Anyone want to debate the opposite view of this subject? ...anyone? ...I didn't think so.

Best example I have to explain it is that there is a guy who works at fabric store by my house that is the greatest knitter you have ever seen.

I mean he does such complicated geometrical patterns, you would think it's a Persian rug.

I'm always in there buying canvas, and he never fails to amaze me.

According to him, he is the only male knitter on KnitSide.com (or whatever) forum.

He says he has entered many contests around the country, but when the judges (always female) see he is a man, his work never wins anything.

When he has his daughters enter his work, they take second or first place every time.

Good question. Perhaps we can we dedicate this thread to giving shout outs to all the women in the hobby that are making a difference.

Who has a shout out?

-mof

I call out Hava Berman, you go girl!!!!

She builds Pinball machines and does roller derby.

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Rachel, who runs the Women's league here in Austin.

I also find the general commentary on women here tiresome. That's putting it mildly. I think Bowen was spot-on a few months back asking people to try and tone it down. Look where that got him.

Elizabeth C kicks ass for PAPA, Pinburgh, Replay/FX. She also runs the women's league in Pittsburgh.

Thanks to Molly and her commitment to Pins and Needles, I own an Embryon and I am hunting for a Big Game.
Good taste in a public collection has a positive influence on other people...
-mof

At TPF they gave out cash prizes for every tournament except women's... That's fucked up.

Even the kids tournament had cash prizes!!!

John Oliver's commentary from last night's episode seems very appropriate for this thread:

Sad to see a good pinsider who made positive contributions to the site leave in this way. Be better than this people!

The women should just enter the men's tournaments and clean them out!

Not principally pinball, but I'm a fan of Jeri Ellsworth. A really impressive person, and a babe. Am I allowed to say that?

Here's to Molly, who practically singlehandedly represents location pinball in one of the largest cities in the country. When all anyone wanted to talk about was "A list games" Molly was digging up the gems that have become hot and trendy now, she just cared about awesome pinball, not what was popular. She likes them with a little wear too, no diaper-rubbed games. Real pinball, meant to be played hard.

Doesn't matter where I am, a show across the country, a private party, local tournament, I always see Molly. The hobby would be a much poorer thing without her in it. Luckily I know that I don't need Pinside to talk to her. See you around the way lady.

Just getting on my soapbox really briefly: this might not be popular, but I wish Pinside would just ban boob pics. Maybe minor exceptions for places where they're relevant to pinball, like vid's Suicide Girls thread. I wouldn't want people to not be able to discuss making an "adult" pin, that's fine.

But it's tiring to wade through constant soft porn. I know how to find that stuff on my own, I don't come here for it. I'm here to talk pinball. Pinside with Molly and women feeling welcome > random tits.

Soapbox off.

Couldn't agree more with you Molly. Sadly, it's a systemic problem magnified 10x due to the size of this community (small), further magnified by the size of users on Pinside (many). It creates a certain air of invincibility and anonymity. Therefore, thoughts that would normally be privately held in a human-to-human interaction, are allowed to fester and grow.

There are many awesome women that play here in the NYC league - Ali Bisset, Anna Wolk, Lindsay Rhoades, Kaite Martin to name a few - and they add great spirit to the community here.

So, dudes reading this, just ask yourself before you post: Would I say this to my wife? Would I say this to my daughter?

Why is there a separate women's tourny? I always thought that about snooker, darts etc too, where physical strength and what not is irrelevant. A great opportunity for equality, and not giving a fig about gender, which let's face it is how it should be, not just in pinball...

On a related theme, then, let's hear it for the men in pinball too! We are all (i.e. humans) just AWESOME.

Do you happen to know what team she skates for and her derby name? My gf does Derby up here in Sac and she would be interested in this.

Angela Drobka

Great Player, likes EM's and makes trophies out of pinball parts. You can find her playing on PAPA.tv Live! and hear her voice as Daisy Diesel in Stern's Mustang.

You probably don't hear about them because why would they have attention brought to them just because they are girls? They are people who love pinball just as much as any guy. Doesn't mean they have to have their own forums or be brought to attention every second because of that fact. It's like video game girls. Back in the day, it was a male dominated market, now it's pretty much equal. Half of our league is women. So it's just a common thing that doesn't need attention brought to it.

She no longer skates in games, but her name was Lady Slipper.

My girlfriend Sarah Schudel has followed me along to a bunch of tournaments and has gotten really into it herself! I run some of the biggest tournaments in Michigan and she is always there by my side helping with anything she can. She's been a real asset to the community in our area. She also designed and made these awesome trophies for the pinball at the zoo tournament this year. Oh and shes really good at pinball

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Thank you! LA Derby Dolls I am guessing was her team?

One of the good reasons for women's tournaments in things like pinball is to help encourage more women to play. As it's currently very male dominated, it's easy for a woman to give it a try and feel very out of place, since there aren't necessarily many others around. By having women's tournaments it helps foster a community of women players - we get more chances to meet each other, build friendships, share tips, and fight against the feeling of being in something that's not for women. As long as women aren't relegated to only being in women's tournaments, then it's a net positive if you're interested in seeing more women involved.

Yep and she's my daughter! She does very VERY well in tournaments: #585 in the world and #9 in Michigan. Here she is with her Dealer's Choice.

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I wish it were more popular. Perhaps if we keep speaking out about it, it will be.

+1 for Angela. I won one of her trophies. Awesome work.
+1 for Phoebe. I've talked with her at a couple of Ohio Pinball Shows, very nice lady.

My friend Michelle is very passionate about pinball. I think she and her man participate in every tournament or event within a 200 mile radius. Good player, awesome to be around, and has a nice collection. Really likes EM's too.

Another woman I've met in league is Jessie. Very good player, helps run the Stonehedge league. I don't know if she breaks 5 foot tall, but boy can she move a machine across the room when she plays.

