Sexual harassment. That seems pretty obvious. Do you actually need a list? It can't be possible that you're totally ignorant about how boy's clubs tend to work.
I don't play with people or at places where things like that are tolerated. I understand that "nerd culture" is pretty sexist but to say that is what is preventing women from playing more is definitely pushing it.
I'm far more likely to believe that maybe women don't have the same interests as men in general.
I don't play with people or at places where things like that are tolerated. I understand that "nerd culture" is pretty sexist but to say that is what is preventing women from playing more is definitely pushing it.
I'm far more likely to believe that maybe women don't have the same interests as men in general.
I find it amusing that you admit that nerd culture is sexist, disclaim that you yourself are sexist, and then immediately express a sexist opinion ("Women as a class don't like Magic or the things Men like").
It's even worse that you're using it as a reason not to examine or think about the status quo. You've decided it's a state of nature - neither changeable or able to be changed.
I find it amusing that you admit that nerd culture is sexist, disclaim that you yourself are sexist, and then immediately express a sexist opinion ("Women as a class don't like Magic or the things Men like").
It's even worse that you're using it as a reason not to examine or think about the status quo. You've decided it's a state of nature - neither changeable or able to be changed.
Saying that men and women are different and may like different things is definitely not sexist.
I'd prefer if you didn't apply your beliefs to my statements.
Edit: I also never said that I wasn't sexist (although that statement reads horribly), only that I don't have to deal with sexism when I play. Completely different.
Saying that men and women are different and may like different things is definitely not sexist.
Men and women are different, physically.
But you didn't say women may like different things. You said they do. You said it with all the certainty that you'd say the sky was blue.
Given the mounds of scientific evidence that behavioral gender-based differences are essentially entirely the product of socialization, I think you're on shaky ground saying you don't hold sexist beliefs. I know of no evidence that would suggest women are inherently predisposed to dislike games.
Edit: I also never said that I wasn't sexist (although that statement reads horribly), only that I don't have to deal with sexism when I play. Completely different.
Since you're expressing sexist beliefs, and you're there where you play, I would argue that sexism is present where you play. That you're not necessarily inflicting it on yourself is not the point.
Since you're expressing sexist beliefs, and you're there where you play, I would argue that sexism is present where you play. That you're not necessarily inflicting it on yourself is not the point.
There is absolutely nothing sexist about what Jivan said. The belief that men and women should be limited to gender roles is sexist, the idea that men and women may find different things interesting is not. I think you are spewing self-righteous nonsense and demonizing people as a way of dismissing any opinion that does not reflect your own. In other words I think you are a bully; I can't stand bullies.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If combo should die before I wake I'll slide a Smokestack in every deck I play, roll in every shop wreck the Spirit of EDH.
The belief that men and women should be limited to gender roles is sexist, the idea that men and women may find different things interesting is not.
The former is true. The latter is not. There is no evidence that gendered preferences are anything other than socialized, which means two things:
1) Acting as though currently-observed gendered preferences, or that gendered preferences, period, are somehow the "natural order of things" is sexist.
2) Questioning the underlying socialization is totally appropriate, and necessary.
A man and a woman will of course find different things fun. Men and Women are not likewise.
In other words I think you are a bully; I can't stand bullies.
And you're both tone-policing and concern-trolling, both of which are just passive-aggressive ways to bully.
The 2028 date only seems ridiculous because of the 10 year requirement. The author is essentially saying "female MTG players will probably become more prominent in the next few years," which isn't really shocking.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
#define ALWAYS SOMETIMES
#define NEVER RARELY
#define ALL MANY
-=GIVE US SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN=-
I'm nerd enough to link my WoW Armory Though I'll put it in a small font.
I think better gender balance would be good for the game (men and women alike), but women are not at any disadvantage whatsoever when it comes to playing the game (besides perhaps from having less incentive to play the game if there aren't as many female friends to share the experience with). There's no need to manufacture a female superstar; there are plenty of female players who can succeed on their own merits.
