Author: uNity
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Amidst the most recent Quakecon Event and it's many tournaments that featured big names, great games and top level competition, a smaller, unofficial tournament, ran entirely by gamers, happened: Ms. Quakecon. Female gamers duked it out in this XX-only Quake 3 tournament, which, all things considered, brought in a lot of money to the various gamers who placed high enough to receive prizes.
What seems like a great thing - I mean, when has more money in gaming ever been a bad thing? - did, however, raise much debate. The quarrel, in essence, resolves around women's place in gaming. As always, there are two sides to the issue, which I'll attempt to explain here, briefly.
The first - predominantly male - camp believes that, were female gamers truly deserving of the various sponsorships and/or prizes they currently receive, they'd play with the big boys - literally - and defeat them, "earning" said benefits justly. Female gamers also, according to them, further segregate themselves from the Males by participating in and supporting these events. Then, the issue of the double-standard comes into play: most women wish to be treated equally in the gaming community, yet these types of tournaments, being focused on women, certainly don't uphold that original statement.
On the other hand, the second camp refutes the above arguments by stating that, yes, the women are separated from the men, but in this type of situation, where female gamers are rare, bringing as much exposure to the existing gamers might entice others to "join the fold", so to speak. Then, there's the fact that, even if the winners of the Ms. Quakecon tournament got man-handled (pun!) versus the top male gamers, the prizes were obtained because the sponsors are interested in these women as it's great advertising in the gaming world to have females playing a game.
Basically, both camps bring valid points to the table, yet I'm more inclined to support the latter, rather than the former.
My Reasoning
In most real world sports, women are typically separated from the men due to the sometimes overwhelming physical disparity existing between the sexes. Men are, for the most part, stronger and faster, even at the higher, extensively trained levels. For example, compare the World Records of various sports, like the 100 meter dash or the 400 meter backstroke, you'll find that the men are very much ahead.
The same can be said about other, non-olympic, sports, like Football and Golf, Hockey and Soccer, basically every sport that requires physical ability and conditionning. Yet, as we all know, the real world isn't the same as the virtual one, so do these differences exist in gaming as well?
While there have been studies conducted which investigated gaming and the male/female ability in said games, not nearly enough is known to identify a clear physical advantage for the men. Men are reported to have better spatial visualisation skills, which could be advantageous, but in all honesty, I doubt it has an effect that cannot be countered with practice.
Indeed, then, this shows that, at least theoretically, men and women are on a level playing field (more puns!). One reason to not seperate the sexes, you say? Obviously!
But not so fast. In the long run, yes, bringing both sexes into the same group, so to speak, will be very beneficial. At the moment, however, it simply isn't feasible. There are not nearly enough female gamers, and most often, said women are treated awfully poorly by the men (if not asked for sex). Forcing them to play with us, the men, could potentially phase them out. The argument, then, changes.
It is completely logical for women to not be able to cope with the top level male players, at least right now. A greater population entails greater probability for success, it's simple math. Compare, for example, the successes of Canadian gamers versus American gamers. Americans win this little competition hands down, not necessarily because their water is better or their fast food more energetic, but because the talent pool to pick from is simply larger. If the top 2% of any gaming community go on to achieve great success, that 2% will be increasingly talented as the population grows.
So, what can we do to help the female population grow? The simplest answer would be to treat them like men, but seeing as how that's as feasible as me meeting my long lost twin over the internet, let's find another solution: All-Female tournaments. Yes, the idea seems wrong and sexist and what-have-you, but if the females themselves organise it and support it, then perhaps it's really us men who have these over-protective ideals, due to being born in an awfully pro-feminist era.
As I said, if female gamers get wind of these tournaments, where females can play without male harassment and with competition more or less at their own level, with prizes to boot, interest level is sure to rise. Sure, it'll take awhile, but once the wheels are in motion, with proper support, it's an inevitable and logical conclusion.
I mean, yea, most people are going to say that women aren't competitive, at least not in this virtual palace, but really, if women can grow to love competing in Olympic Wrestling and other such events, typically associated with men, they sure as hell can do the same with gaming.
How cool would it be to play in a tournament and wind up facing your wife in the finals? Oh the potential sitcom hilarity!
I can't wait.
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