I have been an avid Frisbee (aka disc) golfer for years. That’s not to say I’m good because I’m not, but I am passable. I played in the 2014 Amateur Worlds Championship (where I got second to last in my division, only because the person I was battling for last with broke her leg), and I’m playing in it again this year. Frisbee golf has a small number of women that play, just like many sports, but there is something different about the way the sport regards women: in my experience, women disc golfers are treated as a crucial part of the community by other players, by tournament directors, and by companies.
I went to a brand new course in my area yesterday. Once the paperwork with the city goes through, it will be a private, members’ only course, which is rare for disc golf, but this is a course on one person’s land and was built and is maintained by him and a small contingent of people. As we pulled up, I saw there was a huge tent with lot of cool disc golf merchandise. As I perused, I noticed that there was just as much women’s merchandise, if not more, than men’s. This small, 2-3 guy operation, had a ton of clothing, discs, hats, and more for women. They proudly displayed a row of women’s-cut jackets, hoodies, and t-shirts on the temporary wall. Maybe this doesn’t seem so surprising to some, but I have been to countless academic conferences and only once have I seen t-shirts in women’s cuts. I very rarely find gaming shirts in women’s cuts either unless you special order online. Yet I have never been to a Frisbee golf event that didn’t have a ton of this kind of merchandise specifically for women.
Honestly I think this is becoming the norm in the disc golf community. I have seen sponsors donate huge amounts to the women’s purse at tournaments so that the women’s champ wins just as much as the men’s; I’ve seen tournament directors make an entire summer series of tournaments free to women to drum up interest; I’ve seen clubs sponsor mixed doubles, women’s leagues, and have special players’ packs so women don’t get stuck with men’s shirts and heavy discs. Disc Golfer Magazine regularly features women on the cover, increasing their visibility. Only twice have I encountered sexism on the course: the first time the guy was completely censured by club members and still to this day is treated as an outsider for his actions, and the other instance was on a disc golf club Facebook page where the men were commenting sexually on pictures of female disc golfers from the world’s tournament. I quit the Facebook page after that so I don’t know what came of it, but if I were to guess, I would bet someone stepped in and put a stop to it.
Think about what this means though: in a sport dominated by men, with an age demographic similar to gaming, they have managed to create a community that is welcoming to and explicitly values women. It’s not all talk either; disc golf companies put up money, give sponsorship, donate items, and so on to ensure the growth of the game among women. I’m not saying this to say it’s a perfect sport, that women don’t get harassed on the course, or anything like that. My point is that infrastructually, women are supported, for the most part, from the official organizations, from many clubs, and most visibly, from companies that sell disc golf merchandise.
Does gaming need all this though? Frisbee golf requires strength, physical ability, and it caters to certain attributes (such as not having a large chest). When there is a women’s division, this makes sense because men and women tend to be physically different (let’s not get into an essentialism debate here, I’m talking generalities). It also makes sense to have women’s divisions because there are few women in the sport; allowing them to play and compete with each other is a crucial part of retention. If I had to always only play against men, I would never compete in another tournament. There is a camaraderie that is so necessary when you a minority player, and women’s leagues and tournaments help build that camaraderie.
Gaming, on the other hand, doesn’t require strength or any other biological attribute that would privilege one sex over the other. If you remember back to the story that broke in 2014, the International e-Sport Federation had segregated its world championship, much to complaint from both genders. They also had a shorter list of games that are playable in the women’s tournament. Women were not eligible to play Dota 2, Hearthstone, or Ultra Street Fighter IV (because they require male parts? strength? Who knows). The reasoning gave for this is because they were striving to have e-Sports be considered a legitimate sport (which apparently means it needs to have segregated divisions). After a huge backlash, IeSF changed their policy, opening all divisions to women, but keeping the same separate women’s categories.
If women don’t perform as well as men in gaming tournaments, it’s not because of some biological or inherent trait. While this would mean in an ideal world that equal numbers of men and women compete in gaming tournaments, that’s not how it happens in the real world. People wrongly assume it’s because men are better at gaming than women. There are so many factors that can keep women from participating in an event: harassment, stigma, fear. Until we get to a place where gaming values the participation of women and works actively to ensure tournaments a safe, all players are respected, and women are visibly included as part of the (e)sport, then I dare say participation will not accurately reflect the demographics of gamers.
Do we need women’s-only tournaments, divisions, groups, and events in gaming? I think we might, for now. The environment is so utterly toxic, and the damage done by companies and groups not considering women to be real gamers is still so deeply felt, that something needs to happen to overcome it. Will we ever reach a point where every small gaming tournament strives to make itself inclusive? Will we get to the point where gaming shirts for women are available at all events and stores, even the small one-person shop? Most of all, will we ever get companies to value women as players even if they don’t immediately see a dollar sign attached to their efforts? I don’t know. But I do know that women are rapidly becoming the majority in gaming, and if the old guard won’t change, then a new one will move in. Wouldn’t that be an interesting day?