Also, having a female Hall of Famer seems like an extremely arbitrary criterion for gender equality. No one I play Magic with gives a crap about the Hall of Fame (granted, we are all Legacy players, so things like Pro Tours mean nothing to us), and the Magic Hall of Fame certainly doesn't carry the weight of their counterparts in Cooperstown, Canton, or Springfield.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Due to real-life obligations, I am taking a long break from Magic which may include missing the local Legacy GP. Apologies for not being able to keep my threads updated.
80s and 90s toy marketing is the reason girls don't play games in general.
I feel things are definitely changing. For starters the nerds of the 70s have grown up and had children, introducing their now teenage/collage age children of both genders to Star wars/star trek/doctor who, Dungeons and dragons etc. I have heard people also say that LotRs movies also helped it to be, ok to be a nerd.
Pen and Paper RPGs are widely popular with women in my experience. That is where magic started.
Although their numbers are still small, there is only 1 or 2 women at FNM. It is up to three women that play in my playgroup now.
People complain that they only play because their boyfriends do or whatever. I found that is why they started playing, but they keep playing even after they break up with the guy. They always wanted to play, they just didn't think it was for them or ok for them to do it.
Because of the way things like magic were marketed for so long.
tl;dr Marketing is the basically the only reason women didn't/don't play magic.
Well Melissa DelTora is the first to top 8 a Pro Tour. how many does she need for pro tour HoF? Thea Steel top 8ed the SCG invitational this weekend that's a tough tournament.... It's starting.
But you didn't say women may like different things. You said they do. You said it with all the certainty that you'd say the sky was blue.
Given the mounds of scientific evidence that behavioral gender-based differences are essentially entirely the product of socialization
...
This is simply wrong. Breakthroughs in brain connectivity mapping have shown quite notable differences in the way average male and female brains are wired.
Stereotypes are bad because you cannot assume generalizations about a specific individual.
To claim that two different populations cant be described as different on average is simply taking political correctness to the point of ridiculousness.
You cant assume that any specific person has certain preferences based on their sex (that would most certainly be sexist), however you can make statistical generalizations regarding the overall population as a whole.
Its not sexist, racist, etc to point out the fact that two distinct populations are on average different.
It's amazing to me that people somehow have been led to believe that sexism/racism/etc is when someone says anything that make an unequal distinction between two groups.
Please use your brain to reason instead of simply to repeat what someone on TV said.
I think it could be interesting to discuss what is it about Magic that doesn't appeal to women, without resorting to the bs about gamers being stinky. I think that most of the creature cards and types do are based around male 20 year old tastes which has a big impact on this. Also, the creatures in Magic tend to be throw-away tool, where in most of the card games similar to MTG that have larger female audiences tend to have creatures that are more of a resource or end in of itself. Finally, as a general rule, cards that tend to bolster creatures in some way tend to awful for constructed play.
It's amazing to me that people somehow have been led to believe that sexism/racism/etc is when someone says anything that make an unequal distinction between two groups.
Please use your brain to reason instead of simply to repeat what someone on TV said.
I think it could be interesting to discuss what is it about Magic that doesn't appeal to women, without resorting to the bs about gamers being stinky. I think that most of the creature cards and types do are based around male 20 year old tastes which has a big impact on this. Also, the creatures in Magic tend to be throw-away tool, where in most of the card games similar to MTG that have larger female audiences tend to have creatures that are more of a resource or end in of itself. Finally, as a general rule, cards that tend to bolster creatures in some way tend to awful for constructed play.
I think it's just a self reinforcing concept. Few women play Magic because few women want to play a game that's 99% male, which then discourages other women from playing. Nothing about the gameplay itself.
Having strong female characters in mtg would be a start. Something they could relate to. The Legendary Creature club seems to be one big ol' sausage fest.
It's like going down some checklist. "Oh let's have our female hall of famer now so that we have one."
