Persisting: Bad Ballots
In all forms of debate, many girls, non-binary folks, and members of all marginalized communities have had bad experiences with judges. Here are a few we’ve compiled.
“During my junior year, I went to a bid tournament and was debating in prelims against a male debater that was either a junior or a senior...The round was a bit sassy on both sides, but when it was over and the judge was giving critiques he seemed to only think that the male debater was being sassy, while I was being bitchy. He looked directly at me and said, ‘you need to be less bitchy,” then looks at my opponent, “and you need to be less sassy in rounds.’ I was honestly mystified that the judge could be that blunt and patronizing to any person in an educational setting, especially to a student’s face.”
“I’m missing one of my feet and I once had a judge tell me I was being unprofessional because I debated the round without my prosthetic on.”
“At the TOC, I had a judge imitate me during his RFD when describing a CX exchange in a high-pitched voice. He mockingly ad-libbed me saying, ‘Meh meh feminism!’”
“I had a judge dock speaker points for being too aggressive in CX and reprimand me for it during the RFD. He praised the male debater for commanding the floor even though that meant cutting me off and shouting over me.”
“I was told that I ‘would be a good debater if [I was] a boy’ and that I ‘was too aggressive for a girl’ and even that ‘debate isn’t meant for girls.’”
Please send us your stories via our Facebook (girlsdebate) or email (hello@girlsdebate.org) if you feel comfortable doing so. We would love to share more testimonials, either anonymously or with your name.