Subject: Hold On! (reply to Girls in Magic)
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 11:48:10 -0700
From: "Stenger, Christa L." <clstenger@promarkone.com>
To: "'fkusumot@ix.netcom.com'" <fkusumot@ix.netcom.com>

Unfortunately, this whole series of posts is suffering from too much
negativity.  If I was the type of girl who could be induced to play
Magic from a motivational speech, I think I would have already been
dissuaded to do so by all of the negative elements that Cathy expressed
in her post.

And Brian is right.  Add to that the other pat reasons that people have
given for why competitive Magic is such a difficult environment for
females, I could almost believe that we are never going to see more
females in the game.

I love the game, however, and so do all the other girls I know who play
Magic.  We are not shy, or fragile, or easily daunted by anything.  I
could care less if there are unwashed bodies in the room or if someone
is using harsh language.  Playing Magic is FUN.  The people who find it
fun will continue playing, and will most likely enter into competitive
Magic, whether male or female.

If it had been up to Jason Zila or Brian Hacker, I probably would never
have drafted with them.  I understand why they are exclusive.  But I
believe there is a Mark Chalice or a Brian Weissman in a lot of Magic
communities who everyone respects and who will go out of their way to
include and support female Magic players.

When I see females looking at Magic at the local shop, I go up to them
and say hello and ask if they play.  Matt and I have given boxes and
boxes of Magic cards (and not just commons) to female players to
encourage them to play more, and made sure that they knew about the
local tournaments.

Cathy's post really gives good advice for ANY new Magic player.  If you
are interested in seeing more females in Magic, the only real way is to
teach your female friends to play and just let them run with it.

Christa Stenger