Read on Twitter
wanna know what it’s like being a woman on university challenge? behold: a thread
you get the same people tweeting the same thing about you every time you’re on, in case you might respond to them.
you get the same two people Obsessed with your non-normative appearance, making assumptions about your sexual anatomy:
oh, and the ‘dId YoU juSt AsSuMe My gEndEr haha I’m an ATTACK HELICOPTER’ brigade, because of course my hair tells every homophobe and transphobe to go hog wild
you get the ones that advocate actual violence towards you, as well as suggesting that you ‘didn’t do anything’ (despite being your team’s series-long top scorer).
Oh, and those that take issue with your basic competence at answering questions involving foreign languages
wow! it’s almost like you don’t even get the bonus questions if you don’t get the starter right!
and just the constant stream of people assuming you’re arrogant *because* you’re a woman on University Challenge answering questions.
and, of course, the people that assume that the only reason you, a woman, can be proud of your male teammate for buzzing you into the second round is that you fancy them. because the only options for female joy are sexual attraction to a man.
even the nice comments from men have verged on the sexually objectifying. maybe don’t make comments about how much you fancy a random 25 year old on a quiz show, especially if you’re a 40 year old man.
I am by no means imaginable a top university challenge player, but the hatred I’ve had just for getting this far in the competition has been astounding. And I know none of it would have happened if I happened to be a man.
you want to know why women don’t try out for UC teams? because being on the show can be utterly awful. then try being plus size, with short hair and a non-normative appearance.
also it’s wild how attitudes to women ok university challenge swing between ‘urgh she’s saying nothing she’s useless’ to ‘OMG she’s so big-headed’.
