Cobramax76 said:

Well, the IG has thousands of regiments, that draws from worlds with different cultures. This leads to very different situations regarding the presence of women in the military. Some of IG regiments may be male-only (in a classical "men fight, women stay in the kitchen" chauvinist fashion), some may be gender-mixed (Cadia, I guess) and other may align both single-sex male or female units (so as to limit distractions among the troops). It's a very big Empire, after all.

My rule of thumb would be 'If you can think of it, then it exists somewhere in the Imperium'. It also applies to the Ecclesiarchy.

Interesting ideas, but a whole new meaning to the term 'soiled dove'. a female redemptionist could be really cool, maybe even as a redemptionist-style female assassin, actually gives an idea for an alternate rank , i'll see what i can come up with.

You might want to take a look at Scourge The Heretic and Innocence Proves Nothing.
I'm not quite sure if you intended for these ideas to coincide, but a redemptionist is very definitely not the right choice for any concept involving habitual (or indeed almost any) sex, as they're usually of the "Any pleasure not directly deriving from either praying or burning someone is sinful" school.

@Kyorou

Well, the IG has thousands of regiments, that draws from worlds with different cultures. This leads to very different situations regarding the presence of women in the military. Some of IG regiments may be male-only (in a classical "men fight, women stay in the kitchen" chauvinist fashion), some may be gender-mixed (Cadia, I guess) and other may align both single-sex male or female units (so as to limit distractions among the troops). It's a very big Empire, after all.

The Cain series supports that view while noting that the mix-gender regiments are a definite minority.

@LETE

As far as I know Ludmilla is a Deacon... & unless I'm not hip to the Ecclesiarchy, a deacon is a lay "church helper," in "real world" terms.

In real world terms, what a Deacon is depends entirely on which church you're asking. There are several where it's a lay office and some where it's clerical. Personally, I'd assume Ludmilla to be a full cleric.

Cifer said:

I would assume this is mainly because Imperium has a voracious apetite for more population all while imperial humans still reproduce in old-fashioned way of women carrying and giving birth.

In any case one should always remember that Imperium is, at its core, a fascist society and the mere idea of equality (whether between races, genders, social classes or professions) is inherently heretical in Imperial Creed. Each living being has its place in the huge machine of Imperium and such minor details as gender, skin color or bodytype might make a difference... or not. All depending on the world.

A few examples:

1) Hiveworld X is old, well-established hiveworld whose primary job is to produce people. Since there is simply so many people there is no need to exclude anyone on gender-basis, but selection is based on education and social class. The poor and uneducated man the ranks of local PDF infantry and form the core of the Imperial Guard regiments. The high-class elite with good ecuation provide the specialists, scientists, officers and such.

2) Farmworld Z is a new colony whose primary job is to produce food. However, large parts of the planet are still not farmed as there is very little population. As there is a shortage of people in all jobs the local PDF is actually formed by arming most adult citizens regardless of any other consideration exept a cursory medical check (must have two funtional arms and legs and at least one good eye). However, the Imperial Guard regiment provided by the world is purely male as governor can't afford to let females of fertile age to leave the planet.

I would assume this is mainly because Imperium has a voracious apetite for more population all while imperial humans still reproduce in old-fashioned way of women carrying and giving birth.

Actually, it's because women are not supposed to be carrying and giving birth while in the guard - which is why you don't give them too much exposure to males during their tour.