Allow me to clarify a bit.

The woman's tournament at TPF was a FREE event for the ladies. Their scores from the Wizard tournament were used to qualify for a top 8. We chose this path because we wanted the ladies to have a chance to earn WPPR points as a ladies only event would earn zero WPPR points. In previous years, a cash entry for the ladies event, along with a cash prize, was not as successful enticing large numbers of ladies to compete. So we tried an approach that was successful.

The ladies paid to play in the Wizard's event. So they earned WPPR points for the Wizard AND their best scores were used to qualify for the Top 8 Ladies Event. So ladies were able to use one paid entry as a chance to win trophies in two different events. No other demographic was offered that opportunity.

The TPF added a Ladies Playoffs, along with trophies as prizes, for the top three ladies. So while cash prizes may not have been given out, we did invest in the event by providing trophies. Maybe that's not enough, and I'm sure the TPF Team will have a serious discussion regarding future ladies tournaments.

Marcus

She will be back.

Molly is as tough as a junkyard pitbull.

With a name like Curtis_playfield, I doubt a lot of people thought you were a woman. Who'd have known?

I do have to agree on the childish posts around here a lot of the time. It reminds me of hanging with buddies who always say stupid things and drive away any woman within 100 yards of where we are hanging out. I'd love to see more women hanging out at pinball shows and on pinball forums. Unfortunately it takes thick skin all too often.

Penni Epstein is a pretty talented player as well, and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

I would like it if I had more girls to play with.

Wonder what the meaning is behind the screen name?

Seems like a tip of her hat to Curtis Mayfield (singer, songwriter) with a pinball edge.
You may be too young to remember his stuff on the radio.

We shouldn't have to know who is and who ain't when determining how to handle ourselves. (This isn't pointed at you, John -just us in general)

Regarding Molly's impending departure, that (again) is disappointing. I even wanted to thumbs down her post...

Did you let them know up front that there was no cash prize for the women's division? I've spoken to several participants that were quite upset when they found out, and they found out at the end when the trophies were given. From what I heard there were a number of women that were not "seriously" competing in the wizards but were participating because they were obligated to to enter the womens tourney. In fact, it seemed more like a way for you to get more participants in the wizards tourney than it did a way to allow the women two-for-one entry.

(Soul, R&B, and funk singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer)

That explains why I never thought of C.M. Thanks and I am too young I'd like to think.

Linda Deal

https://pinside.com/pinball/archive/linda-deal

You mean to tell me you've never seen "Super Fly???"

Curtis Mayfield-Super Fly.jpg

S/o to Anna Newman who wrote & directed the Wade Krause: Pinball Artist documentary. Really enjoyed her work and communications with her. A talented and gracious individual.

Lots of great ladies in the Kidforce Pinball League! All levels of play just like the guys and all are just having fun! Thats what pinball is all about.

Julie Gray and Mrs. MezelMods come to mind as well.

Only Super Fly I've ever seen was Super Fly Snuka (Wrestler)

Loved that song "Freddy's Dead".

Every tournament on the TPF main website had a section describing the event. Every event that had a cash payout was clearly labeled. The Ladies Tournament did not have a cash prize award listed. In our eyes, we made an assumption that people would read the website before attending the TPF, especially tournament players. Since there was confusion, I'm sure the TPF Team will improve communication regarding the formats and prizes of all tournament events in the future.

While their focus may have been on the Ladies Tournament, the rules were set in place well before the actual event. The 2015 TPF Ladies Event was a free event that used Wizard Tournament entries to determine the top 8 ladies. Ladies that wanted to qualify for the Top 8 Ladies Tournament had to play the Wizards event. While some ladies may not have enjoyed that stipulation, it was the rules of that particular event. These rules were clearly defined before the event and reinforced during the event.

If that is the perception of a few, then I cannot change their minds. All I can do is shed light on the true reason the decision was made. We could have charged money for the event, and if past TPFs were any indication, then we would have had a much smaller participant pool. Instead of having 23 ladies competing, we would have had 8-12 competing. So a decision was made to make the ladies event as attractive as possible. Maybe the 2 for 1 entry was a mistake. It's definitely something that will be discussed before TPF 2016.

As for increasing our wizards tourney participants, the ladies bolstered a strong field. However, their participation was not necessary in order to reach the 100% threshold established by the IFPA as we had well over 64 players in the event. In fact, we chose the Wizards event over the other events as we believed it offered the best distribution of games across many eras, thus enforcing the belief that the Ladies Champion should be able to play well on every era of machines.

The 2015 participation was a terrific surprise. Increasing participation by close to 100% is a fantastic step forward. I'm sure the 2016 TPF will do a better job of recognizing competitive pinball for Ladies.

Marcus

Was there anything preventing the ladies from simply playing in the men's competition?

Getting hit on by pinball nerds while standing in line?

Didn't this chick bail on pinside last year?
It's probably 99% men here.. News flash: Men like T & A
Anyways the T & A is banned, we're family friendly now.

Kristine from Mezel mods sticks out in my mind when I think of cool chicks in pinball. She's all over pinside, keeps Tim on his schedules and making new and exciting products and she has also been all over the media with pinball. Kristine is one cool lady.

I'm not sure if this is directed at me, but if it is, I don't understand why my wife liking purses the same way I like pinball machines is offensive? You may speak for yourself as a woman, but you don't speak for my wife and neither do I.

Funny. I recognize that logo. It's for North Star Roller Girls. I was heavily into women's roller derby about 5 years ago, then got completely burnt out of it.

Looking at her Facebook, looks like used to be in the Violent Femmes. Small world!

I'll throw another name into the "Great women of pinball" list: Jennifer Peavler. Heavily active in tournaments.