Published on Brainburst.com, June 17, 2002
Whatever Happened to Bethmo?
by
Ron Vitale
For those of you who do not know, Beth Moursund (known as “Bethmo”) was “an official keeper of Magic rules and sometimes nick-named the ‘Mother of Rules.’” (see: http://www.wizards.com/duelist/columns/36-DeckDeconstruction.asp). In the early days of Magic, Bethmo wrote some amazing deck construction articles for the “Duelist” and also authored such books as the “Magic – The Gathering Official Strategy Guide: The Color-Illustrated Guide to Winning Play” (1997) and “The Deck Deconstruction Companion” (1999). If you’ve ever used Crystalkeep (www.crystalkeep.com) to look up a Magic ruling, you’ll often see “Bethmo” next to the ruling.
And here we are in 2002 and I ask: Where is Bethmo now? I know that she had decided to leave Wizards back around 1999-2000, but although her name lives on, she has moved on to another career. Yet, there is no woman (to my knowledge) who has replaced her. But let’s take a step further back: Upon reviewing the majority of articles published on Brainburst and on MagictheGathering.com, I have not been able to find one woman who has written an article on Magic strategy or deck deconstruction. Why is that?
During the height of the Dojo years, there has been some great debate as to the role of women in Magic. Several women have have come and gone, but my question remains: Whatever happened to the women like Bethmo? Why is it that women aren’t more involved in the game? I know that there is a small percentage of women who play Magic, but I have not read or seen an atricle written by a woman in quite some time. Why do I care about this? I’m concerned because Magic isn’t solely a masculine past-time. Women are interested in the game, but have not decided to join the flock. I believe there are a combination of reasons for the lack of women playing the game.
“We Don’t Need Them Anyway”
Over the years, I’ve read many a flaming post slinging words at women saying that women were not needed in the Magic community or that men didn’t care about women playing the game. Another theory is that the immature mentality of a percentage of Magic players might send out “geek rays” or just plain rudeness that keep women away. A Magic tournament is typically not an arena of sportsmanship or maturity. Let me rephrase that: Some Magic players at tournaments are highly immature and downright unpleasant to be around. (Here’s a hint: Take a bath!) Personal hygiene and maturity issues abound. Be societal instruction or just plain common sense, a woman does not wish to hang around a smelly, boisterous, and rude Magic Player. So let’s take another step back and be honest: Not all Magic players are smelly and rude. What other reasons might keep a woman away from playing?
Hundreds to One
Imagine, for a moment, being a woman at a Magic tournament. You walk into convention center, look around, and see hundreds of teenaged boys. Through the crowd you might see a handful of other women. The intimidation factor is extremely high. At the Judgment pre-release I went to, I did not see one woman at the event. This somber fact amazed me. Today’s Magic is primarily a male-dominated game. Men play the game, write about the game, and it appears design the game. A woman of today may not want to break through the ranks and become part of the circle. There are no sisters for the woman to befriend. The Magic community is mostly male. I cannot imagine a young woman wanting to put up with some of the crap that takes place at a tournament. When there are so many other hobbies and events to partake in today’s world, I cannot imagine that a woman would want to join the Magic ranks. Some women who have played Magic have been accused of playing the game because of their boyfriends or are manipulating the men they know to follow on their male conterpart’s coattails. I have not heard of many woman successfully integrating into the Magic community. Of course these women do exist, but why are they so few?
Why Should We Care?
Granted many of you out there may not care about women playing Magic. But before you move on, ask yourself this question: If you were a woman and wanted to play Magic, would you feel welcomed in the Magic community? Locally, there are groups who will accept women into their group, but I must be honest: The women I know have not joined the group because they find that the bickering that takes place over the group games and the tournament scene to be highly immature. Another critique I have received from my women friends is that Magic men, while playing, do not take time to talk. Really talk. “Magic speak” appears to be the only language we know. How exciting is it to talk about a Morphling to a woman? That’s surely not the world’s most exciting topic. Oftentimes when I’m at a tournament, I sit across from my opponent and play without hearing him say a world that exists outside of the Magic world. Sure, he’ll talk about “tapping his island” or how he “declares an attack,” but that’s about the extent of our “conversation.” I’ve made it a point to change this. When I sit down to play my opponent, I put out my hand and introduce myself and try to chit-chat for a bit. I find that the games are more exciting in which you can talk with your opponent.
