There has been a bit of buzz this week around a topic that rears it’s head semi-reguarly: Women in Magic.
This time it started with a contest for The hottest girl in Magic with a call for photos that Nerds would analyze in detail. Contest or collecting spank bank material? There was an instant flurry of protest in twitter, and notably This is why we can’t have nice things by Thea.
This is something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time. And not just specifically women in Magic. There’re a certain stereotype of what sort of person plays magic. Like any stereotype, it’s somewhat warranted but is by no means all inclusive or representative.
To summarize the stereotype, I remember a joke someone made once “Want to find the Magic event? Just follow the fat guys with backpacks.”
In my experience the outside world’s view of a Magic player is a classic nerd: male, late teens to early twenties, often overweight, socially inept, probably with less than adequate attention to personal hygiene.
There’s a lot of players that fit that stereotype. But there are plenty that don’t, and women are just one group within that.
Go to any FNM, PTQ, etc. and you’ll usually see players that fit that description to varying degrees. But you’ll see some who don’t. Women, little kids, older folks.
The worst part of this whole thing is that the fringe players get discriminated against. As an older guy I don’t get too much of that, but women players do.
I’d like to start a project to talk about this. I’m thinking of a series of essays, probably released in the form of a free ebook, that tell the stories of a collection of fringe players.
I personally know several women, several older players, and several players that started when they were quite young, but I need more. Consider this a call for authors who would like to tell their stories.
Are you, or do you know, someone who is outside what could be considered the “typical” Magic player? If so, would you like to write about your/their story?
There are a couple reasons this issue is important to me:
- I was introduced to the game by a woman, who taught me to play, and who usually handed me my ass when we played (which was a lot).
- For a couple years I was living in a long distance relationship and not screwing around. I was playing A LOT of magic during that time. My current girlfriend figures the magic was the reason I wasn’t getting laid (although the opposite would be more accurate).
My goal is to educate both the magic community, as well as those outside that look down their nose at Magic and those of us that love it.
So get in touch at dastels at gmail dot com if you would like to take part in this.
