Sponsorship of female gamers a "joke"?
There hasn't been a good rant about female gamers for a while, but this article by Kim Rom delivers quite nicely. Looking at female gaming teams who seek sponsorship and attention based on their gender and looks rather than their skill, Kim points out the disparity in marketing between some female teams and the male teams they compete alongside.
The image on the right is an example of how one female team's homepage would look if the team were male; quite rightly, it's ridiculous. Kim is quite right to point out that some female teams do seek to differentiate themselves from the competition based on gender over skill; however, this isn't always the fault of the teams.
If a team of girl gamers wants to approach a sponsor for backing, as any team might do, they are going to use every asset in their arsenal to win the sponsor (and their cash) over. The sponsor's marketing department isn't blind; in an e-sport where most competitors are male, female teams stand out from the crowd and appeal to the audience. The sponsor wants this audience to buy their products, so they will capitalise on the female aspect of the team to squeeze every last drop of attention from their target market.
Sometimes the teams will take this approach first, learning the lessons of countless female teams before them: even if you don't want your gender to be an asset, by segregating into a female-only team, it will undoubtedly become one.
[via digg]
