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Women and debate

Although I feel as though I'm chiming in a little late, I'll put my 2 
cents in on the issue of women and debate.

1) I don't think that women are discriminated against in the debate 
community.  I will admit that there have been a few times when I have 
heard sexist comments made about female debaters -  that kind of thing is 
found in every community, but there have been more times when I have heard
 positive comments about female debaters not because they were women trying 
to make it in debate, but because they were good.  I don't think that sexism
is something that is intrinsic within debate which needs to be overcome.

2) I have heard countless people comment on the fact that the majority of 
debaters are men.  So what?  If we are to base our ideals on equality, 
this ratio shouldn't matter.  I too have had many rounds, both prelim and 
elim in which I was the only female competitor and the all the critics 
were male, and I never once felt that I was looked down on, or given low 
speaks for the simple fact that I am a woman.  Besides, I don't think 
that men are really all that bad.  

3) I have debated for several years, at both the high school level and 
the college level.  I have debated in JV and Open divisions and I can 
very honestly say that sometimes I have been given 1st speaker in the 
round and sometimes last speaker in the round, and sometimes in between, 
and all of my rankings were because of my performance not because of my sex.

4) I think that any debater that is overly assertive or aggressive is 
really annoying.  Good debate is based on argumentation not arguing.  
As a competitor and occasional critic for high school tournaments, I have 
given and seen given low speaks because of this, not because of sex.

5) I'm not really sure how to respond to the idea that women don't 
post all that often on the "L".  I post when I think that I have 
something beneficial to contribute.  When I read other postings, I read 
them to learn and get a better understanding of other people's viewpoints 
on debate.  I can't say that I usually note whether the author is a man 
or a woman.  I would imagine that many feel the same way.

6) I realize that there are many people who do not agree with me and will 
continue to struggle for perceived equality.  I would only say that in my 
opinion, equality is achieved by noting the similarities between men and 
women and not by emphasizing the differences between men and womyn.

Sincerely,
Jenny L. Johnson
Pacific University, Oregon
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Archive created by Jonathan Stanton (jonathan@cs.jhu.edu)
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