I know that some, you people who played “Stroke” decks, must have loved the fact that you could beat a player by round two or three. Essentially, the opponent of a “Stroke” deck just sat there as a body while the combo went off. Exciting? Not. Magic is a social interactive game. I believe that Players have forgotten the human aspect of the game (did we ever have that?) and are so locked up into “Magic speak” and on winning that we forget that. This is why women are not playing Magic. Women are not interested in swinging their big Magic deck around and on bragging about how good they are at the game! We, as men, might be the biggest and baddest Magic Players in the world, but what does that matter if we’re intimidating and shunning women from our ranks? Unless you wish to grow up (or have grown up) as Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons, this issue is of importance to you!
We need to find a way to be more receptive to women in the Magic community or the game will simply remain a homo-centered playground of boys who refuse to mature. Why am I being so harsh? Have you been to a Magic tournament lately? Seriously, if you were a woman, would you be caught dead there? I didn’t know so.
Open the Fold
So how can we change the course of the game? I doubt it’s possible. I do not believe that male Players are concerned enough. Sure everyone flips if “fact or fiction” is restricted, but, heaven forbid, we talk about a REAL problem. Someone once wrote to me and said that the typical Magic Player is approximately 13 years old. But I have been to many tournaments and have seen late high school, college, and older Players (as myself) there. If we’re serious about changing the game, then we need to clean up our acts and invite women into the fold. What does that mean? To put it simply: Deal with issues of personal hygiene, act more mature, and be receptive to talking more than with “Magic speak.”
Local comic shops can hold “Open the Fold” evenings in which women are invited to the game and are taught how to play. On a more organized level, I would suggest that Wizards gear their advertising toward women. Instead of holding “Friday Night Magic,” why not hold a “Maid Night of Magic” once a month? Invite women to join the ranks and teach them how to play the game. In order for a productive society to survive, all types of people are needed. Men and women. A melting pot of people will help revive Magic and propel it beyond its current position. At one time, Wizards had described Magic as an intellectual sport, similar to chess. In today’s environment, can we pull ourselves up from the dirt, dust ourselves off, and admit that we have not been open-minded to women joining the fold? Need we do this? Yes, if we wish for the future of Magic to continue, we Players of the present need women to enter the game and remain. I welcome intelligent replies. Immature replies will simp! ly prove my point.
Whatever Happened to Bethmo?
by
Ron Vitale
For those of you who do not know, Beth Moursund (known as “Bethmo”) was “an official keeper of Magic rules and sometimes nick-named the ‘Mother of Rules.’” (see: http://www.wizards.com/duelist/columns/36-DeckDeconstruction.asp). In the early days of Magic, Bethmo wrote some amazing deck construction articles for the “Duelist” and also authored such books as the “Magic – The Gathering Official Strategy Guide: The Color-Illustrated Guide to Winning Play” (1997) and “The Deck Deconstruction Companion” (1999). If you’ve ever used Crystalkeep (www.crystalkeep.com) to look up a Magic ruling, you’ll often see “Bethmo” next to the ruling.
And here we are in 2002 and I ask: Where is Bethmo now? I know that she had decided to leave Wizards back around 1999-2000, but although her name lives on, she has moved on to another career. Yet, there is no woman (to my knowledge) who has replaced her. But let’s take a step further back: Upon reviewing the majority of articles published on Brainburst and on MagictheGathering.com, I have not been able to find one woman who has written an article on Magic strategy or deck deconstruction. Why is that?
During the height of the Dojo years, there has been some great debate as to the role of women in Magic. Several women have have come and gone, but my question remains: Whatever happened to the women like Bethmo? Why is it that women aren’t more involved in the game? I know that there is a small percentage of women who play Magic, but I have not read or seen an atricle written by a woman in quite some time. Why do I care about this? I’m concerned because Magic isn’t solely a masculine past-time. Women are interested in the game, but have not decided to join the flock. I believe there are a combination of reasons for the lack of women playing the game.
“We Don’t Need Them Anyway”
Over the years, I’ve read many a flaming post slinging words at women saying that women were not needed in the Magic community or that men didn’t care about women playing the game. Another theory is that the immature mentality of a percentage of Magic players might send out “geek rays” or just plain rudeness that keep women away. A Magic tournament is typically not an arena of sportsmanship or maturity. Let me rephrase that: Some Magic players at tournaments are highly immature and downright unpleasant to be around. (Here’s a hint: Take a bath!) Personal hygiene and maturity issues abound. Be societal instruction or just plain common sense, a woman does not wish to hang around a smelly, boisterous, and rude Magic Player. So let’s take another step back and be honest: Not all Magic players are smelly and rude. What other reasons might keep a woman away from playing?
