Gee, the same conversation we've had every year (at least) since the origin of alt.college.college-bowl in the bronze age! I won't get heavily involved in analyzing the reasons for any gender disparity, but I do want to point out something: > From: aggielibrarian > Maybe the game just doesn't appeal to as many women. Maybe the > general social ineptness I have witnessed at many tournaments doesn't > foster a welcoming environment for women. Who knows? > From: matt979 > Given just how antisocial some quiz- > bowl players can be, I can see where this wouldn't seem like a group > of people whom "outsiders" would be eager to join. With these two comments, I must add: many of us are driven into quiz bowl precisely because we find normal quotidian socializing stressful or unenjoyable (or at least that's why we enjoy it so much). I'm far from the best player and I don't play tournaments any more, but occasionally I'll still go to practices (and volunteer-moderate at tournaments) -- quiz bowl is the community of people into which I fit best. Where else can you meet a bunch of people who love knowledge for knowledge's sake, and make nerdy jokes about Belgium or Chester Arthur, and have other people not look at you like you're totally cucko? Given who I am, that is golden. Social ineptness / anti-social nature often (usually?) does not come from a bad heart. It most often comes from one's inner preferences, determined by some combination of nature, nurture, and everything in between. In my specific example, I'm an unabashed intellectual / academic, and I could use my Asperger's Syndrome (mild high-functioning autism) to further illustrate why most usual types of socializing have little interest for me; I'm no good at them, they stress me out, and they make me feel worse about myself for trying to force myself into them. Plus, there are female nerds too. > From: Rob Linham <rob_linham_at_...> > If I had to give some advice to you guys on righting the gender balance, > I'd suggest cracking down on the handful of jerks who treat this game like > it's life and death. [...] It's got to be said that this group isn't exactly a good > advert for the game - I'm frequently sitting here shaking my head in > despair as someone posts another terribly serious and self-absorbed piece I would fully agree with this. > From: tgallows > I have no nominations for best Greek-Hungarian player. Best Indian > player is pretty much a given Anyone want to challenge me for best Irish-German-Hungarian-Romanian 'Murkin Euromutt player? Doug
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