justifying an all-female event @ EVO is like trying to justify the comment…“you just lost to a girl!”
play with the boys or your participation in the event is just going to be seen as an exercise in objectification.
also, for those who don’t already know, all tournaments @ EVO are open…meaning men and women, girls and boys. i really see no reason for a girls-only event.
Out of curiosity, and because I simply don’t know, who are the major female names in the US? If there are only a handful, then perhaps a more direct way of phrasing this would be: list the names of women in the US who compete in fighting game tourneys (doesn’t matter which game). If this list is too small as well, then list the names of ANY female who plays fighting games (whether it’s decently, half-assed, or pro). If you’re having trouble doing this, imagine how the all-female SSF2 event will turn out. On the other hand, if there actually are enough women (and they’re good), then this would be a great way to rise up from obscurity.
yep/
majority of people going to these tournies are guys (Not saying no girls go don’t go telling me “Oh last yr der wuz at leest 50 gurlz or mor”
Even if there are some scared guys, theres enough guys there still who have balls who participate in the tourney.
And a girls tourney won’t be ONLY scrubs…that’s kind of a dick thing to say, there are a lot of scrub guys too, but theres also people like JWong and Daigo who are pro…and you dont’ get that from woman (Not in the US anyway :[ )
Girls just need a chance ~ This is a chance…and the idea of making it cheaper for girls to enter the main tourney if they join the girls tourney is prob a good idea, gives them more reason to join.
These good girl gamers should be in tournies with the rest of good gamers.
Seriously, aladies only tournament is belittling in this arena imo.
good post
Question: Would having some kind of “beginner’s” side tourney not be a better way to welcome ALL newcomers to the tourney scene? Would that not be friendly enough to all new players, male and female alike?
I don’t want to necessarily see SF become like golf…where you have handicaps and all that nonsense…but if the idea is to make new players and especially female players feel welcome…I am wondering if a non gender specific, entry level side tourney would not be a better approach?
I read it (yes all of it) and took it with your intended spirit. From the consensus of this thread it does not look like the FGC is culturally in the same place that Chess was in when they instituted their women’s events.
So what if the majority is still guys, you threw out an argument and I answered it, just because some imaginary quota for women who apparently must be in the community doesn’t make it any less valid, and yeah maybe it won’t just be scrubs there maybe a serious female player will degrade herself and enter for some easy money, difference between the majority entering in the female one and the main one is that no matter how good they are the people entering in the main one are doing so with the competetive mindset and the drive to get better and maybe even end up facing one of the better players rather then just saying “I’ll never stand a chance” and essentialy taking their ball and playing elsewhere.
I’m entering SVB this year, and with no local scene I have no idea how well I’ll do with just online and practice mode training, but I know for sure that I’ll be entering the main tournaments for the games I’m playing (BB and TvC) and not some watered down “I’m not sure if I can handle it” begginers one if they run them, because no matter how well I do I know I’ll not have truely competed unless I go to the proper one, even if it means possibly getting knocked out in the first rounds.
Oh my god…
This is fucking EVO. The place where the BEST OF THE BEST come to compete from around the world. I don’t want to see EVO staff wasting any time on a fucking beginner’s tournament. If beginners want to come to EVO then fine, no one is stopping them, there are plenty of people who come purely to spectate.
This is the Olympics of fighting games. No one wants to see some beginners and noobs get their own tournament or section. The ONLY emphasis at EVO should be the absolute HIGHEST LEVEL of play possible.
Thanks to those of you who are keeping this serious. This thread has been helpful so far.
**READ THIS: If you’re a competitive woman player who has competed at Evo or is likely to compete in 2010, and you would like to have real input in the way Evo deals with this issue, PM me.
**
It’s not them that’s the problem, Ink. It’s “us”. It’s the reaction they’re going to get from the crowd that’s going to be the problem. No matter how good some of these ladies are (and there are a few talented ladies out there who are likely to impress and surprise us), there’s going to be an endless amount of heckling and sexist bullshit from the a-holes who do frequent Evo. Is that what you want to broadcast out to the rest of the world about the fighting game community? Guys yelling shit about “being in the kitchen” or “playing with my stick”? I can just see the Kotaku/Joystiq/etc. headlines now.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Encouraging women to join the FGC is a noble endeavor. But I honestly think this will do more harm than good. What we need to do is spotlight females who currently play and show the ladies that it can be done, not by shining a big spotlight on them and making them the object of ridicule and sexism in front of a potentially national audience. Give this community time to grow up and incorporate the ladies slowly before you shove them in the spotlight for a potentially disastrous scenario.
Sorry, I missed your post up-thread and only found it because people have been quoting it.
I agree that there is an undercurrent of misogyny on SRK, and the idea of women being paraded on-screen to perform for men is distasteful to the extreme.
But if a tournament like this is done right, (that is, WITHOUT the undercurrent of misogyny and sexism that seems to be the direction where all this event planning is going,) it might do a lot for spreading the scene and showing the rest of the world that the FGC has finally grown up. Making sure it’s run a little more low-key, with class (like someone else suggested, as a side-tourney mainly for the online streaming audience as opposed to a “bench-buster” for an auditorium full of sweaty guys with no air conditioning) could go a long way.
I’m saying that everybody is scared to play people whom they believe are better than them and get embarassed.
Women’s basketball, softball, tennis, whatever else… there are many gender specific sports with basically the same rules as the other gender’s sport.
I think if you ask women most won’t be offended, especially when they know they are encouraged to join the main event also. I think it will be fun. There is a precedent at Arcade Infinity for this right? That turned out really good.
This is not for the “best female fighter in the world” only. Its also just as much for bringing in more fans and faces.
I remember there was an idea thrown out a couple of years back to have an exhibition vs top players, can’t remember what game is was for though.
Have like a line of people play vs 5 top players in whatever game, and the top players switch off every 10 mins or so.
Maybe something like this. Rather than having a sectioned off event, have something interactive with the new / old players. This way nothing is segregated and people still interact.
?
This “eye candy” argument is completely ridiculous. Someone who is unable to interact with women without objectifying them has a problem. The fault for this sophomoric behavior lies not with the tournament organizers or the women playing, but with those who are unable to join the rest of us in maturity. Would your paternalistic concerns be satisfied if female gamers wore burqas?
Some of the responses in this thread are proof enough that the fighting game community needs additional incentives to develop a more diverse player-base, because the blatant misogyny that is casually accepted by too many of us has probably turned away scores of potential participants. While it is true that many of us had to deal with the difficulty of breaking into the community, but I’ll wager that most males haven’t had to overcome the additional hurdle of being seen as little more than an object to be slobbered over.
Ah. Thanks. I agree with your assessment.
Yah but there are still 59027590252 guys who play games
More chance you’ll find a guy who’s not scared than you will a girl.
Girls just need the extra boost to play games(Not all) since games are mostly considered things that a guy would do…ask the media 
I like putting GOOD GAMERS on stage / a stream to the rest of the world, being female or not doesn’t matter.
I understand the intentions here, which are respectable, but this isn’t the way to go about it. I mean at this point this is a ‘special event’, and that ends up coming off as if they’re playing each other for our entertainment and not so much an easier entry into our community.
Killerkai’s suggestion sounds good, though I still like the thought of selected treatment.
Good luck.