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| Plethora of Pink Airsoft Guns - photo courtesy of Deskpoper.com |
In the far east where Airsoft started, they even air Animé movies about it.
In Japan, a TV channel broadcast Stella Women's Academy, an animated movie about a schoolgirl who joins her school Airsoft club.
Stella and her classmates are cute wide-eyed animé girls who play in pink jackets and pleated skirts.
So Airsoft is officially cool and an increasing number of female players are regulars at UK Airsoft sites.
Why ?
Do girls play for the same reasons as the boys ?
Its a difficult question and one can easily drift into sexism in trying to answer it. I can only reply from my personal observations and opinions.
There are some really good female players out there and why shouldn't they be. Many of the successful female players I've seen pose a smaller silhouette than the guys they shoot with, they are more agile and often quite ruthless when it comes to winning - I've seen situations when a guy will momentarily hesitate to shoot a girl player at short range, running some fairer sex stuff in his head and she just lights him up.
In my own experience, I've seen few women over the age of thirty playing unless they are there with spouses or boyfriends. Teams of girls in the 18-25 age group seem quite popular, but they seem to be focussed differently. While the guys are dressing like a US Navy SEAL in the latest CAM and high tech head gear or skirmishing rigged out as a Russian WW2 sniper, the girl teams seem to tone down the military associations and go more for the matching team look. Perhaps girls see Airsoft more as a competitive team sport rather than a chance to play war ??
Pink and purple airsoft weapons seem to be gaining in popularity and my local retailer was telling me recently how they are selling pink M4 variants like hot cakes.
Personally, I am grateful for those ladies who fight with pink guns and their hair and faces uncovered - it gives me a chance to see something of the other team in the dark recesses of the local woodland site. Their desire for chic apparel and looking good out on the battlefield often means that pink guns, shiny faces and trailing blonde hair often helps my old eyes discern them from the foliage. Mind you, I've still been rinsed by a few, which probably says more about my playing skills than them.
For the final opinion, I asked my wife why she thought that there weren't so many mature women playing Airsoft.
She said it was because men have bugger all else to do on a Sunday and women are always busy having to do something more important.
Fair enough...
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| Courtesy of Gainax Company |
