Renaud Feigenbaum likes to do research on interesting subjects. Here is a subject that may seem tricky, on the basis that it tends to comments often erroneous or even objectionable from an ethical point of view. The objective of this paper is not to stop the debate but to show that it simply does not need to exist.Are women really less strong than men on CS? Do they have the right to participate in competitions of their own, like sports? Whence comes this opportunity?
Meeting the community
To start, we went to meet several people, like players, spectators and officers asking each of them: "Can you tell me, in your opinion, why women are weaker than men and if women's competitions have their place, or not?"
“There are far fewer ladies’ player than men player, so mathematically less strong players, and above there is much less investment of the players (number of hours). So women's competitions are important for them to have female representation in video games. It became unrealistic to speak of mixed teams, even if it would the best solution, simply because of the existence of a sexist view on the players.” (Source: NASTY, 3DMAX ladies captain and world champion 2014 on CSGO)
“It is hard to deny that there is a gap too important in the level between female and male scene. It seems that these gentlemen have an ability to progress and evolve much larger and faster than girls. In my point of view, this difference may be due to the fact that when it comes to video games, girls’ dexterity and ability to reflect are lower. Although nothing is scientifically proven, it still seems more necessary and logical to separate the two scenes as the level difference is huge.” (Source: bobbY, former player CSGO at *aAa*)
“Men and women in sport and eSports are not equal. Man is traditionally for centuries and even millennia physiologically stronger than women. In physical disciplines or those that require reflexes, men are usually advantaged, so it can’t be compared to women, hence the relevance of women's tournaments.” (Source: Martin "Martius" Bouvron, Director & Owner of Elements Gaming)
It is very interesting that nobody has the right answers, and that sometimes the way community sees that question is negative just caused by ignorance. Here we will try to rectify the situation.
Is the human brain sexually distinctive?
Some people think that it is quite normal to distinguish two gendered competitions in the sport, and not in e-sports, claiming physical difference between the two sexes would not impact a game like CS. WRONG! As there are differences in the physics of the human body of man and woman, it can also be expected that the psyche differs, in a way that corresponds to conscious and unconscious aspects. The human brains of men and women are much likely to be different as their physics differ. If studies tend to prove since the 19th century that the man brain is different from women, we have never been so sure today.
The brain size
Paul Broca, the famous anatomist, said in 1861 after finding an average weight difference between the brains of men and women: “The relative smallness of the female brain depends on both his physical inferiority and his intellectual inferiority”. Misogynist, feminist, do not get too excited, the relationship between brain size and intelligence has obviously been denied. A story that is often repeated about this example is the comparison of the brains of two writers: Anatole France (brain 1kg) versus Ivan Turgenev (brain 2kg).
If in theory, bigger brains mean a greater neural system and therefore a higher cognitive ability, practice shows it is not. Effective intelligence does depend on many other factors, and only one of them is nothing than a good proportion of body size and brain size.
Differences in activities
But then, if the human brain is on average larger than that of women, there must be a reason. First, as cited above, there are the common differences in the physics of men and women due to their development during the millennia of their physics and roles. But beyond that, it turns out that each of the parts of the brain developed differently in men and women, causing differences in emotions and reactions.
Red: where gray matter density is greater for woman / Blue: where gray matter density is greater for man
So there is indeed huge activity differences between the brain of a man and one of a woman, which is an important factor in the weight difference of the two brains. But it is absolutely not a sign of higher or lower intelligence. We are not going to talk on the names of the areas used by one or the other, we will come back later on the emotional reaction and consequences of such a study.
The "cables"
Another study by September 2013 focuses on the difference in "cables" in the two brains, the white substances that connect the different areas of the brain.
The first two figures show us the connections in the brains of 428 men, the two others connections in the brains of 521 women. For men, the cables are primarily vertical within a hemisphere, accelerating information processing speed and tasks linking perception to action. For women, it is horizontal and transverse, promoting reason and intuition, better emotional intelligence and a higher level of language. To be specific, what scientific differences can we draw?
