Humans have historically been rooted in distinct socially constructed gender roles, and we set a certain standard between men and women for the sake of preserving society. Many platforms discuss this topic, and obviously, we can see how that affects the professional careers where people quickly assume STEM and construction fields are for men. Like many male-dominated areas, the esports scene lacks female players in the professional gaming scene, which applies to all other areas in the gaming industry too. Even though according to Statista, almost 45% of females play computer games occasionally, women often do not see a career in gaming as an option.
There is a lack of role models with whom women can identify with and there is pressure to conform to gender stereotypes, leading to the underrepresentation of women in many areas. As an international student from an Asian family background, I experienced parents crazy about education and future job success.
My parents always wanted me to focus on studying with extensive tutoring after school. I remember when the computer era happened multiple places called Internet cafes popped up, somewhat similar to the computer lab or PC gaming section in Game Work Seattle. They only served PCs to anyone who wanted to use the Internet or play games on PCs (omg, why does this make me feel so old).
The gender stereotype about boys playing video games has become normalized in the culture. For those with families of boys, the parents hated those places because they were afraid that their kids would skip school and stay there the whole day to play games. As a girl, I didn’t have the nerve to step into one of those places even though there was one right next to my house. And let me tell you, my mom wasn’t pleased with the loud noise from that Internet cafe.
Eventually, esports became cool among Vietnamese teenage boys, with many popular games like League of Legends, Dota 2, Arena of Valor, etc. More and more places like internet cafes were booming with an increasing number of players who dedicate their time to playing esports, so many owners expanded the space and upgraded their PCs (the number of PCs in some places is even enough for a tournament). At the time, I thought this was super exciting because I sawl more people getting into technology by playing games and learning to navigate the internet ruled world. I knew that the gaming industry would be a big thing in the future because who gets bored of playing games?
However, the media is not usually a fan of this new esports scene. Newspapers have started to release titles such as “Online gaming and the consequences.” They began to criticize kids who spend time playing games and stated that it is a gaming addiction that would lead to ignoring studying and having bad attitudes. The parents were freaked out and started to blame their kids for playing a game or using phones too much.As I look back, parents always blamed playing games for causing bad grades at school. Therefore, the esports scene became a big NO for parents, because they thought playing games would lead to nothing.
A couple of years later, as the esports scene became more prominent, I remember the news had a more positive attitude towards esports. They talked about some Vietnamese kids who are now professional players for the China or Korea team in League of Legends and how successful they are.
After that some parents had a more positive perspective on playing games and became more open-minded about the esports scene and gaming industry in general. The fascinating thing is now esports is becoming a massive trend in Vietnam. There are many professional players and regional tournaments and so many other aspects that support the growth of the gaming industry. I think this is an excellent start to expand the knowledge of the gaming industry and bring awareness of gender stereotypes in the esports scene.
During spring break, I had an awesome opportunity to join March Genius League panels featuring a few amazing women who work behind the scenes at Evil Geniuses. Evil Geniuses is one of the oldest and most recognizable brands in professional gaming, “it was founded 20 years ago on the belief that passion, commitment, and innovation could transform a particular interest into a global phenomenon” (Evil Genius’s statement). With the support from many incredible women leaders, especially their CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson, Evil Geniuses is thriving with many successes in the esports championships. I’d love to see Evil Geniuses expand their great potential to cultivate more incredible individuals for the greatness of EG.
There were fantastic conversations with four guest speakers (Myki, Taylor, Zoe, and Jeannie) who are women leaders working in different areas at Evil Geniuses. It’s great to listen to their incredible stories about where they started and their transition into the gaming industry, especially their path to Evil Geniuses.
Interestingly, these remarkable women all have different ways that led them to the esports industry. For example, Jeannie started as a teacher and became interested in the gaming industry. She is now a social media specialist for Evil Geniuses. Besides updating posts about EG’s championship on social media, Jeannie is also a supportive fan of the team whenever they are in a tournament, which is what I always love to do. I love Jeannie’s story about being supportive and side-by-side with the team during the champion league. Having someone who consistently supports the team like Jeannie is important because having someone cheer the team members up and put them in a higher and positive state of mind could elevate their feeling and give them incredible energy to perform in a championship.
There are also Taylor and Zoe’s stories. They loved esports, followed their passion with confidence, and eventually became a great asset to the Evil Geniuses team! Taylor used to be a chess coach but advanced her skills and critical thinking through many previous job positions to become director of talent management for Evil Geniuses. She also gave the viewers some great leadership tips, figuring out which tasks are fittable to who and managing others.
We also have Myki’s story, who is new to the gaming industry but wants to explore the gaming industry and stay for her career—because of that, more girls will see women leaders who are incredibly talented, confident, and successful in what they accomplish. I believe these talented women have set a new image and broken boundaries for many future women generations who want to go beyond the gender norms and are passionate about what they love to do.
Seeing the changes and evolution of esports has amazed me, which I love about the gaming industry. I feel like esports aren’t afraid of anything, it’s like an extensive community with many incredible people from many fields involved in the industry. Like any other sports, it’s all about connection, having some fun, and being a better version of yourself. And that’s also what I like about Evil Geniuses and their incredible CEO, Nicole LaPointe Jameson, who has transformed EG with a brand new identity and whole energetic spirit.
I love to see women pioneer a unique and essential dimension to the esports scene from many roles. Despite the idea that gaming was a boy’s world, we can see many women leaders created an excellent foundation for esports’ rise and empowered a new generation of women with their unapologetic attitude.
Today, many women are pushing beyond their expectations of gender tropes. They are involved in the gaming industry, from streamers and professional players, to working behind the scenes as editors and designers. It inspires me to keep being curious and explore different areas and new potentials as a design student. And of course, since I play Valorant – one of the most popular first-person hero shooters developed and published by Riot Games, working in the gaming industry is something that I strive for.I would love to be a part of the growing community.
I hope this article will inspire you to explore new aspects of your career path, boost confidence in yourself, and trust the process in your goals.