Sexist prejudices, insults, cyberbullying… In theory a mixed discipline, esports continue to be a territory that is often hostile to women.
At 25 years old, this League of Legends player has just been named captain of the “French Bees”, the first 100% female team of Vitality, the leading esports club in France.
With his teammates “Chubby Daddy”, “Aly”, “Lilith” and “Kasane”, he is preparing to compete in the Gamers Assembly, one of the largest LANs (indoor tournaments) in France, and hopes to participate soon in the “Star Cup”, the women’s competition recently announced by Riot Games, the publisher of League of Legends.
Creating a women’s team, explains Fabien “Néo” Devide, head of Vitality, “is something we wanted to do for a long time.”
The practice of video games does not require any particular physical ability, nothing in theory prevents women from participating in the same competitions as men.
So why segment tournaments? Because only 6% of female esports players are gamers, argues the “Women in Games” association, and that participating in mixed esports competitions exposes them to sexism and harassment.
This is why more and more players in the sector are now betting on creating competitions reserved for women. Objective: to offer players a “healthy and safe” space and thus bring out new talents to promote diversity in the long term.
This approach, which may seem paradoxical, is “necessary”, says “Viki”. But this gender vision of competitions has not always been unanimous.
“We have evolved,” acknowledges Fabien Devide, creator of Vitality in 2013. “Before we were very pro-mixed. But when we all had this discourse, nothing was done (to include women) and in the end we wasted more time than anything else .”
“It is necessary at the beginning. We can’t let girls go like this in the pride of lions!” jokes “Viki”, who hopes she can inspire other girls to undertake.
“I didn’t have any female role models when I was young,” she explains. “I would have liked it, that’s why teams like ours can be a compass for young players. It can make them want to get involved, see that it’s possible, that it works, that we’re supervised, that’s great!”
“The creation of this women’s team is a first step in the diversity process that must be established in the practice of electronic sports,” estimates Anne-Marie Gaultier, marketing director of Aldi France, the main partner of the ‘ crew.
Within Vitality, the “French Bees” will benefit from the same supervision as the other teams at the club, which has two other formations in the League of Legends game, one participating in the LFL, the French first division, and the other in the LEC, the European elite.
Currently, none of the “French bees” have the level to claim it, “Viki” admits. “In fact, we don’t have the level for the LEC, that’s for sure. But it’s not because we are zero in our genes! It is because we have not been able to show that we were capable,” she said.
Source: BFM TV