Hundreds to One
Imagine, for a moment, being a woman at a Magic tournament. You walk into convention center, look around, and see hundreds of teenaged boys. Through the crowd you might see a handful of other women. The intimidation factor is extremely high. At the Judgment pre-release I went to, I did not see one woman at the event. This somber fact amazed me. Today’s Magic is primarily a male-dominated game. Men play the game, write about the game, and it appears design the game. A woman of today may not want to break through the ranks and become part of the circle. There are no sisters for the woman to befriend. The Magic community is mostly male. I cannot imagine a young woman wanting to put up with some of the crap that takes place at a tournament. When there are so many other hobbies and events to partake in today’s world, I cannot imagine that a woman would want to join the Magic ranks. Some women who have played Magic have been accused of playing the game because of their boyfriends or are manipulating the men they know to follow on their male conterpart’s coattails. I have not heard of many woman successfully integrating into the Magic community. Of course these women do exist, but why are they so few?
Why Should We Care?
Granted many of you out there may not care about women playing Magic. But before you move on, ask yourself this question: If you were a woman and wanted to play Magic, would you feel welcomed in the Magic community? Locally, there are groups who will accept women into their group, but I must be honest: The women I know have not joined the group because they find that the bickering that takes place over the group games and the tournament scene to be highly immature. Another critique I have received from my women friends is that Magic men, while playing, do not take time to talk. Really talk. “Magic speak” appears to be the only language we know. How exciting is it to talk about a Morphling to a woman? That’s surely not the world’s most exciting topic. Oftentimes when I’m at a tournament, I sit across from my opponent and play without hearing him say a world that exists outside of the Magic world. Sure, he’ll talk about “tapping his island” or how he “declares an attack,” but that’s about the extent of our “conversation.” I’ve made it a point to change this. When I sit down to play my opponent, I put out my hand and introduce myself and try to chit-chat for a bit. I find that the games are more exciting in which you can talk with your opponent.
I know that some, you people who played “Stroke” decks, must have loved the fact that you could beat a player by round two or three. Essentially, the opponent of a “Stroke” deck just sat there as a body while the combo went off. Exciting? Not. Magic is a social interactive game. I believe that Players have forgotten the human aspect of the game (did we ever have that?) and are so locked up into “Magic speak” and on winning that we forget that. This is why women are not playing Magic. Women are not interested in swinging their big Magic deck around and on bragging about how good they are at the game! We, as men, might be the biggest and baddest Magic Players in the world, but what does that matter if we’re intimidating and shunning women from our ranks? Unless you wish to grow up (or have grown up) as Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons, this issue is of importance to you!
We need to find a way to be more receptive to women in the Magic community or the game will simply remain a homo-centered playground of boys who refuse to mature. Why am I being so harsh? Have you been to a Magic tournament lately? Seriously, if you were a woman, would you be caught dead there? I didn’t know so.
Open the Fold
So how can we change the course of the game? I doubt it’s possible. I do not believe that male Players are concerned enough. Sure everyone flips if “fact or fiction” is restricted, but, heaven forbid, we talk about a REAL problem. Someone once wrote to me and said that the typical Magic Player is approximately 13 years old. But I have been to many tournaments and have seen late high school, college, and older Players (as myself) there. If we’re serious about changing the game, then we need to clean up our acts and invite women into the fold. What does that mean? To put it simply: Deal with issues of personal hygiene, act more mature, and be receptive to talking more than with “Magic speak.”
Local comic shops can hold “Open the Fold” evenings in which women are invited to the game and are taught how to play. On a more organized level, I would suggest that Wizards gear their advertising toward women. Instead of holding “Friday Night Magic,” why not hold a “Maid Night of Magic” once a month? Invite women to join the ranks and teach them how to play the game. In order for a productive society to survive, all types of people are needed. Men and women. A melting pot of people will help revive Magic and propel it beyond its current position. At one time, Wizards had described Magic as an intellectual sport, similar to chess. In today’s environment, can we pull ourselves up from the dirt, dust ourselves off, and admit that we have not been open-minded to women joining the fold? Need we do this? Yes, if we wish for the future of Magic to continue, we Players of the present need women to enter the game and remain. I welcome intelligent replies. Immature replies will simp! ly prove my point.
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