I remember people getting all giddy and excited that we were finally going to have an in-show female Kamen Rider in Kamen Rider Wizard because..there wasn't one before so it's like a big deal?
Seriously, take gender out of the equation. Who cares? Honestly? Instead of trying to shape someone to be the female hall of famer, just have a person that deserves to be in the hall of fame be in the hall of fame because of their accomplishments and give no special regard to their gender?
Same crap with the gal that was invited to some big tournament recently. People making such a big deal because she was a girl and not because she was a good player.
Maybe you should watch this documentary: http://youtu.be/p5LRdW8xw70
Because what you are saying is false. There are differences between men and woman starting from birth. It's not all socialized. Most of this "gender studies" is total bogus. Socialization for sure has something to do with the development of every person but it's not the only reason for the different interests of man and woman.
Not to derail the topic or anything, but that documentary generated a ton of controversy in Norway. Take a look at around the 9:00 mark where Eia brings up a possibility for gender inequality being that boy children and girl children are literally raised from birth to think and act differently, then refutes that idea by talking to his mother and two children - a colossal sample size - and moves right on for a general idea of the depth of investigation involved. It's about as biased and ham-handed as political commentary from Michael Moore or FOX News.
This is simply wrong. Breakthroughs in brain connectivity mapping have shown quite notable differences in the way average male and female brains are wired.
But doesn't the concept of neuroplasticity render any "proof" of difference between adult male and female brains completely moot? The current model for the brain is that it is an ever-changing organ that constantly responds and reshapes to new environmental stimulus, not something that hardens at some point during development as was previously thought for a long time - and if that's the case, then aren't you obviously going to see significant neurological differences between men and women if society is constantly giving out signals of how they are different?
I think it's just a self reinforcing concept. Few women play Magic because few women want to play a game that's 99% male, which then discourages other women from playing. Nothing about the gameplay itself.
The NFL is the best example I can think of when a male-only franchise realized it had saturated its male-only customer base and decided to expand to women. It worked as well as it could: there is a significant fan base among women today that just wasn't there 20 years ago.
If the NFL did it, Wizards can do it too.
Today, of course, we are at something close to zero.....not just at the competitive level, but also at your local FNM.
Any player can become a hall of famer in Magic. Being male or female is not a prerequisite for this title. If a player consistently performs well at top level competitive events and is an active member in the community, then they should become eligible for the HoF.
As far as the Hall of Fame committee goes (if there is one), I doubt there's a requirement to have X number of people from any specific subsection in order to make their HoF well rounded. It should only be based on performance and community participation.
I don't pay attention too closely to the magic pros, however I do read
these forums and scg. Of note, Thea Steele and Carrie Oliver are just two
very successful magic players right now. In fact, Thea just made the top
8 of the latest SCG Invitational and Carrie writes for Channel Fireball in addition
to many Magic accomplishments including 3 pro tour invites since starting 3 years ago.
The one thing that I'm not certain about is how much grinding / travel it would truly
take to get into the HoF. Is it possible with the popularity of magic these days
to get into the HoF without being a full time player? At a glance, the recently invented/released scg players' championship doesn't have a woman listed in the top 100.
Same crap with the gal that was invited to some big tournament recently. People making such a big deal because she was a girl and not because she was a good player.
i think the issue was many were upset because they felt she got the invite solely because she was a woman. the feeling was that there were many in the community that had done and do more, had better tournament successes, and had a larger magic persona, but she was chosen simply because she was a woman. yes, she does have some credentials in regards to the game, but not close to the ones held by the many others that were overlooked.
There is no reason why women should like it less to this degree. There is nothing about the game of magic that makes it inherently attractive to only males. Please try to correct me if you think I'm wrong.
