EPTRecently stumbling upon lininpink's interview with Tara Babcock actualized the recently hot(-or-not?) topic of "women in E-sports" for me - i must have missed the discussion on it while i was disconnected for a few weeks. Hearing mention of Taras video "a sober view of both sides" as well as her appearance on unfiltered #16 for a wider discussion on the topic made me curious enough to check them both out: Finally, livinpink's recent vlog-entry about "getting involved in a new community" pushed me over the edge to attempt compiling some thoughts of my own on the subject in this blog entry.
In rational discussions about how female contributors in Esports are treated, there seems to be an agreement about women being treated differently than men. Not just because they are / expected to be / different, but because they are quite few, at least when it comes to players and casters.
Two sides of the coin
Just to make some clear distinctions, how are women treated differently than men? In browsing unknown content, a viewer will use the limited information about the contributor that is thrown at them to form an opinion about them, in a not necessarily concious attempt to decide if they are interested and how they will relate to them. In the discussions, two sides of the same coin stand out clearly. Firstly, women get noticed much more easily, their very gender will grab attention of the average male viewer; By contrast, there are few-if-any enticing conclusions - good or bad - to come to about your average unknown male stacraft streamer, (unless you are patient enough to stick around and interact/relate to what he does ingame)...
The other side of the coin is that after getting noticed, females seem to have a harder time getting their contributions taken seriously. I believe this has to do with the limited information, or potentially faulty conceptions, that viewers base their opinions on. She got our attention because she's different; because she's a she. some give her casual attention because some feminine individuality is a nice change. some because they find her attractive, some get bothered by the previous and like to continually make a fuss about it, some out of jealousy / sense of entitlement... These things may obstruct attention to this female for any aspirations of being a serious contributor. In the end, its like everywhere else; first impressions are important and sometimes hard to change.
Understanding the viewer
Contributors have some idea about how they are perceived. While it might be rare for contributors to take as excessive notice of trending sources of viewer opinions as Destiny outlines in the mentioned episode of unfiltered, it seems reasonable to assume that many contributors do actively relate to their image; those that take in any amount of feedback certainly continually improve their understanding of it.
But how do they use it? They aught to use it by taking to heart constructive criticism that helps them get perceived in a way that more closely resembles their own honest outlook on who they are as a contributor, what they aim to accomplish and how to communicate this to viewers.
... i presume this might be easier said than done, both for the aspiring male contributor that struggles to get noticed at all and for the female contributor that is lucky to find anything of real relevance to serious aspirations in her pile of love- and hate-mail.
Conclusive statements
Arguably, there is always a degree of complexity in interaction between the genders. Complexity that in this scene, is further accentuated by the history of significant gender stigma in gaming at large. I want to make two conclusive statements in this blog entry:
#1 regardless of gender, direction of aspirations and degree of seriousness, contributors will have a better experience if they start out accepting their relative ignorance about how they are perceived and WHY, and from there, gradually work to improve that knowledge and to more effectively communicate their true image.
#2 conceptions and expectations go both ways; male viewers quickly notice female contributors, but often have a harder time relating to them as serious contributors. There is prejudice, but i believe there is also a mutual failure to bridge, undermine and preempt this prejudice: Yes, that female streamer you just stumbled upon is probably different from you in her experiences - maybe in her identity - as a gamer, and you might jump to judgement about it, but unless those differences are actually talked about, and those baseless judgements somehow challenged, why would things change?
Thank you for reading.
