tory on stereotypes in esports: “Basically, everyone says, ‘You’re a woman, go back to the kitchen—you don’t know how to play.’”
Clutchain Female rifler Victoria “tory” Kazieva appeared on a podcast on Artem “malik” Arkhipov’s YouTube channel, where she explained why, in her opinion, it’s difficult for girls to break into professional Counter-Strike, shared her experiences dealing with toxicity on FACEIT, and explained how to cope with hate.
On how a girl can get into esports
There’s no way. There are no women’s tournaments. Right now, [women’s] esports is dead; I don’t know if it’ll ever make a comeback or not. But seriously, I think streaming is a good option right now. Through Twitch, you can showcase yourself, make highlight reels, and post them. These days, everyone’s making Reels and TikToks. People get to know you through those highlight reels.
On toxicity on FACEIT
I face hate in practically every game. TsaGa has also had a positive influence on me since then. He said it’s better to always step out of your comfort zone and play more solo. I don’t like playing solo, so that means I need to play solo more. And even back then, I didn’t like streaming—I felt uncomfortable [playing] on camera. I need to stream more; I don’t like it, but I have to, because it’ll make life easier later on.
On the impact of hate on girls in esports
I think a lot of girls give up on esports just because of this. But I understand how hard it is—mentally—to keep playing when so much hate is coming at you. The only thing I can say is that you [have to] try to brush it off somehow, not pay attention to it, but it’s really hard. I faced a huge amount of hate when we played in Cluj-Napoca. And we had really bad results at the LAN. That was when we were playing against men. I couldn’t pull myself together for a very long time after that—it was unreal. I just cried. I swear to you, I sat there and cried. So much hate came pouring in.
On stereotypes about girls
Well, the idea that women can’t play CS. Basically, everyone says, “You’re a woman, go back to the kitchen—you don’t know how to play.” Well, that’s really a stereotype. People just see a girl, and they start typing right away. Can you imagine—you open FACEIT, and as soon as they see your nickname, your name, and that’s it, they type “GG.” They’re already typing “GG” in the chat. And some would just quit the game. There were even times when they’d troll us from the very first round just because there was a woman on the team.
Earlier in the podcast, Victoria “tory” Kazieva shared the story of her journey into esports: she talked about how she started playing Counter-Strike, gained her parents’ support, and ended up on her first professional team.
Photo by Helena Kristiansson, ESL.
Daniil Korzhuev
