Don’t fall off the earth on this one, but I think most reasonable people would agree that not every hobby requires equal participation between both sexes and certainly some specific sports are heavy and/or completely leaning toward one sex over the other.
Have been triggered by this topic before, see: REACTION: Pinball Does Not Need Virtue Signaling, Hollywood is a Clueless Guide
Unlike the AI-generated image at the top featuring our Iron Maiden buddy, Eddie. We don’t need no stinking checklists. Pinball doesn’t need quotas.
Yes, pinball.
I’d love for equal amounts of men and women to enjoy pinball — if that’s the way organically it happens. I keep hearing how it’s “too dominated by old white guys.” Guess what I am.
An old white guy.
Talk about a bullseye on your back in pinball. It’s me and those alike.
So what? Why does it matter if this hobby has a bunch of old white men in it? Why is that such a bad thing? I’m not stepping up to a pinball machine and thinking, “gee, I’d sure like to see non old white guys in pinball.” I’m thinking vastly more important things like …
I’m relaxing and having fun! How can I beat this game? How can I get through the modes? How can I score more than my personal best?
Not too long ago, we talked about a very hot topic in pinball: Taylor Swift Pinball: Don’t Laugh, Swifties Will Buy, Would You?
This got me thinking about how many women are in the world. I had to ask a search engine, because I believe it to be about half the population and turns out …

It’s fascinating that life finds a way to equalize the world between men and women. I mean 49.72% women is pretty darn close to 50-50.
The world isn’t dominated by 70% men and 30% women, but some hobbies are dominated by one sex over the other. It’s a fact, a reality, and why, I ask, does it have to be so polarizing?
Why must a hobby that is dominated by one particular group need to fight to change that group? If organically more diverse groups of people get into the hobby, that’s awesome, more power to the idea. I want everybody to enjoy pinball: women, the disabled, trans, gay, heterosexual, aliens, young and old, the healthy and infirm. Let me restate it loud and clear:
I want ***EVERYONE*** to enjoy pinball
It’s strange to me seeing people in the industry — usually some clueless outsider, not hardcore pinball players and fans like probably most of you reading this right not — complaining over how many old, white men are in pinball. I’m an old, white guy and proud of it. Sure, wish I was younger, but I have more wisdom now than then, and am going to keep enjoying pinball, no matter what the demographic breakdown is around me.
Speaking of that, let’s meet at a pinball show this year.
We’ll be at two different pinball shows in 2025. First up this year Texas Pinball Festival in Frisco, Texas (https://texaspinball.com/tpf/), we’ll be there on Saturday March 22, 2025 all day and for the third year in a row the Northwest Pinball Show, all three days (see last year: Attending Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show June 7-9, 2024? We are!). If you see me at the show, I’m easy to spot, as I’ve been live streaming over 1,800 hours the last couple years. Ok, they say in the PGM Discord I look a little bit like this:

No, no, just kidding, I actually look like the picture that accompanies every article I’ve written here, scroll down.
It’s not important, pinball friends. Really, it’s not. You’re all welcome to the hobby, everybody reading, regardless of sex, race, religious beliefs, political leanings, sexuality. Come and get some pinball, we’d love to have you. I sure would!
Let’s celebrate everybody getting into pinball, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, age disabilities and whatever other protected class we shouldn’t be defining and separating people by. It should not matter. It does not matter to me. It should not matter to you
Happy gaming to you!