Why women don’t play paintball

As a woman in paintball, one of the questions I get asked most frequently is why more women don’t play paintball. At the time, I didn’t really have an answer. My reply by default was that women think it will hurt, or that they don’t want nasty welt marks. I decided to find out for myself why women weren’t playing, so I conducted a series of interviews with women both on the internet and in person. The results were a little surprising.

Of the females I interviewed, 82% said they would like to play paintball, even though 33% felt the sport was dangerous, and 42% weren’t sure if it was or not. One woman, who wished to remain unnamed, I will refer to as Ms. Smith. She commented, “[I] don’t know much about it, but from what I do know, it looks like fun, though it may have some political and ethical implications (weapons, possible violence, etc.).

Of course, we all have to use our brains – the fear is that some people don’t.” The lack of information regarding paintball was actually one of the three top reasons that women don’t play. They either weren’t sure what paintball was exactly, or how it is played. Cheri Embree, 30, said, “it’s not really talked about much.”

To paintballers, it might seem amazing that some people just don’t have a clue. But when was the last time you flipped through Vogue and found an ad for a paintball store or field?

Another equally important reason was that it costs too much money. This is something pretty much all paintballers can identify with, so it is no big shock.

But the third, and also equal reason, was that no one had invited them to play. Since women are uninformed about the sport, it is unlikely that they will just show up at a field by themselves to play. They felt that had they been asked, they would at least have tried it out.
Contrary to my beliefs, bruises and the idea that paintball might be painful actually ranked among the lowest reasons. When I asked the women for their own personal comments on why they thought women didn’t play, only a few mentioned welts and injuries.

Kirsty Hunter, 19 years old, felt women don’t play because it is too violent. Another woman added that many were “worried about getting hurt, or of enjoying
something that’s a bit butch.”

To make it even more interesting, an overwhelming majority felt that society was to blame. Ms. Smith said, “Socialization [is the issue]. Girls play with barbies and boys play with guns. Society expects women to be more cooperative than competitive. I suppose some gals are squeamish about firing anything vaguely resembling a gun,” said Melissa Gutierrez, 20.

There were many comments “social sexism,”
suggesting that the traditional roles of man and woman have not yet been phased from our society. Embree wrote to me, “[it] is portrayed as a ‘man’s sport’.”

Certainly, with paintball magazines dominated by pictures of males and advertisers that use voluptuous, scantily clad women to sell their paintball guns, it is reasonable why someone would consider paintball a ‘man’s sport.’ Fortunately, paintball will change, just like other sports, as more women get involved, and it will become more gender balanced.

So why is it okay if women don’t play? Because paintball isn’t for everybody. Just like football isn’t for everybody, soccer isn’t for everybody, and snowboarding isn’t for everybody. Asking a female friend to play paintball with you is a great way to try it out. If she doesn’t like it, don’t pressure her to play again.

Millions of women enjoy hockey, and millions of women don’t. This doesn’t mean that more women should be forced into it to start a national league.

As mentioned earlier, more and more women will join our sport of paintball, out of the sheer joy of it. Bullying somebody of any gender isn’t good for any sport. After all, paintball should be enjoyed by individuals who will use their paintball guns responsibly, because they love the sport, not because they were pressured into it.