Les Sueles
WARNING: This is a rant but I would also really like to know your views on the topic.
Lately I have been noticing more and more "All-Female" communities and competitive gaming teams pop up, which is not a bad thing at all. But what has been annoying me the most lately is the slow rising of "Female Only" Gaming Tournaments. Now I have nothing against competing in tournaments, hell I used to compete in them myself--I wasn't very good mainly due to the fact I never had the time to practice. Some of you might be thinking "Well why does this bother you so much?", the answer to that is simple -- I hate the "Segregation" we are creating between the female gamers and the male gamers. Yes females have fought for a long time to get recognized in the gaming community through not only their skill but their knowledge on games and the Industry. But what do tournaments have to do with anything?
They have nothing and yet everything to do with what we have striven to accomplish in the community, acceptance. I live by the philosophy that I am a GAMER and my sex has nothing to do with that., it doesn't make my knowledge of gaming better or worse than any other gamer. But the honest to god truth of the matter is that guys are better competitors than we are. This isn't to say that we can't "Hang With The Boys" so to speak, but there has yet to be an ALL-Female team to make the Pro-Bracket in a Major League Gaming event. Thats not to say these ladies aren't good..they could be great players but they are just lacking that "it" thing that so many all male teams in the top brackets seem to have.
Now you may be wondering --what does all this have to do with the topic at hand? Well what does winning an all female tournament going to prove? Nothing. At least not to the huge mass that is the competitive gaming community. Now why doesn't it matter? Simply put: You beat other girls. That is not a big accomplishment, some may find that it is but the sad truth is that its not. Its that way for all kinds of sports: there is always a Ying to the Yang. But not in E-Sports. Why is that? Because females HAVE the ability to win tournaments against the guys. This has been proven through the famous FragDolls, the Les Sueles, the PMS Clan and even the Co-Ed Team Genuwine, who placed in the Top 16 last year which made Smiley and Xena the first two girls to EVER place in the Pro Bracket in Halo 2.
My main thing is why separate the sexes? This will only cause more issues within the community because you are basically telling the guys: You can't join this tournament unless you have a vagina. Ladies if you truly want to show that you can do just as good in a tournament as the guys then play in tournaments against both females AND males, if you happen to do well trust me the guys will compliment you. Some will even show you some tips on how to get your shot off just right in Halo or teach you how to dodge those oncoming bullets. Just don't try and do the same thing you complain that guys do in video games to you: Discriminate. Sorry for the crazy rant but it ticks me off to see Female Only tournaments because its like we take one step forward and then go 10 steps back with things like this.
