As a woman who regularly plays Magic: The Gathering, I often find myself wondering about the 38% statistic shared by Mark Rosewater back in 2015. As he pointed out, even though the number of female players has risen to 38%, that demographic is clearly not represented in those numbers in organized play. Instead women seem to prefer playing digitally through formats like Magic Arena and Magic Online, or casually with friends.
I personally think the disparity is deeper then just “male Magic players scare away women by being sexist,” because I’ve played at many different local game stores during my life and have never experienced any significant sexism while doing so. I know other women definitely have (Thea Miller’s “Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts” and Jessica Estephan’s “Oh You’re the Girl that Won a GP” come to mind), but I’m not sure if negative cultures at individual game stores is enough to explain the overwhelming lack of women in organized Magic.
Since I’ve gotten the chance to study this topic in-depth for my undergraduate research capstone, I’ve done some research into the sociology of why men are more likely to enjoy competition than women. But in order to apply my research to Magic’s specific situation, I need the perspective of actual players. If you’re interested and have the time, I have a survey on the topic and would welcome responses regardless of gender — I need to hear from men as well as women for my results to mean anything. Link here: https://gvsu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_428VKdKNEbtOVaR
I personally think the disparity is deeper then just “male Magic players scare away women by being sexist,” because I’ve played at many different local game stores during my life and have never experienced any significant sexism while doing so. I know other women definitely have (Thea Miller’s “Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts” and Jessica Estephan’s “Oh You’re the Girl that Won a GP” come to mind), but I’m not sure if negative cultures at individual game stores is enough to explain the overwhelming lack of women in organized Magic.
Since I’ve gotten the chance to study this topic in-depth for my undergraduate research capstone, I’ve done some research into the sociology of why men are more likely to enjoy competition than women. But in order to apply my research to Magic’s specific situation, I need the perspective of actual players. If you’re interested and have the time, I have a survey on the topic and would welcome responses regardless of gender — I need to hear from men as well as women for my results to mean anything. Link here: https://gvsu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_428VKdKNEbtOVaR