Jynx
Smash Cadet
Before I begin, I would like to apologize for spelling errors and such. This was typed on my iPod.
I for one would like to see an increase in all genders coming to our events. I recently read this:
http://meleeiton.me/sexism-in-smash-quotes-from-the-community/
It was both interesting and shocking. We have had players, **** and sexually assault other players. Please tell me how that's even a little okay. Our size in terms of community isn't even giant to begin with. Why do we insist on trying to make it smaller by creating an environment not pertaining to our female audience, and even some male audiences.
Last time I checked, females make up between 42% - 46% of ALL gamers. Why is the ratio in SSB a fraction of that? I have a couple female friends trying to get into SSB but it's impossible for them because of:
- The way we talk
- The way we treat them
The documentary portrays us as these accepting, amazing people. I believe this is true, to an extent. I also believe putting the extra work in to make this community as accepting as possible is totally worth it. It does nothing but good for us. It breeds new Smashers, enlarges and strengthens our community, and makes us better people.
If we trash talk, that's fine. But why is it when a female steps up, we suddenly make the trash talk about their gender. Why can't we trash talk everyone the same without using sexist slurs or terrible terminology (go to the Boss thread for that discussion).
I said it before, and I'll say it again, MilkTea in the doc put it best when she said we weren't helping female players get into the community by using terms like ****. She's right. And I hear you in the back, scoffing to yourself saying, "Grow up." But if you say that, are they really in the position to be told to "grow up" by someone who is so insensitive, unwilling to change, and unsympathetic that they'll actually RISK losing a potentially valuable player to the community and game they "claim" to love so much? I don't think so.
Our community is structured around the closeness of our peers, and our love for the game. Yet we tell this VERY large select group of people to, "Get over it." And to, "Stop letting it bother you." When in fact it's us that should grow up. Accommodating to new players is our jobs as the existing community, and as it stands, we failed. From what I've seen, we are STILL not accepting, or caring to female newcomers. And look at M2K, he was even outright disliked by some until he got good! Wife put this well in saying he didn't get respect by playing, he was respected because he as good at the game. That's all fine and dandy, but how our female gamers are going to rise to the top to gain respect if they're too intimidated by our male audience to even try in the first place.
My sister is a female Smasher. She will never get respect, even though I see her trash countless players with Bowser in SSBM. She will not be respected, and our community will find any excuse not to give her that respect. It's terrible, and I see it for even some male cases as well.
Think of this, wouldn't it be amazing to have our numbers nearly double just by being a little more accepting, and a little more respectful. Our community, praised above the 12-year old ridden lobbies of CoD and BF because we know how to treat our players. Viewed amongst all the other games as a sophisticated, organized, and professional community. We strive for perfection in the game we love so much, but half of that game is the community that plays it and it's high time we strived for perfection in that too. We are improving each and everyday, and I am beyond proud to call myself a Smasher. Our female audience is just as human as we are. It's time we recognize what they can bring, and just imagine how proud we will be when we have a female Smash competing in top 8 for the first time. Or consistently commentate games because we finally allowed them to. Us as males are not superior gamers. There are many more of us and we just haven't given the opprotunity to our opposing gender to step up to the plate and challenge others.
And even for some of us, we fear for our masculinity, scared of "being beat by a girl" yet I still hear the audacious calls of, "grow up" even though it is our shortcomings to realize we are not being humble. By losing our masculinity we set ourselves up for failure, telling ourselves that we lost just because the other person is of a different gender. We systematically insulted both genders at once by saying we shouldn't have lost to a girl.
The stereotype of female players not being good needs to vanish permanently, because we are not only telling them they shouldn't be playing, but they tell themselves that. And once they believe it, they'll tell others and trust me, that spreads like wildfire. Articles upon articles of female gamers wanting to get into the video game scene but are constantly being insulted, yelled at, and put down. Those articles are ignored and even outright laughed at by us because we think they're wrong and dumb, even though we have no place to judge. We are so willing to help new players, so why does it matter if they're male or not. If all you saw was the username, you would treat them the same regardless, so why does that have to change if they're a girl?
This isn't generalizing our male populous of course. But I implore you to think about it, and spread a positive message to everyone about the Smash community. Reflect on what our community represents not only through your words, but through your actions. Actively seek out everyone, especially female players and get them to join. And when he or she goes out and tears up the top players with an amazing Falco or an incredible Sheik, you can proudly say, "They were able to do that because of me." And if a female accuses you of hitting on her, or just trying to get in her pants (and you're not), she doesn't belong here. It's time everyone was able to unite under the jaw-dropping game, that is Super Smash Brothers and it's up to us to make the change. And there is no reason we can't.
