So I read this article about how horrible men are to those few women who dare to play tabletop wargames, even though they would flock to the hobby if they were allowed to.
Upon reading the article you can't help but realize how utterly ridiculous this whole victimhood-search has become.
First of all: are there total assholes in wargaming? Well, there are total assholes everywhere, so that is a given. However, is it fair to generalize the whole hobby based on two or three jerks?
I guess the answer is yes. I will keep that in mind the next time some fuckwit kills a lot of people in name of Islam.
Apart from this interesting idea, the examples the poor female wargamers bring up are not exactly cases of gatekeeping and misorgynistic attitudes, as they claim them to be.
Have you been to tabletop wargaming events? No? Well, allow me. Imagine a place with huge tables filled with tiny little plastic soldiers and monsters, terrain, weird dices and whatnot. The attendants are 99.99% male, mostly white, usually socially awkward (you know the people you normally bully in high school because they are total nerds). Some have questionable personal hygene. What connects them is the love of the game and the lore -they are extremely passionate about minor issues; imagine how papal councils must have been in the Middle Ages trying to decide if Peter sat right next to Jesus or two seats away during the Last Supper (and burn the losers of the debate at stake), and you have an idea about the dedication here.
The few females you see are usually spouses or mothers who were dragged there without their consent, and are forced to endure this whole experience. There are very, very few women who are actually interested in playing and painting these stupid little minis; and I am quite sure the reason is not because men don't let women play with little toy soldiers. The stereotype of the husband trying to hide how much he spent on his latest Raptor squad is there for a reason. Also: if you want to make sure that that troublesome sexy girl who keeps hitting on you leaves you alone, you just tell her you play Warhammer. It is the perfect female-repellent. Works better than sandals with socks.
Anyhow, do you see why people would not assume immediately that a member of the fairer sex would actually like to play the game or know anything about it? It is not because they won't allow women to play. It is because in their experience no women would want to play the game. In fact, if you tell them, that you are a woman and you have a 2000 point Blood Angels army (painted), I am sure you will get so many unsolicited marriage proposals, you won't know what to do with them.
You see, people will stereotype because this is what we do. It helps everyday life; it is a survival mechanism that is older than our species. It is not sexism and it is not racism. And it is not just those evil wargamers. Do try to bring your child as a male to a playground, and see where you get. If you survive with some well-meant but quite insulting pieces of advice about how to do this whole parenting-thing, you can count yourself lucky. They might even call the cops on you because, having a penis means you might be a creep or worse. (But that, of course, is not sexism. Of course.)
Or do this in any femaled dominated profession/hobby. Go there as a male and see how women react to you. You are not the regular demography for that particular setting, so people will struggle to place you. And not because they hate men, either. Creating a story about this non-story to depict how evil and racist certain groups of people are (who are inevitably white and male in these stories) is just bad journalism. (They pulled the same thing with gamers and Star Wars fans, too.)
Shame on you Luke, and shame on you, Wired.
