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from the perhaps-men-don't-like-losing-to-a-woman dept.
On Monday the e-sports industry awards take place in London to applaud the top players in the business but not one female player has been nominated.
Competitive gaming, also known as Electronic Sports or e-sports, is growing at an incredible pace. In 2016, revenues from e-sports are predicted by professional services firm Deloitte to rise by 25% to $500m (£406m). Its regular global audience will likely top 150 million people.
Unlike in traditional sport, physical advantages in e-sports are non-existent yet the most popular games are still overwhelmingly played by men.
Recent research by the Pew Center shows men and women are equally likely to say they play video games but men are twice as likely to consider themselves "gamers". It is when gaming becomes competitive that the number of women playing drops dramatically.
Steph Harvey is one of the most successful gamers in the world. She says that the number of women in e-sports is as low as 5% and the main reason is the stereotype attached to gamers. "It's still a 'boy's club' so as a woman you're automatically judged for being different," she says.
Online abuse has been prevalent in the gaming community for years and even led to a misogynistic hate campaign.
Steph has even received online rape threats in the past: "The way I get harassed is about what they would do to my body, about why I don't deserve to be there because I use my sexuality - it's all extremely graphic."
[...] Julia Kiran is the leader of Team Secret, which in October became the top female team in the world. She thinks this reflects a common attitude: "It's always felt that female teams are not a real scene. Male players see us as a side game that doesn't count."
One of the solutions has been the creation of female teams and female-only tournaments.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday November 23 2016, @02:11PM
Aberration? Abnormal? You're too free with those terms. Save them for the clearly bad mutations such as Down Syndrome and albinism. IQ over 150? How could you call high IQ an aberration? XXY chromosomes is abnormal, but we know now that homosexuality is normal, if uncommon. It definitely isn't "unnatural" as homophobes asserted. About 5% of mammals are homosexual. Why is still something of a puzzle. Seems too high a percentage to dismiss as a mere mistake. If homosexuality is such a bad thing for survival of a species, why hasn't evolution eliminated it entirely? Perhaps it is beneficial to the species as a whole to have a few members who aren't in the endless heterosexual mating war. Maybe they help foster co-operation. A heterosexual guy can feel pretty sure and safe that a homosexual guy is not going to try to cheat with his mate.
Ants are a good example of animals with radically different sexual roles than most mammals. Most ants are sterile workers.
(Score: 4, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday November 23 2016, @03:50PM
You need to look up the definitions of those words you're so unwilling to accept. They are absolutely accurate, and not pejorative unless you're trying to speak falsehood into truth.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Funny) by tangomargarine on Wednesday November 23 2016, @04:05PM
Damn ivory-tower assholes and their insistence that words have set meanings /s
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday November 23 2016, @04:51PM
It's not ivory, it's made from the bones of my enemies. Mostly catfish but the odd crappie and bass too.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Wednesday November 23 2016, @05:26PM
Ant trait affecting fewer than 2% of the population is an aberration. Yes, geniuses are freaks (I'm on the cusp and I'm certainly not normal).
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Wednesday November 23 2016, @11:44PM
Normal, but not average. Geniuses are normal, just part of the range of possible intelligence, if at one of the extremes. What they are not is average.
Height also varies considerably, and the extremes are populated with those afflicted with some condition such as acromegaly or dwarfism. Unlike extreme height, I have not heard of any abnormal condition that changes a person of average intelligence into a genius. There are plenty of ways to lower intelligence, such as lead poisoning, malnutrition, deliberately spurning education, and even psychological effects from believing it when everyone tells you that you are stupid.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday November 25 2016, @02:01AM
Not average, median. 100 is the median; I don't know what the mean is, but in this case the mean is meaningless. But if you're in the top 2% smartest, shortest, tallest, or dumbest, you're a freak.
That word should not have such negative connotations but I can't think of one that fits better.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org