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by Mary Van Tyne, Editor
Pass the Pizza A typical tournament scene. People are playing Magic, talking, eating, laughing. Those three guys in the corner are still debating over WOTC's reprint policy, and the teenage guys have staked out a table and are seeing what happens when you have your cards actually act out the game. Even the infamous Eugene T. Dudley is here, trading away all his OOPs for Shadow creatures and Licids. What's missing? One word - GIRLS! Has anyone else noticed an appaling lack of females who play Magic and other fantasy-oriented games? I, being female, noticed it right away. It's kind of hard NOT to notice when other girls come up to you and, in the span of five minutes, manage to insult your intelligence, friends, and choice of pastime. Why is this? For a myriad of reasons. First of all, girls are very concerned with image. How we present ourselves to the world is very important to us. Girls are constantly judging and being judged by each other; therefore, the pressure to look immaculate and have the right friends is very important. Also, most girls are rather concerned about how boys view them. For them, they think that looking good is the only way to snag a boyfriend. If you hang out with someone for an extended period of time, you tend to adopt some of their mannerisms and act much the way they do. Thus it is with me. I hang out with a group that is almost exclusively male. I find myself with an exceedingly short attention span, the ability to chug soda rapidly, and awful posture. This presents a rather non-typical image of a girl. Most girls are probably afraid that they'll start acting like guys if they hang out with them, and thus shun fantasy games and the like. This second piece of logic is the most insidious of all. Girls are extremely social beings; we go everywhere in a group. Heck, we can't even go to the bathroom alone! We always drag some female friend with us to reassure that we look fabulous. I digress. Anyway, girls don't play Magic because other girls don't play Magic. This may make no sense at first, but it is perfectly logical. If girls see that only guys do a certain thing (such as playing Magic) they will tend to gravitate away from that activity. If, however, more girls were as liberal as I am and decided to play Magic (or at least, be willing to learn) then they would manage to get more girls into the game. However, we've still got the same old tournament scene, which is mostly male. And until our society becomes more liberated, we're stuck with it. I'll happily take it as it is. Pass the pizza.
Mary Van Tyne
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