Please note that these data are generalities from studies on samples. While, on average, a woman will much better handle multitasking and men navigate easily in space, it is not necessarily true for a specific woman compared to a specific man. Think of this: men are in general taller than women, but that does not guarantee that a specific man will be taller than a specific woman.
What are the impacts for a game like Counter-Strike?
Obviously, these data are a first explanation to the question: "Why are women less strong than men in CS?" Indeed, man has the advantage of very well perception of space and 3D, a very important concept for this game and to anticipate on the enemy & allied movements. Moreover, sensorimotor processing speed allows men to have a faster connection between the eye (what you see on the screen) and the hand, thus promoting reflexes and other flick shots.
On the other hand, women tend to have higher intelligence and better social cognition, potentially allowing them to operate more effectively in groups. But unfortunately in CS, the level of team is not as important as the individual level of each player. Good women's team would have a high chance of losing against a male mix consisting of 5 high individuals who would be simply too fast to click on the heads, even in disadvantageous situations.
Finally, with the volume differences in certain brain areas, women are theoretically about two times more exposed than men to suffer from depression and anxiety disorders. They are therefore subject to higher stress during competitions or official matches against men, especially as the community’s view is rude ("we will not lose against the chicks"). Even for a single round or a simple death, their emotional potential is greater, and therefore it is important to combat this "stress" which influences badly the game.
Where do the differences come from and can they be eliminated?
Currently, researchers do not yet know exactly what causes these differences of the human brain. Is it written in our genes (innate) or does one acquire (acquired) it, according to social and hormonal components?
The figure above shows the study of cables classified by age: children (B), teens (C) and young adults (D). One thing for sure, the brain evolves over age depending of education. But we do not know whether this trend is expected or if it is indeed the result of other factors. The hormonal system is radically different between men and women. Therefore there are probably differences induced by the impregnation of these hormones.
On the other hand, society and culture play a major role in the evolution of both sexes. Prejudice and education given to the same subject surely promote capabilities for a video game. In France, e-sports is just starting in terms of social acceptance. A woman playing many hours a day a video game will probably still be frowned of. On the other hand, social groups are often gender based and resulting activities are often linked: in a group of five friends, it is almost inconceivable for one to invest in a video game when the other 4 will do another activity more "classic". The number of women who play seriously in e-sport is much lower than the number of men; and the level of the specific e-sports scene is very often linked to the number of people involved.
That being said, the family and especially fraternity can play a major role in the investment - or not - of a woman in e-sport. A woman who lives in a man's world at home, can potentially be more interested in their activities and make them a pleasure.
But then, is it possible for a woman to gain a level similar to men?
Technically, it is possible. A 2005 study showed that intensive piano practice promotes inter-hemisphere of the brain connections. It is therefore quite conceivable that, conversely, CS intensive practice for a woman promotes its vertical connections and so enable her to have as much understanding of space and reflex "hand-eye" as some man. The fact is that they will need to spend more time and effort in this direction to achieve the same level; and that is a certain behavior our society does not really easily encourages.
What conclusions can be drawn?
Today's society is tending to equalize the sexes as simultaneously neurological studies show their difference. Now, we need a clear head to understand what is and what sexual distinction is not. The man and the woman must be placed at the same hierarchical level, but so far, it is important to understand and accept each other's differences, strengths and weaknesses, as well as the cause(s) behind it. So:
Q: Should they stop playing with men (mixed competition)?
A: NO.
Q: Should we give them the right to play with them?
A: YES.
Q: And especially, are women's competitions relevant?
A: Yes, more than ever, it is a component of gender equality.
The findings of this research tend to show that the current competitive system is fitting well, with a mixed competition and a women's competition. If a girl comes to stand out and she has the desire, she must be able to participate in a specific competition with men. The only current problem with that (and what a problem!) is the community that demonstrates ignorance and thus does not value what should be natural and right. The community and, more broadly, our society is still an obstacle to the development and progression of this scene.
