Smash player Lilian Chen discusses female treatment on the competitive scene

Coming from a Nintendo Life interview with Lilian "Milktea" Chen, a semi-retired Melee competitive player...

NL: In terms of social inclusion, where do you see the professional Smash Bros scene in 2015? Is there any noticeable change from when you first began?

LC: The strides regarding social inclusion in Smash can be seen for themselves! There are so many active women in the competitive Smash community, from talented players to tournament organizers. I currently do not actively follow Smash 4, but I've heard that there are several skilled female competitors in the scene. So badass!

NL: Why is competitive gaming so hard on women? Can you use any personal experiences to illustrate this?

LC: This is a hard question to answer without generalizing too, too much. To keep it short, I really liked one of Stef "PidgeZero"'s explanations I stumbled across online: socialization. I feel like many reasons for the skewed gender ratio in gaming can be traced back to this alone. The byproduct of the gender imbalance has definitely also lead to behaviors and social dynamics that are not always the most welcoming.

I've got a few personal experiences, but I hesitate to go into detail about them for two reasons. I don't want to accidentally speak on behalf of all women, and I also don't want to be accused of victimizing myself any further. The things I discussed in my TED Ed Talk give some introductory insight into some of the barriers I faced.