With the recent ESL Female Starcraft 2 cup, a conversation was sparked in my head regarding the gender segregation in e-sports. Old Counter-Strike competitions even had female-only tournaments, and main tournaments rarely had any girls enter. Why is that? From what I have seen, girls perform on par with their male counterparts (no sex jokes) and there should be no reason that girls are locked out.
Gaming competitions should be color blind. I am not saying that competitions should be forced to be half female and half male, I am saying that competitions should not be labeled as gender-specific, and that more girls ought to play for a spot in mainstream competitions. I can speculate on why girls don't do mainstream game events.
The community regarding e-sports can be particularly immature and insulting at times. This holds most true for console games like Halo and Super Smash Bros. The mentality of male gamers in large packs forcibly drive out girls with the tangible barrier of testosterone and misogyny. This creates a demand for girl-only competitions.
Hopefully, the e-sport world grows up and the new generation doesn't fall in the trap of being disrespectful. Gamers are gamers, we click and tap and think alike. Some have fancy fingernails and some have bitten them down to stubs. I hope that more mixed gender competitinos arise, and I invite more girls to do what they can to give us a show.
Its because the guys would either get distracted and get boners, or would probably kill themselves if they ever get beat buy a girl because playing that certain game is the only thing they are good at
ReplyDeleteI play counter-strike source on a competitive level and most of the time where the voice of a girl can be heard, people go nuts and it gets out of control. Hopefuly it's going to change someday!
ReplyDeletehardcore competition is a male-driven market. sure, girls play games like guys, but to be a true competitor, it sort of takes a dickweed guy stuck in his basement practicing strafing while accepting the terrible things you hear from your competition. i don't see girls having an interest in that scene, and it has nothing to do with their ability to play the game.
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