Sports Gender Segregation - Page 2

quote Mr Matthews

referring to solely speed, strength, agility

You know I don't think agility should be on that list. In sports like gymnastics agility is key and women are cabable of keeping up with the boys there. Speed is another iffy one. If you are talking about something like running or throwing speed perhaps so because that is a product of strength. But in something like gymnastics speed can be a whole different thing.

I think certainly in sports where strength isn't the key factor that women can compete evenly. With proper training anyone can develope the skills to compete at the top levels of sports. But as we keep saying the actual physical strength factor can never be over come. A woman with the exact same training and opportunity as a man still will never be as strong. She can be incredibly strong for a woman. But she still wouldn't be as strong as the equally trained man. She will lag behind because of the limitations of her genetics. But her skill set and knowledge of the sport could be every bit the same as the mans.

Chiro brings up a good point though. Are women getting that qual training? If the WNBA seems to be lacking on the fundamentals is it because women just aren't good at it or is it because they aren't properly trained? Certainly they can't have the kind of money that the male professional teams have. So perhaps they aren't getting the full training they need to excel.

Are you certain women are equally agile as men? Stereotypes in the media suggest that, but I think the reason girls can keep up with boys in gymnastics is that there are just that many more girls engaged in the sport than men. I'll bet you Olympic gymnastic men outperform their female counterparts, not out of misogyny, but simply out of simply continuing this trend.


I'll note that no one has taken note of the subtler, but still apparent difference between men and women pros in darts, a game that give no advantage in accordance with strength, endurance, or power.

It's a sport. A legit sport, with coverage and rewards and sponsors and tournaments.

Suuuure it's a legit sport, whatever you say bro.

Let me guess, beer pong is a sport too?

I see what you mean about inferior training, but here is my thought on it. How well trained are little league boys? How about Varsity and college? nowhere near at the level of major league sports! These kids are lucky they have a coach that weights them! lol Well, obviously that is an under-exaggeration, but I would venture a guess that until you hit the professional level, where millions of fans are watching you at home and fill up huge arenas to see you play, your training is going to be about the equivalent of having a personal trainer or two, if that.

Now where are most major league players scouted? They are scouted in high school and college, right? Then when their talent is made evident, they are scooped up by a team or the draft and either brought right to the major league team or, more likely than not, sent to the minors to "train."

Women who play sports and aspire to be professional have the same opportunities, for the most part. Hell, even male minor league players are paid like crap and have nothing like the training facilities, teams of experts, equipment, and doctors of their major league counterparts. The point I am bringing out here, is that the real disparity between the QUALITY of training that men and women get does not come into being until they are already at the major league level in their respective sports. Put another way, the skills that make it evident that a player is professional or major league material are usually evident long before they reach the level where the superiority of male training even manifests. If a woman was playing on a high school or college team, for example, and could pitch a ball in the nineties with control, that would make the scouts in the MLB take notice. If she were then hired as "the first female MLB candidate," she would then either play in the minors or go to the majors where she would enjoy every bit of the same "superior training" that the male major league players receive.

In short, I believe that women are simply not capable of playing at that level, irrespective of the training. So either the people training them know this and intentionally dial down the intensity of training, or there is not enough money in the professional female sports to avail these women of that level of training.

I've umpired field hockey for over four years now, and I can definitely say that as soon as people hit puberty the differences in abilities between the guys and the girls skyrockets, and the girls never catch up. It's the same for almost any sport that requires any of speed, fitness or physical strength; the guys that are near the top are simply too far above the girls that desegregation would be pointless.

That being said, most 'men's' competitions (at a social level, I don't think it's the same professionally) are actually mixed, so it means that if there is a woman who is good enough to play the grade then she's able to do so. Only thing is that because of the immense differences between the genders this happens so rarely that they may as well be men's and not mixed.

i think if a woman athlete tries out and is good enough to play with men and doesnt mind getting pummeled in American football or anything else, then they should be able to play. they cant whine and complain if they get tackled and dogpiled on, the men should not have to "go easy" on a woman that plays, but if she doesnt mind then hey, why not.

however they should really only play contact sports with guys that require pads, because in say basketball, theres the possibility of "accidentally" getting felt up by the men. where as sports that require padding, that covers up those areas.

but yeah like golf, tennis, baseball, or contact sports like US football, sure. but maybe in like football (soccer), they could wear some kind of special sports bra that would keep their...girls nice and safe. the problem though probably is finding women who can compete with guys in most sports. maybe if they had the same training as guys they would be able to, i really dont know.