Results from the first day

I'm very happy to report that the first day of the 20 Sided Women Project I already have some promising beginnings!

I decided to post a thread on the RPGnet forums and see if most people agreed that women were a minority when it came to RPGs.  Of 23 people who specifically responded to their experiences or findings when it came to pen and paper RPGs, 19 of them said women were a minority, which is about 82.6%.  The remaining four people said their experiences were more of a 50/50 split.  Of course, being an Economics major I want to tell that the data collection pool was small and non-specific, so this isn't quite the finding I'm hoping for.  

This poll from an earlier thread on the RPGnet forums shows that the perceptions of gamers on that site is that somewhere between 10 to 25 percent of gamers are women.  At least, I should say those were where most of the responses were for perception.  I'd like to thank Lauren from the forums for pointing this my way.

There were also a few theories thrown around about women interacting with the RPG community.  One that I found interesting was the idea that having even just one woman in your RPG group will increase the likelihood that another woman would also play in that group.  

I also heard about some men that apparently feel that women shouldn't be at the table.  Forum member Gordon Horne shared 3 experiences with those kind of players:

#1 obviously had been bullied a lot. The gaming table with fellow dweebs was his safety zone. He was very uncomfortable anywhere within ten feet of a female. Counter girls in stores or restaurants made him nervous. Why, i don't know. His opposition to girl gamers was clearly due to a perceived infringement of his safety zone.

#2 loved to tell filthy jokes and talk big about what he'd do to this or that celebrity. When a female member was proposed he freaked out and said it would cramp our style. I guess he was afraid she would smack him down. Not that we didn't smack him down(...) 

#3 was a self-proclaimed macho man. He did manly things. He believed women should not be in positions of authority over men in the workplace, certainly not over him(...)For reasons i never probed, he considered tabletop RPGs to be a manly pursuit. Women didn't do manly pursuits. Period.

Unfortunately there was also some sexism on the boards to, with someone stating

Women are not a minority in RPGs.

Women who I would want to "beep" are a minority in RPGs. You gals aren't gonna win any beauty contest. Then again the guys aren't that great either. If either of you two sexes have to mate at least do it with someone from outside of the RPG community.

At least this poster was reprimanded.  But I didn't realize that such hostility existed in the gaming community.  Something tells me this is the minority, but if this minority is vocal enough, wouldn't any woman not want to participate?

Also, let the record show I am definitely one fine looking woman who loves RPGs.  And it's not just my boyfriend agreeing with me.  

The RPGChicago meetup I went to yesterday was a great way to meet some individuals one on one who had been playing RPGs long than I have and have seen the community evolve.  One guy, Zoltan, admitted that the female minority in the RPG community is a "dynamic that needs to be overcome."  Talking with other gamers brought up a lot of points too.  

I will say that a lot of the people I talked to were men, I don't think I met one female gamer at that meet.  Not that the male gamers weren't helpful with their experiences.  Especially when it came to relationships.  It seems that there are a lot more male gamers bringing their female companions to the table than female gamers pursuing it on their own.  Why is this?  Could it go back to the women usually not playing on their own?  

I am thankful that there is a lot of support for this blog already, including fellow blogger Dan of Giant Battling Robots for putting the word out there.  I guess this means this show ain't going to stop anytime soon.  I will continue to investigate!  And interview!  Some should be happening shortly.

Also, I need more actual women to come forward.  Not that the men don't have a say, but I haven't spoken to a lot of women just yet.  Where are you?  I know you're out there!

Expect an interview or two to happen soon.