> Treating someone as a non-gamer is treating them like a "normal" person.

How is assuming someone is incompetent because of their gender treating someone as "normal"? It's normal in the sense that such attitudes are prevalent, but it is a terrible way to treat anyone.

If you have an in-group or "clique", you just assume that most people aren't in it. You learn to identify fellow members of a subculture at a distance: clothes, hair, etc. The male-dominated environment of the expo caused the PR reps to mistakenly exclude women from their "gamer radar". Surely professional PR guys don't think pissing off a game reviewer is good for sales. In other words, the PR reps are also victims of the crappy environment.