Women in Pro Sports

[Bob Ross]

Watching the Olympics recently, I was thinking about whether or not women's and men's sports should be (for lack of less polemic terminology) segregated. i.e. Should all sports be co-ed or is it okay to have leagues be seperated by sex?

There are a number of ways to view this:

1.) Idealistic: It's unfair to deny entry to any job or proffesion due to sex and therefore, everyone should have an equal ability to play...

2.) Pragmatic: If all sports were co-ed then women's leagues would disappear and there would be less opportunities for female athletes. Therefore, in the best interests of female athletes; the practical answer is that there should be seperate leagues for men and women...

3.) Inferiority/Superiority/Sexist: Female athletes are inherently weaker and less athletic than men and therefore, allowing them to play would simply be "affirmative action" in sports, denying the most qualified athletes from playing and destroying the competitiveness of the game...

4.) Status Quo/Marketing: Although it would be the right thing to do; allowing women to play in pro leagues would be such a huge change to what the customer/viewer/fan is used to that it would never be accepted by society and therefore, is not worth doing...

5.) Other: A way of viewing this issue that is too far from the abovementioned ways. Please explain...

In advance...let me apologize if this is an old topic. Also, although sports are usually seen as "guy stuff", I think this is really an issue about how we view the roles of men and women in specific areas of society.

 

[josty]

Take a realistic look at the level of physical ability in say women's track or men's track. The times are substantially different at the top of of competition. If you combine them, no woman would basically ever reach the top level.

 

[AlteredEgo]

I didn't vote because I feel equally inclined to vote for 2,,3, and 4.

 

[Gillette]

1.) Idealistic: It's unfair to deny entry to any job or proffesion due to sex and therefore, everyone should have an equal ability to play...

I think you mean opportunity to play, nothing on paper will ever equalize everyone's abilities. I'd like to refine that to opportunity to compete. I'm not sure this doesn't already exist. There are girls playing on boys hockey teams even into the adult ranges. While it's not common I can't say it's impossible for there to be a woman with equivalent or superior performance and abilities than the men playing a given pro sport. If she is a superior athlete to her male counterparts then it would be foolish not to use her on a team. I'm kinda doubting that the NFL even has a clause barring women from competition if only because they probably never thought they'd need it.

2.) Pragmatic: If all sports were co-ed then women's leagues would disappear and there would be less opportunities for female athletes. Therefore, in the best interests of female athletes; the practical answer is that there should be seperate leagues for men and women...

Agree with this.

3.) Inferiority/Superiority/Sexist: Female athletes are inherently weaker and less athletic than men and therefore, allowing them to play would simply be "affirmative action" in sports, denying the most qualified athletes from playing and destroying the competitiveness of the game...

This suggests quotas which I'm against, and yes, denying the most qualified would destroy the competitiveness of the game.

4.) Status Quo/Marketing: Although it would be the right thing to do; allowing women to play in pro leagues would be such a huge change to what the customer/viewer/fan is used to that it would never be accepted by society and therefore, is not worth doing...

Yes, no, maybe. I don't think having women's leagues helped bring significantly more women into the sports audience but I think if women and men were playing side by side that more wives/girlfriends would watch with their husbands/boyfriends...which might in turn have the reverse effect on some male viewers.

Hmm.
Stalemate?

 

[dolfette]

not, ''they might get hurt'' ffs

they have different weight divisions in boxing. i see the segregation of some sports like that.

we're built differently. there are some sports where the differences just matter too much.

 

[Chantal_Kyrie]

I'm a #2 person...I am a well-built, fairly tall, fairly strong young woman, but I cannot possibly compete against a similarly endowed man. We, as women, should be able to compete in those leagues if we want to, but should still have women's leagues open to us as a way to compete in a reasonably equal theatre.

 

[ManlyBanisters]

they have different weight divisions in boxing. i see the segregation of some sports like that.

we're built differently. there are some sports where the differences just matter too much.

I voted 'other' for exactly that reason.

Plenty of sports are divided into weight classifications and, for younger people, age classifications to ensure the playing field is as level as can be. Women and men are just physically different - there is nothing sexist about saying that men can run faster than women (for example).

Of course that's only the men who actually train to a high level - Shelley Ann Fraser would kick the living shit out of 99.9% of men on the track without getting out of breath but, even with less than 1.2 seconds between their best times, Usain Bolt makes her look like she's standing still. They are both trained to the highest standards, at optimum fitness and have amazing natural ability but the difference of what he can achieve and what she can is unquestionable.

Then there are some sports where there is no real difference - I'm not sure why shooting, bowling, darts and such should be divided male female. And indeed in certain specific competition sports like sailing are not segregated.

As with most things in life it is all relative.

 

[ScorpioSlut]

I'm a #2 person...I am a well-built, fairly tall, fairly strong young woman, but I cannot possibly compete against a similarly endowed man. We, as women, should be able to compete in those leagues if we want to, but should still have women's leagues open to us as a way to compete in a reasonably equal theatre.

So should men who don't cut it in the men's league be allowed to play in the women's league? Or would that simply be unfair to the women who chose the women's league to be unhindered by men?


I think the only fair solution to leave an all mens league, an all womens league and if there ever comes a time to create a third league that would be co-ed. This third league would provide positions for the men who want to play and can't quite cut it as far as getting into the mens league and it would also provide the opportunity for women who feel safe competing against men. I say this simply because anyone who participates in a co-ed league should feel safe in doing so not because they were forced or it was their only option. Men forced into a co-ed league might feel they have to hold back. Women forced into a co-ed league might feel they are being targeted on purpose. And then some people would feel perfectly comfortable in the situation.

 

[hud01]

Then there are some sports where there is no real difference - I'm not sure why shooting, bowling, darts and such should be divided male female. And indeed in certain specific competition sports like sailing are not segregated.

As with most things in life it is all relative.

A woman won a men's pro bowling tour event last month. The women's league folded, so now there are women playing in the men's events.

 

[Aplus]

A woman won a men's pro bowling tour event last month. The women's league folded, so now there are women playing in the men's events.

To a certain degree, I think women who want to participate in certain sports, may have to join male leagues or male dominated sports. Look at Danica Patrick also. There are no female racing leagues that I know about, so it's not like she has anywhere else to go to race on a professional level. And she shouldn't have to given she's obviously proven herself capable of competing year-round with guys obviously physically bigger than she is. So as long as a female can compete against men and at least hold-her-own, I see no general problem with it. I think every situation has to be judged separately though in most cases. The more physical sports like football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and even track and field are tougher to judge for me though.