In general, women tend to be less competitive than men, so most woman don't like competitive games that much. Of course there are exceptions, and also I'm not saying a woman can't like Magic, but commonly we men are more interested in things that involve "winning" and "losing" than women are. This is just anecdotal, but for example, my girlfriend is a great fan of cooperative games, in which all players play together against the computer (like the multiplayer mode of Final Fantasy), while she doesn't like that much games which are about playing against the other players. In my case, it's the opposite: I like playing against other people more than I like playing with other people.
I bet Wizards will just induct a woman, regardless of the 10 year requirement, in the next 5 years or so under the guise of some sort of achievement award. It will create controversy of course because everyone will know she only won because she is a woman. In America we have this whole meritocracy obsession and get mad when someone is simply appointed or chosen for something based on a non-meritorious factor, like gender or race. Alas, Wizards will then release an article with the resounding message of "Deal with it, bro." and that my friends will be that.
I bet Wizards will just induct a woman, regardless of the 10 year requirement, in the next 5 years or so under the guise of some sort of achievement award. It will create controversy of course because everyone will know she only won because she is a woman. In America we have this whole meritocracy obsession and get mad when someone is simply appointed or chosen for something based on a non-meritorious factor, like gender or race. Alas, Wizards will then release an article with the resounding message of "Deal with it, bro." and that my friends will be that.
You say women tend to be less competitive than men and don't like competitive games. Are you saying women don't like to compete? I'm not sure what you're basing that on.
Are there not lots of women competing in sports? For example the Olympics has seen massive growth in female participants since world war II according to wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_at_the_Olympics
Until world war II, female participation was around 10%, in 2012 it was 45%. Has the very nature of the female gender changed in that time period? The women compete in strength competitions and even contact sports. I'm sure you have many friends who would not like to compete in contact sports. But does that say anything about the gender as a whole?
I'd like to know why you think females are less inclined to be competitive and how much less. Because I don't see the numbers adding up.
It's something that is being studied... Heck there may even be numbers out there somewhere but I am too lazy to go find them. Pointing to the Olympics does not somehow show that women in general are just as competitive as men... Olympic athletes are less than 1% of the population... It's not hard to imagine that, even with a much smaller chance of being highly competitive, women would be able to match men in Olympic participation.
Is a study that looked at 9-10 year olds and found that simply making running into a competition made the boys run faster but not the girls. Again nobody is saying that all girls are less competitive than all men, but it's highly likely that in general men are more competitive than women.
Now whether or not it's natural has nothing to do with MTG... Even if the competitiveness is manufactured by social forces growing up that's not something WotC can change or worry about... At it's highest levels MTG is a competitive game, they really can't or shouldn't try to manufacture less competitive areas just to help increase female participation in areas that could be recognized in a "hall of fame".
*Wizards of the Coast takes serious realization that they have a product that both males and females can enjoy, but the awareness and interest in the product seems to only be getting to male players.
*Look into its own advertising system in order to get product awareness to more females.
*Successfully advertise to female customers; get a giant influx of female customers.
*More liklihood of female PRO players and thus a female Hall of Famer.
Same thing with Pokemon. At first, only boys played it, they realized this and advertized to girls as well, and then everybody played it. They didn't go around saying dumb stuff like, "Maybe girls just don't like pokemon or the game appeals only to boys' mentality."
This is the best post in this thread and needs to be brought up again.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'll hold myself to this. I'll get fancy dishes and everything.
...
What is your explanation for the increase of competitive female players in magic by the way?
Just figured I'd point out that this doesnt really require explanation.
If the subset A is a certain percentage of population X, and population X expands exponentially, then its hardly unimaginable that subset A would expand as well.
Edit:
As an aside, I personally think a lot of the reason for disproportionate representation come from stigmas still placed upon MTG players as a whole by people outside the community, which isnt something you can really blame the community itself for. (aside from just not standing up for ourselves enough)
Athletics dont really seem like a good comparison because Olympians are pretty much universally looked up to. Competitive Magic on the other hand isnt even aspired to by large percentages of the Magic community itself. And Magic as a whole is largely looked down upon by large segments of the overall population.
