First of all, as a woman, I want to thank the article writer for this. I am not a TCG player but I have played at numerous VGC events since '10. I have always placed reasonably well except for Fall 2012 regionals, although never quite enough for Nats or Worlds. I did not attend winter regionals, the first using the BW2 ruleset. I have always felt awkward and not as respected by other players. There was even one incident in Spring 2012 where before my first match, the guy I was facing said "this match will be a piece of cake" and I promptly 4-0'd him. He was utterly shocked. Maybe because I'm slightly introverted, but at every event, it seemed that most of my opponents were less likely to have a pre-battle conversation with me than others.
falcom4ever said:
I think that some players may underestimate girls when playing against for one reason:
90% of the female are pokémoms or a player's girlfriend. They usually don't care about the game and are not competitive.
Now why there are more boys playing the game?
I think it is a difference of mentality. Boys don't mind playing video game, cards, even they are now grown up adults : 0). Girls have other priorities usually I guess and prefer shopping, clubing and fighting with pillows.
I made an account primarily to respond to this post.
This post is the sum of all of the problems women are facing in "geek" culture: making assumptions without getting to know the person. 90% are "stragglers", really? Most people, when they are not interested in something, wouldn't show up. I don't know if TCG events are like this, but the registration process for VGC is long and grueling. For the past few events I attended, we would arrive around 8am and usually not play before 1pm. The competition is one day, and we usually play 5-7 rounds in 4 hours. It requires dedication to go to these events, something that most stragglers do not have. Don't get me wrong, I've experienced the whole "pokemom/girlfriend" stereotype, but they are not the majority and those types tend not to actually compete at all.
I don't like shopping, clubbing, or fighting with pillows. I don't wear makeup or dress feminine. I'm a gamer, and I take pretty much anything I play seriously. I may not play every single game I touch super competitively, but I always look at what the pros are doing. I don't deny that more men play card and video games more than women, and there are many complex reasons for that, but there is no reason to treat the ones that do differently. I have seen many casual male players as well as female players, so accounting for proportions as well as there being quite a few good female players out there, the proportions of good players to bad is about the same among the genders. I consider myself above average, and there are better out there.
I implore everyone; please stop making assumptions about a person based on their gender, much like it is wrong to make assumptions about someone based on any other factor they cannot control, such as race. We are there to play too. I love Pokemon, I have been playing since the days of Red/Blue, and competitively since D/P. I am there to play Pokemon, not show off.