Draft:Women in Esports

• Comment: You've put in a lot of work into this article and it's a great start! Make sure you write in an encyclopedic tone and have references to support all the claims you've made. For example you mentioned that "Women players who encounter gender stereotypes would experience stereotype threat when participating in competitive Esports." but didn't provide a source for it. Dr vulpes (Talk) 22:31, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

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Women have participated competitively in Esports since the establishment of professional leagues. While there are no rules preventing the formation of mixed gender teams, the representation of women and marginalised gender remain small in mainstream competitive leagues. It is estimated that out of the 35% women playing professionally in competitive Esports, only 6% are players in major leagues. This is in contrast to the high viewership that women contribute to competitive Esports. In recent years, Esports companies have begun creating competitive leagues for women and marginalised genders only, like Valorant Game Changers, but these leagues remain separated from the main competitive leagues.

Gaming has long been seen as a male-dominated hobby. However, 2021 research done by the Entertainment Software Association found that 45% of American gamers are female. There are now a number of professional esports leagues and tournaments that feature female gamers.

Challenges faced by women competitive players

Hostility in competitive environment

The hostility within the competitive Esports community can be described as an act of 'gender-zoning'. A term derived from fighting video games, zoning refers to a set of actions that pressures opponents into a vulnerable zone, which then allows for the player to make further attacks. In competitive Esports, gender-zoning occurs when some teams prevent women teams from receiving proper practice by refusing scrimmages with them. This limits participation for women in competitive Esports due to lack of training, and further isolates them from the industry. It becomes even more difficult for competitive women players to feel like a normal competitive player.

Unlike sports where physical attributes between men and women are directly linked to skills disparity, men and women in Esports are not affected by physical differences. However, the skills of women competitive players continue to come under question. These doubts are generally gender-based, and not based on personal interactions with women competitive players. Women in the competitive Esports scene are often given the 'support' role, which are deemed easier in terms of mechanical skills. Across various games, the 'support' characters are primarily tasked to heal their teammates or provide assistance with their abilities. There has been an association with support roles as a women-only position, which hinges on the idea of women having lower skills than men in Esports. In League of Legends Continental League (LCL), Vaevictis Esports filled the first women-only team in a competitive league. During the ban phase of a match, their opponent team, RoX, banned 5 'support' champions, which was not the usual strategy used by RoX against other opponents. The team received a punishment from the organiser, citing poor sportsmanship and disrespectful behaviour towards Vaevictis Esports.

Some women competitive players are also doubted for performing well. There are competitive players who hold perceptions that women are less skilled and have inferior techniques compared to men. In a book by Christopher A. Paul, this is referred to as 'toxic meritocracy' in Esports culture. It looks at how people view that any woman can perform exceptionally well within themselves and reach the top of the game, even if they are mediocre among all the players who are men. Consequently, women competitive players face more scrutiny if they are playing at the most competitive level. Kim "Geguri" Se-yeon is a South Korean professional Overwatch player who has represented an established organisation, Shanghai Dragons, in competitive Overwatch League. She is currently the only woman who has played at the highest level of competitive Overwatch. Many had doubted her mechanical talent in the game, claiming that she was using game cheats to win. The allegations were proven to be false after she hosted a livestream with a camera positioned at her hands to show that she was winning with pure mechanical skills.

Masculinity

The divide between women and men competitive Esports players is believed to be a manifestation of the concept of masculinity, particularly 'geek' masculinity and hegemonic masculinity.

Hegemonic masculinity is prevalent in competitive Esports. Conceptualised by Australian sociologist Raewyn Connell, hegemonic masculinity was first used to describe the gender divide in physical sports. In a 1991 article by Professor Nick Trujillo, he assigned 5 key traits to hegemonic masculinity, namely physical force and control, occupational achievement, patriarchy, frontiersmanship and heterosexuality. The nature of Esports reflects the traits of hegemonic masculinity, as 3 traits: physical force and control, patriarchy and frontiersmanship, was said to be present in Esports. While sports have been traditionally dominated by men, the arrival of a new version of sports, Esports, has provided women with opportunities to change the level of power that men hold in these categories. Hence, the concept of hegemonic masculinity realises the power and gender dynamics between men and women competitive players in Esports.

