Gender has always played a role in the practiced gaming industry or e sports. However outnumbered, a few female proficient gamers are thriving for equality. One of the few almost extinct breed of female StarCraft2 pros is Flo “flo” yao, an American Counter Strike Gamer who crossed over to the StarCraft scene.
Flo competitively played Counter-Strike for two to three years before switching to StarCraft2 In 2010. She joined the SC2goesFemale#4 competition in December and won second place. She later took home the bacon in its next season, SC2goesFemale#5 in 2011. She also bagged the Iron Lady Bunny Cup #1 in July. Flo was part of three Major League Games and got major exposure when she got head to head with White-Ra, a Ukrainian Brood War Legend famous for beating his opponent in minutes.
Flo is famous for winning female tournaments. In the recent Zowie Divina, she was invited to play in China and managed a 4-1 record. She also became part of female teams like PMS but later left to join more competitive teams like Quantum Gaming.
In a recent interview by the clan, Flo shares her insight on how gender plays in an industry overshadowed by the males.
When asked about how she felt on female only teams, she shared the sad truth that most female teams are only marketing schemes. And because most of them play only low levels, they are taken lightly.
She said, “a female gamer cannot avoid the fact that marketability will most of the time be a factor to everything she does.” Female gamers will have to accept this harsh reality. If they will be taken seriously, then that’s where the challenge begins.
She also voiced her opinion on how these female tournaments do not help train those who dream to become a pro. She says that unless “they practice with skilled people, they won’t improve” and it will be “a waste of time if they want to take it seriously.”
Progression is her main reason into entering quantum gaming. She wants to able to get competitive practice partners that are not solely on the female division.
Her counterparts, Naniwa and Destiny who are also from quantum gaming, are already in training in South Korea. Flo invites more females to join the bandwagon of pros in the hopes of changing the paradigm on female gamers in the male-dominated industry.
