> However, most of the > women I know who have turned away from the game have done so less for > reasons like this and more because they have experienced some direct, > overt sexism, like male captains who won't take them seriously, won't > consult them on bonuses but _will_ defer to all the males on the team . . . I think the overarching problem isn't that it's dominated by men, but that there's a disproportionate number of quiz bowl people (of both genders) with poor social skills, or people who are just jerks. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's that those who are attracted to the game are used to being the best at all things academic, which leads to a bunch of big egos floating around. Whatever the reason, nobody enjoys playing with people who have difficult personalities, and road trips on Saturdays mean that you not only have to play with them, you have to spend hours with them in the car, sleep in the same hotel room... it's easy to see why you'd just drop out altogether. I'm not denying that there are problems with sexism in quiz bowl. It does exist. But that problem is added to, or even exacerbated by, players who aren't good at getting along with others. Loyola's team has always been evenly balanced between men and women, and I've personally never experienced a problem within my own team with the men shutting the women out. I would chalk that up to everyone being friends (or at the least, friendly) with each other and also knowing their own strengths and limitations. I would suggest that if male quiz bowlers notice this happening on their team, to talk about it with the offender and see if it can't get ironed out that way instead of growing into a power struggle during tournaments or women dropping out. To women who have been shut out- call the offender out on it. Take him (or her) aside after the round and ask, "Are you not taking input from me because I'm female?" It might be other things- maybe gut instinct said to go with something else, or two other team members agreed on a different answer. Even if it is "yes, because you're a girl," it's going to have to be the biggest ass in the world who would freely admit to it. If that's the case, at least it'll be openly known that the discrimination has been noticed and will be watched for. But you've got to stand up for yourself and call them out on it. If the differences can't be negotiated, recruit three friends and form your own team, or a team-within-the-bigger team, and play with them regularly. Every female player we've had on our team is someone I know would refuse to be intimidated and speak up- in any situation- and I'm glad for it. Quiz Bowl is a more easily leveled playing field than other "good ol' boy" clubs. You don't have to be bigger or stronger (and even if you did, there's not a whole lot of other players that I can't see us beating in a fistfight). Eventually, the only result of ignoring input from strong female (or male) players is going to be that your own team's scores are hurt; that the other teams in the room will witness the repeated stupidity of missing out on correct answers; and that, over time, the individual stats will (unless she AND her teammates are being shut out in toss-ups by a stronger player on the team) reflect the strength of the overlooked player.
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