, which have images of gold
bars, silver coins and a bronze shield. Mellink had more made and began selling them online.

Within a few months, she had sent out around 1,500 packs, including to Belgium, Germany, France and the United States. Game shops have also shown interest, she said.

Old fashioned cards decks which represent centuries-old prejudices are seen in an album at the Bridge Museum, in Leerdam, Netherlands. (Picture credit: Reuters)

Mellink has been testing the cards out on players, who said they had never been conscious of sexual inequality in decks before. Switching would take some getting used to.

Watch the video here:

Dutch card fan Indy Mellink has designed gender-neutral card decks pic.twitter.com/5KLT09x49D

— Reuters (@Reuters) January 19, 2021

“It is good that we reflect on gender neutrality,” said Berit van Dobbenburgh, head of the Dutch Bridge Association, while playing with the new cards. It would be complicated to make a formal switch because that would require updating the rules, she said.

“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 a new generation.”