As a result, competitive Magic only draws a limited set of fairly specific personality types, which on average have been disproportionately male.
And you cant really just refuse to acknowledge societal factors. People can argue all day long about what percentage of development is nature and what percentage is nurture, but regardless of that debate, societal gender preferences are not the responsibility of the specific Magic community.
Its just being obtuse to blame the low numbers of competitive female players on "Magic players being sexist".
I don't play with people or at places where things like that are tolerated. I understand that "nerd culture" is pretty sexist but to say that is what is preventing women from playing more is definitely pushing it.
I'm far more likely to believe that maybe women don't have the same interests as men in general.
I find it amusing that you admit that nerd culture is sexist, disclaim that you yourself are sexist, and then immediately express a sexist opinion ("Women as a class don't like Magic or the things Men like").
It's even worse that you're using it as a reason not to examine or think about the status quo. You've decided it's a state of nature - neither changeable or able to be changed.
Saying that men and women are different and may like different things is definitely not sexist.
I'd prefer if you didn't apply your beliefs to my statements.
Edit: I also never said that I wasn't sexist (although that statement reads horribly), only that I don't have to deal with sexism when I play. Completely different.
Men and women are different, physically.
But you didn't say women may like different things. You said they do. You said it with all the certainty that you'd say the sky was blue.
Given the mounds of scientific evidence that behavioral gender-based differences are essentially entirely the product of socialization, I think you're on shaky ground saying you don't hold sexist beliefs. I know of no evidence that would suggest women are inherently predisposed to dislike games.
Since you're expressing sexist beliefs, and you're there where you play, I would argue that sexism is present where you play. That you're not necessarily inflicting it on yourself is not the point.
There is absolutely nothing sexist about what Jivan said. The belief that men and women should be limited to gender roles is sexist, the idea that men and women may find different things interesting is not. I think you are spewing self-righteous nonsense and demonizing people as a way of dismissing any opinion that does not reflect your own. In other words I think you are a bully; I can't stand bullies.
WBRG Saskia the Unyielding
WUB Sharuum the Hegemon
RWU Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest
RG Wort, the Raidmother
WU Brago, King Eternal
B Chainer, Dementia Master
The former is true. The latter is not. There is no evidence that gendered preferences are anything other than socialized, which means two things:
1) Acting as though currently-observed gendered preferences, or that gendered preferences, period, are somehow the "natural order of things" is sexist.
2) Questioning the underlying socialization is totally appropriate, and necessary.
A man and a woman will of course find different things fun. Men and Women are not likewise.
And you're both tone-policing and concern-trolling, both of which are just passive-aggressive ways to bully.
Though I'll put it in a small font.
Please stop hijacking my reply box.
Also, having a female Hall of Famer seems like an extremely arbitrary criterion for gender equality. No one I play Magic with gives a crap about the Hall of Fame (granted, we are all Legacy players, so things like Pro Tours mean nothing to us), and the Magic Hall of Fame certainly doesn't carry the weight of their counterparts in Cooperstown, Canton, or Springfield.
Legacy
UWR Miracles UWR
GWB Maverick GWB
GB Elves GB
UBR ANT UBR
RG Combo Lands RG
Vintage
BUG BUG Fish BUG
Modern
GBW
Junk PodMagic: the Buylistingwww.polygon.com/features/2013/12/2/5143856/no-girls-allowed
80s and 90s toy marketing is the reason girls don't play games in general.
I feel things are definitely changing. For starters the nerds of the 70s have grown up and had children, introducing their now teenage/collage age children of both genders to Star wars/star trek/doctor who, Dungeons and dragons etc. I have heard people also say that LotRs movies also helped it to be, ok to be a nerd.
Pen and Paper RPGs are widely popular with women in my experience. That is where magic started.
Although their numbers are still small, there is only 1 or 2 women at FNM. It is up to three women that play in my playgroup now.
