Women of Paintball
Words by Alicia Bane
IN THE PAST YEARS PAINTBALL has seen a significant
increase in women players in the sport. It used to be
that when people thought of paintball, they thought of a
10-year-old boy’s birthday party or guys having a bachelor
party. Some people still think that way. It is hard for
them to see paintball as a sport much like their beloved
football, baseball, soccer, etcetera… But paintball is an
ever-growing industry that is becoming more and more
popular by the day.
This world changes every second of every day. Women
are constantly searching for equality in this world for
everything they do, so why not sports as well? Not many
sports that you think of being “male dominated” are as
accepting of women players as paintball is. I mean, can
you imagine seeing a girl on an NFL team? It would be
chaos! But nowadays, seeing women on the field is not all
that uncommon. More avid paintball players are bringing
their girlfriends/wives, more women are intrigued by the
sport, and more women are playing every day.
There are a few things deterring some women from
playing the sport. One, the obvious one, it might hurt.
Well, yes it might hurt! But the sting goes away, and it
doesn’t hurt any worse than spraining an ankle in any
other sport, or pulling a muscle. Another problem some
women have is the “prettiness” factor. No, paintball is not
pretty, but not very many sports are! You will get muddy,
dirty, sweaty, and gross; but you will have the best time of
your life doing it. So it’s safe to say that this sport is not
the most feminine sport on the planet, but you can still
have fun!
Now let’s talk about the more difficult problem for women
in paintball. For the most part, paintball players are more
than happy to have women on the paintball field. With
that being said, some women in the sport face problems
such as sexism on and off the field. There is no doubt
paintball is a male dominated sport, but some men make
it more difficult. 1 in 3 female paintball players have been
on the receiving end of sexism. That is a huge problem,
for