Female Gamers - Not as Good as Males?

FarRockBF·11/10/2014, 4:38:17 PM·4 votes·987 views

So WHY are there so few (are there ANY?) girls in LCS? Why are there so few females in Challenger?

Possibility #1: Girls just don't game as much. Because of this over 90% of players are males, hence over 90% of Challenger are male.

Still, this doesn't answer why there are NO girls in LCS? Also, WHY don't girls game as much? Is it because boys are naturally more aggressive?

Possibility #2: Girls just aren't as good.

This is a possibility. Perhaps because they get emotional more easily then men? We know girls physically are tuned to get emotional easier then men (especially at that special time of month). So maybe they just rage easier and therefore lose more often?

Not looking to hate on women - I'm married and love my wife. I just find it interesting.

Thoughts?

15 Comments

ValyrianBlade11/10/2014, 4:46:12 PM6 votes

I'd guess it's: A) fewer girls playing B) any girl at a high level would get ridiculed/sexualized by the mobs of immature guys that pay this game, it would probably cause real problems in her life, so it's just not worth it. C) not as socially accepted, so girls can't commit the same amount of time that guys do in general D) possibly something hormonal that affects reaction times or something. I fully think girls can make strategic decisions equally as well as guys can, but I believe a few years ago I heard about a study that showed men have faster reflexes than women. If it's not only the average but the extremes as well (I.e. No woman who Games has reflexes as fast as the top male players) then perhaps they can't get in.

I'd say it's primarily the social stigma though. There's no reason to believe girls can't be just as good at video games as guys are with the same level of practice and support.

Momorae11/10/2014, 5:18:00 PM5 votes

Most of my friends just don't get League. It's not that they would suck at it, but I think the competitive nature of MOBA doesn't appeal to them as much. Of course I love League as a female, being a naturally competitive person. But most of my girl-friends just like MMORPG's and social games much more than these kinds of things.

Also, the community as a whole isn't the friendliest bunch, and if someone figures out you're a female things can get hostile (or in some cases, uncomfortably far too friendly). And some people don't want to pretend to be someone they're not so they can fit in with the rest of the hyper-masculine community. I just got used to it and it doesn't bother me now, but back when I first started playing, the toxic environment really got to me sometimes.

As for why there are no females in LCS and Challenger: If the above reasons don't deter them from playing, I think it's the same reason there aren't as many female computer programmers and engineers. Most of my friends think I'm weird and maybe even socially inept for liking this game enough to play it everyday. It's like that for males too, but the stigma goes up higher if you're a female. So many times I see male friends getting together to play League and I envy them, as my own best friends are always trying to get me off that "lame nerd-game." It's hard to put in that much time into it.

As for the 'time of month theory'.....I myself haven't found much difference in win rates due to that. Lol.

If it's true that "girls are not as good" as men in the game, I would think that it's because they're just socially (in and out of the game) discouraged to play this game and thus cannot put as much effort into getting better.

Trust me, there's a lot of women playing League but guys don't pick up on them since most of us don't go around advertising it. Some people of course go full on gamer-grill but that's a minority of the female player base.

As for me I would love to see real female gamers out there in the pro scene. Yes there had been a few in the past, but they were pretty much in the service of male fans and I'm convinced that the requirement was "you should be kinda good at the game but you def need to look hot" which isn't good for anything competitive.

EMOFRATPARTY11/10/2014, 4:50:56 PM3 votes

I understand you are trying to be constructive here, but your post is just blatantly wrong in many, many ways.

Possibility #1: Girls just don't game as much. Because of this over 90% of players are males, hence over 90% of Challenger are male.

Yeah, so, that's not at all true. According to the ESA (Entertainment Software Association), broad data suggests that 48% of all game players identify as female. That doesn't necessarily mean 48% of League players are female, but to suggest that 90% of players are men without data doesn't do other genders any justice.

Still, this doesn't answer why there are NO girls in LCS? Also, WHY don't girls game as much? Is it because boys are naturally more aggressive?

The landscape of gaming has become more accommodating to non-male gamers, but the change is occurring over time rather than immediately. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw non-male players in the LCS within the next five years. There are already a number of professional women's eSports teams, and I seriously doubt that number will decrease -- ever.

Possibility #2: Girls just aren't as good.

This is a possibility. Perhaps because they get emotional more easily then men? We know girls physically are tuned to get emotional easier then men (especially at that special time of month). So maybe they just rage easier and therefore lose more often?

If you play a Ranked game at any point, you'll understand that most players have a significant capability of showing emotion in League of Legends. Showing emotion also doesn't directly correlate to skill. Further, who's to say that women "get emotional" more easily than men?

There is a lot of assumption going on here. I hope this sheds some light on your ideas, because I don't agree with you in the slightest.

Konidias11/10/2014, 10:22:49 PM3 votes

I have a few girl friends who play league... so they are definitely out there.

As to why there aren't girls in the LCS... well one main reason is that typically the teams live together... and I really don't see it working out to have a girl living with four dudes... Especially considering how socially inept most gamer guys are... meaning they are going to be severely distracted trying to flirt with their female teammate, or even fighting with one another about it.

That aside... I don't believe the garbage about girls being more emotional than guys. On the contrary, I've seen guys get far more emotional over things than most girls. Heck, we've all seen players literally crying over LCS losses. Guys are super emotional. They rage a lot, they cry a lot... they get upset over little things. They troll because they are just a big bag of emotions. So to say that girls are more emotional than guys because it might be "that time of the month" is just ignorant.

As for reflexes.... Honestly the majority of League doesn't really require insane reflexes. Mostly it's timing... and critical thinking... and reacting to the situation accordingly. Every once in a while you get in a situation where you need to make split second moves and land combos just right... but mostly it's a pretty slow paced game when compared to like... a FPS. I mean you are literally just clicking a mouse to tell the champ where to go... You aren't even 1-1 controlling the champ movement via keyboard.

It's just a male dominated game... it's not really surprising that there aren't as many women playing.

I don't think it proves female gamers are not as good as male gamers... If anything it just proves that it's a lot harder for a female gamer to go pro because of all the criticism and harassment they would face. We still live in a society where doing anything "like a girl" is considered weak. To the point where even girls make fun of doing stuff "like a girl". It's really sad.

So even if a girl does well, there will be plenty of guys to put her down and try to keep her from ever getting to the top. They will just reinforce stereotypes... if the girl wins they will mock the guys she beat and say "you got beat by a girl" or if she wins, they won't acknowledge her as a good league player, they will acknowledge that she is "good for a girl".

Honestly there's just a lot of ignorance and I really feel bad for my gender. As a male, it's pretty embarrassing how ignorant men can be.

FarRockBF11/10/2014, 5:06:54 PM1 votes

I love the random downvotes when I'm not at all hating. Either all girls or guys just jumpin on the downvote train.

D0nC11/10/2014, 10:49:33 PM1 votes

I agree, it is the rag.

Ryvaku11/10/2014, 11:24:49 PM1 votes

I don't think I want to waste my breath so I'll just downvote after reading this post.