<p>vertical leap and speed. And obviously size is a big deal in basketball. Notice how I said that it’s MORE than strength.</p>
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<p>not really. graf, maybe. seles just bashed the ball back and forth like the modern WTA players. Either way, the top high school boy players can beat the best WTA players, easily, lol. And if the women played better, maybe people wouldn’t focus so much attention to how they looked.</p>
<p>The women’s leagues are specifically made because women can’t compete with men. There isn’t a big market for low class athletics. Sorry.</p>
<p>I don’t know if we should be holding tennis as the end-all, be-all for athleticism. I think track and field or weightlifting would be better as a showcase for the differences between the sexes. More objective at the very least.</p>
<p>Rick Riley, the sports columnist, likes the women’s side of tennis better. </p>
<p>I don’t watch tennis by either gender, so I’ll leave that discussion to people that care. As far as women being better than men at sports, doubtful in most circumstances. As far as interesting to watch, that’s completely subjective, and people can go on until they’re blue in the face and it won’t make a lick of difference in proving their argument. Having several female friends that played DI college athletics, I will say that society isn’t the limiting factor in female athletic performance. They just don’t have the same hormones, and have correspondingly lower speed/strength/endurance/agility/etc. Physiology is not sexist.</p>
<p>Oh come on now. These women I know are all former high school athletes, and some college ones. Do you really think that women who play at the “top” (ex WNBA), who’s jobs depend on their skill are going to hold back? Of course not.</p>
<p>Fact is that the way women play sports is not as entertaining for a majority. That’s not sexist, it’s because they play DIFFERENTLY.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, women aren’t forced to do ANYTHING they don’t want to, and when “society” tells a woman that they shouldn’t do something, and they comply, that is the woman’s choice to fit in. If she wanted to do it, there is nothing physically stopping her.</p>
<p>You missed my point, Gstein. I said both men AND women are oppressed. Just as men are stereotyped to be easily manipulated by sex and food, women are stereotyped as dumb bimbos easily manipulated by wealth and power. Obviously most people don’t fit into, or want to fit into either of these stereotypes.</p>
<p>I agree with most of what Russell and BetterThan said about womens vs men’s sports. Men are stronger, faster, more powerful; naturally people find them more entertaining to watch, for that “wow factor”. When women evolve to become as strong, powerful, and fast as men, they will draw in as many viewers and get more coverage, but until then…</p>
<p>I’m a woman but not a feminist. Men and women are not equal if equal means “the same”. We’re different anatomically and biologically, our brains are different and this influences our behavior, throw in the result of millions of years of evolution and you get two distinct creatures of one species who share most characteristics, but aren’t the same. Should we be treated equally in legal terms? Get paid equally for the same jobs? Be treated as equals in every way? Absolutely.</p>
<p>I remember watching a video on gender relations in sociology class and one of the points made was that men and women have different requirements to become firefighters - women had to do fewer push-ups and carry less weights. What a bunch of bull. If we’re equal, then Nancy better be able to meet the same minimum requirement as Johnny. I don’t want any weak firefighters staggering to pull me out of a burning building, thanks.</p>
<p>Logic - I thought feminist meant believing men and women are the same/equal, which I don’t. If it just means believing we should be equal in the eyes of the law and treated equally…then I guess I am a feminist.</p>
<p>as a women and gender studies major at Vanderbilt University, i find this thread absolutely HILARIOUS. if you don’t think women are oppressed in this century, go take a gender studies class. if you’d love some ideas about what oppression is today (i can give you MANY), private message me and ill give you some articles to read. otherwise, don’t make statements like this unless you read up on it because that in itself is offensive</p>
<p>^^clearly men and women are different biologically. however, there is definitely debate as to whether these biological differences affect behavior. i personally believe that it’s societal constructions, not biology, that affect behavior. men aren’t programmed to interrupt more in conversations, hold better-paying jobs, and commit more violent crimes. those things are all the result of NURTURE.</p>
<p>most people are feminists (a.k.a. they believe men and women deserve equal treatment both legally and socially & that women hold the rights to their own bodies) but don’t know it or don’t want to be associated with feminists because the word has such a negative stigma.</p>
<p>an unrelated point: being a feminist, i feel perfectly comfortable asking logicwarrior to marry me ;)</p>
<p>leah377 - yes there is debate, but as a neurobiology major, i’ve heard profs talk about the differences in womens/men’s brains and how they affect behavior. For example, some people think women having a wider corpus callosum results in “women’s intuition” (obviously this is up for a lot of debate). But there are structural differences in our brains, and obviously our physical bodies in terms of hormones as such, and a lot of it may simply be nurture. No, I don’t think men are programmed to be better or do any of those things, most of that is nurture. But I don’t think men/women are the same or equal, just that we should be treated as such. </p>
<p>thank you for clearing up what feminist means…in that case, I guess I am one.</p>
<p>actually I’m pretty sure that hormones affect behavior. Like being violent and whatnot. Although roid rage (from taking androgens) is blown out of proportion by the media, higher test levels do affect behavior.</p>
<p>The male and female mind start diverging in the womb. I believe there is a biological basis for the differences between men and women. How big a role it contributes compared to culture is unknown, but to say that it’s nonexistent doesn’t work.</p>
<p>Disclaimer- That doesn’t mean that men or women are any more or less qualified to perform most jobs in the modern workforce. Saying that evolution has prepared one sex or the other to perform office work is foolish. Evolution doesn’t happen that fast.</p>
<p>^ Exactly, and that’s why anyone who says we’re the same is deluding themselves. Instead of taking a Gender Studies class, take a Bio or Neurosci class and study how our brains/hormones are different and how that influences our behavior. Is a lot of it nurture? sure, but let’s not deny the huge role nature plays. </p>
<p>It makes me laugh how the same feminists who firmly believe men and women are equal argued the female firefighters shoudn’t have to do as many pushups or lift the same number of weights. Whatever happened to equality…</p>
I don’t know who would say that, but it’s ridiculous. I personally believe women should be held to the same standards. The same applies to the military–women should be placed in combat positions and they should be eligible for the draft. However, it’s extremely difficult for women in the military these days because they face alarming rates of sexual harassment, discrimination and assault.</p>
<p>Agreed with stargazer and Son of Opie. The brain of a man and woman are absolutely different, as well as their body chemistries throughout life. Those absolutely have a huge, if not the biggest impact.</p>
<p>And sorry, but Science trumps “gender studies” any day of the week.</p>
<p>Gender Studies is a specific field of sociology.
Sociology is a specific field of Psychology
Psychology is a derivative of Biology</p>