Welcome!

Welcome to Girls Debate! We are the girls of the Harvard-Westlake debate team. Our mission is to try to even the playing field by giving resources and materials to those who do not have as easy access to the tools they need to succeed.

We’re going to write blog posts and have discussion pages to talk about some of the problems that women face in debate. We will also include explanatory posts for positions that might be confusing or have a barrier to entry. In addition to these blog posts, we will release card files with evidence on a particular topic. These resources will be posted over an extended period of time, usually with an interval of 2-3 weeks.

This is an online resource to try to make debate a more inclusive, safe, and fun space. Even though our focus is on gender biases, we want this to be a place for everyone as debate includes many other biases that need to be confronted and fixed. This website is only a start and we don’t claim to solve all discrimination. However, we think educating people about the problem, providing resources to those who need it, and creating a forum to connect the community will create change and are valuable in it of themselves. Even making a few more girls have a better debate experience or convincing women to stay in debate when they want to leave are worth the effort.

Women face unique challenges in debate currently. This website is our way to give back and begin to fix the community that we all love so much.