People complain that they only play because their boyfriends do or whatever. I found that is why they started playing, but they keep playing even after they break up with the guy. They always wanted to play, they just didn't think it was for them or ok for them to do it.
Because of the way things like magic were marketed for so long.
tl;dr Marketing is the basically the only reason women didn't/don't play magic.
Well Melissa DelTora is the first to top 8 a Pro Tour. how many does she need for pro tour HoF? Thea Steel top 8ed the SCG invitational this weekend that's a tough tournament.... It's starting.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
This is simply wrong. Breakthroughs in brain connectivity mapping have shown quite notable differences in the way average male and female brains are wired.
Stereotypes are bad because you cannot assume generalizations about a specific individual.
To claim that two different populations cant be described as different on average is simply taking political correctness to the point of ridiculousness.
You cant assume that any specific person has certain preferences based on their sex (that would most certainly be sexist), however you can make statistical generalizations regarding the overall population as a whole.
Its not sexist, racist, etc to point out the fact that two distinct populations are on average different.
Please use your brain to reason instead of simply to repeat what someone on TV said.
I think it could be interesting to discuss what is it about Magic that doesn't appeal to women, without resorting to the bs about gamers being stinky. I think that most of the creature cards and types do are based around male 20 year old tastes which has a big impact on this. Also, the creatures in Magic tend to be throw-away tool, where in most of the card games similar to MTG that have larger female audiences tend to have creatures that are more of a resource or end in of itself. Finally, as a general rule, cards that tend to bolster creatures in some way tend to awful for constructed play.
I think it's just a self reinforcing concept. Few women play Magic because few women want to play a game that's 99% male, which then discourages other women from playing. Nothing about the gameplay itself.
It's like going down some checklist. "Oh let's have our female hall of famer now so that we have one."
I remember people getting all giddy and excited that we were finally going to have an in-show female Kamen Rider in Kamen Rider Wizard because..there wasn't one before so it's like a big deal?
Seriously, take gender out of the equation. Who cares? Honestly? Instead of trying to shape someone to be the female hall of famer, just have a person that deserves to be in the hall of fame be in the hall of fame because of their accomplishments and give no special regard to their gender?
Same crap with the gal that was invited to some big tournament recently. People making such a big deal because she was a girl and not because she was a good player.
UBBreya's Toybox (Competitive, Combo)WR
RGodzilla, King of the MonstersG
-Retired Decks-
UBLazav, Dimir Mastermind (Competitive, UB Voltron/Control)UB
"Knowledge is such a burden. Release it. Release all your fears to me."
—Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
Not to derail the topic or anything, but that documentary generated a ton of controversy in Norway. Take a look at around the 9:00 mark where Eia brings up a possibility for gender inequality being that boy children and girl children are literally raised from birth to think and act differently, then refutes that idea by talking to his mother and two children - a colossal sample size - and moves right on for a general idea of the depth of investigation involved. It's about as biased and ham-handed as political commentary from Michael Moore or FOX News.
But doesn't the concept of neuroplasticity render any "proof" of difference between adult male and female brains completely moot? The current model for the brain is that it is an ever-changing organ that constantly responds and reshapes to new environmental stimulus, not something that hardens at some point during development as was previously thought for a long time - and if that's the case, then aren't you obviously going to see significant neurological differences between men and women if society is constantly giving out signals of how they are different?
Pretty sure this hits the nail right on the head.
Erebos B | Ghost Council WB | Grimgrin UB | Jhoira UR
Jor Kadeen RW | Melek UR | Mimeoplasm GUB | Rasputin WU
Savra BG | Sisay GW | Teneb BGW | Thada Adel U | Wort BR
I draft and play EDH. If a Standard player can't understand who a card is for, it's probably for me.
I also write things about good films.
If the NFL did it, Wizards can do it too.
