Because two female Pokémon players organized a tournament exclusively for women, they received a lot of criticism and hate from offended men.
What are these tournaments? Two passionate Pokémon players felt it was time for a series of tournaments where only women are allowed to participate. To this end, they created an initiative called “Gardevoir Cup.”
The aim was to create a safe environment for female players. Additionally, it sought to increase their visibility in the community. Especially women still struggle with bullying and sexism. Issues that continue to occur in gaming overall.
The first tournaments went well and were well received. However, when they attracted the attention of some male streamers, the situation changed.
The men feel excluded
What happened? Two Twitch streamers named Riopaser and Bl3sSur, who are heavily involved with Pokémon, discussed these tournaments in a stream. While they admitted that the competitive scene still has a problem with “machos,” they opposed tournaments that separate the genders.
According to Bl3sSur, someone who organizes such an event “doesn’t really want equality.” As a man, he felt offended because he was excluded from the tournaments.
The comments from the two streamers initially met with little favor in their own community. They were accused of having this discussion without a woman present. Unfortunately, the issue was not resolved with that.
What happened next? In the following days, a wave of hate arose against the female tournament organizers. This ultimately led them to cancel upcoming competitions and avoid the scene altogether:
We will keep our distance from the community. This includes all types of live tournaments and streaming. We know that there are many people who support us, but we believe that this community needs a complete change and that the problems will not be solved in the short or medium term.
Statement from the tournament organizer, via 3D Juegos
They also did not ask for the topic to be discussed this way. They currently feel very uncomfortable and would rather take a step back.
The offended streamer Bl3sSur’s apology came two days later. By that time, the damage had already been done. Whether similar tournaments for women will occur again in the future remains to be seen.
Experienced players like the Spanish player Whytenyss consider the tournaments a good way to spare women from uncomfortable situations at traditional tournaments. At least in some parts of the scene, there seems to be increased sensitivity to certain issues – which was the reason for a player’s disqualification at a Pokémon tournament.