I for one would like to see an increase in all genders coming to our events. I recently read this:
http://meleeiton.me/sexism-in-smash-quotes-from-the-community/
It was both interesting and shocking. We have had players, **** and sexually assault other players. Please tell me how that's even a little okay. Our size in terms of community isn't even giant to begin with. Why do we insist on trying to make it smaller by creating an environment not pertaining to our female audience, and even some male audiences.
Last time I checked, females make up between 42% - 46% of ALL gamers. Why is the ratio in SSB a fraction of that? I have a couple female friends trying to get into SSB but it's impossible for them because of:
- The way we talk
- The way we treat them
The documentary portrays us as these accepting, amazing people. I believe this is true, to an extent. I also believe putting the extra work in to make this community as accepting as possible is totally worth it. It does nothing but good for us. It breeds new Smashers, enlarges and strengthens our community, and makes us better people.
If we trash talk, that's fine. But why is it when a female steps up, we suddenly make the trash talk about their gender. Why can't we trash talk everyone the same without using sexist slurs or terrible terminology (go to the Boss thread for that discussion).
I said it before, and I'll say it again, MilkTea in the doc put it best when she said we weren't helping female players get into the community by using terms like ****. She's right. And I hear you in the back, scoffing to yourself saying, "Grow up." But if you say that, are they really in the position to be told to "grow up" by someone who is so insensitive, unwilling to change, and unsympathetic that they'll actually RISK losing a potentially valuable player to the community and game they "claim" to love so much? I don't think so.
Our community is structured around the closeness of our peers, and our love for the game. Yet we tell this VERY large select group of people to, "Get over it." And to, "Stop letting it bother you." When in fact it's us that should grow up. Accommodating to new players is our jobs as the existing community, and as it stands, we failed. From what I've seen, we are STILL not accepting, or caring to female newcomers. And look at M2K, he was even outright disliked by some until he got good! Wife put this well in saying he didn't get respect by playing, he was respected because he as good at the game. That's all fine and dandy, but how our female gamers are going to rise to the top to gain respect if they're too intimidated by our male audience to even try in the first place.
My sister is a female Smasher. She will never get respect, even though I see her trash countless players with Bowser in SSBM. She will not be respected, and our community will find any excuse not to give her that respect. It's terrible, and I see it for even some male cases as well.
Think of this, wouldn't it be amazing to have our numbers nearly double just by being a little more accepting, and a little more respectful. Our community, praised above the 12-year old ridden lobbies of CoD and BF because we know how to treat our players. Viewed amongst all the other games as a sophisticated, organized, and professional community. We strive for perfection in the game we love so much, but half of that game is the community that plays it and it's high time we strived for perfection in that too. We are improving each and everyday, and I am beyond proud to call myself a Smasher. Our female audience is just as human as we are. It's time we recognize what they can bring, and just imagine how proud we will be when we have a female Smash competing in top 8 for the first time. Or consistently commentate games because we finally allowed them to. Us as males are not superior gamers. There are many more of us and we just haven't given the opprotunity to our opposing gender to step up to the plate and challenge others.
And even for some of us, we fear for our masculinity, scared of "being beat by a girl" yet I still hear the audacious calls of, "grow up" even though it is our shortcomings to realize we are not being humble. By losing our masculinity we set ourselves up for failure, telling ourselves that we lost just because the other person is of a different gender. We systematically insulted both genders at once by saying we shouldn't have lost to a girl.
The stereotype of female players not being good needs to vanish permanently, because we are not only telling them they shouldn't be playing, but they tell themselves that. And once they believe it, they'll tell others and trust me, that spreads like wildfire. Articles upon articles of female gamers wanting to get into the video game scene but are constantly being insulted, yelled at, and put down. Those articles are ignored and even outright laughed at by us because we think they're wrong and dumb, even though we have no place to judge. We are so willing to help new players, so why does it matter if they're male or not. If all you saw was the username, you would treat them the same regardless, so why does that have to change if they're a girl?
This isn't generalizing our male populous of course. But I implore you to think about it, and spread a positive message to everyone about the Smash community. Reflect on what our community represents not only through your words, but through your actions. Actively seek out everyone, especially female players and get them to join. And when he or she goes out and tears up the top players with an amazing Falco or an incredible Sheik, you can proudly say, "They were able to do that because of me." And if a female accuses you of hitting on her, or just trying to get in her pants (and you're not), she doesn't belong here. It's time everyone was able to unite under the jaw-dropping game, that is Super Smash Brothers and it's up to us to make the change. And there is no reason we can't.