Today, of course, we are at something close to zero.....not just at the competitive level, but also at your local FNM.
http://mtgadventures.blogspot.com/
Please check out my youtube channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/rubiera22/videos?flow=grid&view=0
As far as the Hall of Fame committee goes (if there is one), I doubt there's a requirement to have X number of people from any specific subsection in order to make their HoF well rounded. It should only be based on performance and community participation.
I don't pay attention too closely to the magic pros, however I do read
these forums and scg. Of note, Thea Steele and Carrie Oliver are just two
very successful magic players right now. In fact, Thea just made the top
8 of the latest SCG Invitational and Carrie writes for Channel Fireball in addition
to many Magic accomplishments including 3 pro tour invites since starting 3 years ago.
The one thing that I'm not certain about is how much grinding / travel it would truly
take to get into the HoF. Is it possible with the popularity of magic these days
to get into the HoF without being a full time player? At a glance, the recently invented/released scg players' championship doesn't have a woman listed in the top 100.
EDH Decks
RGMarhault Elsdragon (A Touch of Rampage)RG
GWTrostani, Early Bird (Wurm Tribal)GW
RWAgrus Kos, Bumbat Drinkin' BadassRW
RDiaochan, Hateful BeautyR
i think the issue was many were upset because they felt she got the invite solely because she was a woman. the feeling was that there were many in the community that had done and do more, had better tournament successes, and had a larger magic persona, but she was chosen simply because she was a woman. yes, she does have some credentials in regards to the game, but not close to the ones held by the many others that were overlooked.
In general, women tend to be less competitive than men, so most woman don't like competitive games that much. Of course there are exceptions, and also I'm not saying a woman can't like Magic, but commonly we men are more interested in things that involve "winning" and "losing" than women are. This is just anecdotal, but for example, my girlfriend is a great fan of cooperative games, in which all players play together against the computer (like the multiplayer mode of Final Fantasy), while she doesn't like that much games which are about playing against the other players. In my case, it's the opposite: I like playing against other people more than I like playing with other people.
You make it sound like thats a bad thing....
It's something that is being studied... Heck there may even be numbers out there somewhere but I am too lazy to go find them. Pointing to the Olympics does not somehow show that women in general are just as competitive as men... Olympic athletes are less than 1% of the population... It's not hard to imagine that, even with a much smaller chance of being highly competitive, women would be able to match men in Olympic participation.
http://www.chicagobooth.edu/capideas/sept04/gendercompetition.html
Is a study that looked at 9-10 year olds and found that simply making running into a competition made the boys run faster but not the girls. Again nobody is saying that all girls are less competitive than all men, but it's highly likely that in general men are more competitive than women.
Now whether or not it's natural has nothing to do with MTG... Even if the competitiveness is manufactured by social forces growing up that's not something WotC can change or worry about... At it's highest levels MTG is a competitive game, they really can't or shouldn't try to manufacture less competitive areas just to help increase female participation in areas that could be recognized in a "hall of fame".
This is the best post in this thread and needs to be brought up again.
Just figured I'd point out that this doesnt really require explanation.
If the subset A is a certain percentage of population X, and population X expands exponentially, then its hardly unimaginable that subset A would expand as well.
Edit:
As an aside, I personally think a lot of the reason for disproportionate representation come from stigmas still placed upon MTG players as a whole by people outside the community, which isnt something you can really blame the community itself for. (aside from just not standing up for ourselves enough)
Athletics dont really seem like a good comparison because Olympians are pretty much universally looked up to. Competitive Magic on the other hand isnt even aspired to by large percentages of the Magic community itself. And Magic as a whole is largely looked down upon by large segments of the overall population.
As a result, competitive Magic only draws a limited set of fairly specific personality types, which on average have been disproportionately male.
And you cant really just refuse to acknowledge societal factors. People can argue all day long about what percentage of development is nature and what percentage is nurture, but regardless of that debate, societal gender preferences are not the responsibility of the specific Magic community.
Its just being obtuse to blame the low numbers of competitive female players on "Magic players being sexist".