'Geek' masculinity has often been discussed in relation to hegemonic masculinity. This idea is less focused on gaining complete dominance over women, but instead showcases the innate qualities and superiority of men in competitive Esports. It reflects the patriarchy aspect in Trujillo's hegemonic masculinity. 'Geek' is often associated with being nerdy and knowledgeable about a specific topic. In the case of 'geek' masculinity in Esports, it refers to men who deemed themselves superior due to their knowledge and expertise in the technicality of the games. Players with 'geek' masculinity leverage on that idea to assert dominance over women players. They see 'geek' masculinity in alignment with being dedicated and passionate about competitive Esports. This mindset seeks to distinguish women and men players, drawing a clear difference on the basis of their understanding of mechanics and the level of dedication they have towards competitive Esports.

Limited competitions and organisational support

Women face challenges in attending Esports competitions due to restrictions in rules and the limited amount of competitions for them. The representation of women has always been low in Esports. In terms of leadership in Esports organisations, there are only a few women in positions of power. Common in organisations with little women at higher leadership positions, studies suggest that there is a possibility that Esports organisations have measures in place to prevent women from gaining too much control within the company. This reduces the amount of support women receive in competitive Esports.

On the other hand, women-only competitions have received interest from women competitive players. Some women players state that such competitions provide a platform for women to display their skills in games and draw interests from potential Esports organisations to contract them for salaried work. While women expressed greater comfortability in competing through women's league, the number of women-only competitions are fewer in comparison to major league competitions. In some cases, invitational-only competitions restrict women competitors by not allowing mixed gender teams and do not extend their invites to women competitive players. At the Finnish qualifiers for Hearthstone International Esports Federation World Championship 2014, the organisers did not allow women to sign up for the qualifiers, as they intended to separate women from men's league to create inclusivity.

Currently, women-only competitions across different Esports games have been successful in promoting a space for women Esports players. Various competitions like Valkyrie Challenge for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Zowie Divina Female Esports tournament in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds encourage more participation in Esports. The establishment of the Women's Esports League in Europe for League of Legends provided a neutral environment for women to compete in. Nonetheless, these competitions are only short-term, and the industry expectation for Esports remains to be for women to compete along with men in the same competitions.

Gender stereotypes and expectations

Gender stereotypes are reinforced on women in Esports as well. The society associates gaming and having an Esports career with being more masculine. Women are also held to a societal expectation of being a homemaker, taking on a more virtuous role in the society. These stereotypes are exemplified in Esports, as women players are harassed in games for playing and competing. They face more gender-based discrimination, receiving unrelated remarks on their looks or sexual appeal. On average, women players are subjected to sexual remarks 1.82 times more than men. Women competitive players are often relegated to their gender, and play under stereotypical judgement. Saxo, a women World of Warcraft player, was the only woman in a team called "Exalant". At an event, while other team members were introduced as their positions in the game, Saxo was introduced to be the 'girl' on the team. The constant gender stereotypes negatively affect women's experience in Esports.

Women players who encounter gender stereotypes would experience stereotype threat when participating in competitive Esports. Stereotype threat refers to people becoming susceptible to their stereotypes, which as a result affects their behaviour. In the case of women in Esports, women who are aware of the stereotypes associated with women competitors tend to perform worse than average, and show lower levels of confidence.The threat, being hard to ignore, persistently stay in their mind, thereby causing anxiety and stress in women competitive Esports players. In more severe outcomes of stereotype threat, women competitive Esports players might feel suffocated in the loop of self-doubt that they choose to quit the game.

Media and marketability

Women players in Esports face difficulty in media and marketing. The increasing popularity of Esports has led to more commercialisation opportunities for players. Creation of person branding has become a part of their work. With the audiences of Esports largely dominated by men, it becomes difficult for women players to preserve their femininity and promote to the male crowds at the same time. On top of the common sexualisation of women in some games, women players have to choose between conforming to a masculine form of identity as a player, or risk attracting more attention because of their gender.