[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka This is what I meant, the series. What I meant to ask is, if there is a series for adult ladies and it is called that way, do you think the nature of the series extends its label on the participants? As in, if you are competing in a series for adult ladies then you are, by definition of your series, a lady kendoka?

And in gaming analogy, if there is a female-only tournament, would participating in that label all participants as female gamers regardless of how they feel about it?

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I don't feel it labels us in terms of sports. Some disciplines have different series for different weight levels for example. The series are divided with the attempt to make the participants more uniform within the series. In kendo someone much taller and with more strength has an obvious advantage and it's very unfun even for the spectators. I watched some really extreme cases of mismatched opponents in team fights back in January.

As for the female-only gaming tournaments, I don't know. Never participated in one, so I don't really have an opinion about them.

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka It is interesting how there are several ways to divide participants, and combinations thereof. As you said, there is a weight approach, not sure if there is a high approach if those extreme cases you described still happen. And then there is rank, and age, maybe, and gender. And those can be combined, like only males and only females of a certain rank and weight.

But in e-sports, many of those do not apply. Weight or height has no bearing on performance there, I'd think. Rank, age, and gender are about everything I could think of. Maybe the labels in gaming tournaments are more powerful because there are not as many of them available? Or maybe there is no difference at all...

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch In the case of tournaments ranks definitely could be labels, you do see them on streams, for example "grandmaster player". I don't think age is very relevant unless you are an outlier and want to make emphasis on that.

[GoLLuM13]

@Saka The age reminds me of one of our discussions 😁 reflexes and/or physical shape vs knowledge and/or experience 😁

I'll be honest with all of you, I'm reading you from the beginning, and I really want to understand, but I still don't. Where is the problem in saying "female gamer" and "male gamer" ?

[Saka]

@GoLLuM13 Right now there's too much of association with the negative stereotypes. People use it a lot as an insult, similarly to let's say, "you fight like a girl". The worlds themselves are not the problem, but the context is and that is what gives the world the meaning. Unfortunately, until the default context is phased out of memory... people whom it affects tend to prefer alternatives.

Even as the example of "female kendoka", we don't really use that. We have "kendo ladies" instead and similar constructs.

Sometimes a small difference in wording can carry a huge difference in meaning, too. "Disabled people" is seen as condescending, while "people with disabilities" gives the agency back to them.

[GoLLuM13]

I like "Kendo Ladies" better than "Female Kendoka". But any formulation shouldn't be an insult and we shouldn't give it this power. Words have the power and the meaning we give to them, so if we say that it's an insult while it is not, it will become an insult. That's just my opinion 👀