Anyone who is even a casual follower of sports is probably aware of the excitement surrounding NCAA women’s basketball and more specifically the play of Iowa Hawkeye star player Caitlin Clark. The reigning NCAA Division I player of the year and scoring champion is putting up numbers that are truly jaw-dropping and an inspiration to all young players but especially to young girls.
Why did I add the last part of the previous statement? Well, because she is a female and she was once a girl with ambitions to be the star she has become. When I think of Terry Fox, I think of a young man who inspired not only a nation but the world. However, more importantly, it can never be argued that his greatest and most important influence was on those who shared a similar challenge to his, namely not being able-bodied (note, I am not sure what the correct term is anymore for a person with a physical disability, so please don’t cancel me if I used the politically improper term. I hope you recognize sarcasm?).
Back to Caitlin Clark and the topic of this post. Clark deserves all the accolades which are showered upon her. The fame, the endorsements the press coverage – all are well-deserved. However, as a society, why do we seem to need to constantly step out of our figurative (and at times literal) lanes as it pertains to female athletes? When a female athlete like Clark – or tennis star Serena Williams or retired UFC legend Amanda Nunes or LPGA star Michelle Wie, just to name three others – achieves great heights in her sport, why must we engage in the comparison game? Namely, discussing how these female athletes would fare against male competition.
I was asked why this matters in a recent conversation. So we engage in some “harmless” debate? That’s what sports fans do all the time, right? Who is the greatest? Gretzky or Lemieux? Jordan or Lebron? The problem is when we get into comparisons around hypotheticals such as gender versus gender which can have a real impact on our young people I think we have an obligation to stand up and speak the truth.
Caitlin Clark (and Serena Williams and Michelle Wie and Amanda Nunes and any other female athlete who has reached the summit of their respective sport) should be held in the highest regard for what she has accomplished. She is a great and accomplished athlete – period. However, comparing Clark or any other generational female athlete with their male counterparts is a fool’s game and is doing harm to our young aspiring athletes – both female and male. Further, my position is that it does damage to society in a wider sense. The lies that result and are told to our children, but especially to our daughters, can set them up for a world of disappointment.
Battle of the Sexes: the origin of the gender lie in post-feminist society?
The phrase “Battle of the Sexes” has been frequently used when discussing the real or hypothetical competition between female and male athletes. That being said, it is a phrase largely synonymous with the exhibition tennis match played between Billie Jean King and Bobbie Riggs in 1973 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. At the time, King was regarded as the number 1 women’s player in the world for a fifth consecutive year. Riggs was also a world number 1 ranked tennis player – albeit over 15 years prior to the 1973 match with King. Riggs had been retired from professional tennis for over 10 years and was a well known commentator who was a hustler and gambler. Earlier that year, Riggs had already handily beaten another then current top female player, Margaret Court, in a similar exhibition. Riggs was 55 at the time of match while King was 29 years of age.
King ultimately won the match over Riggs and suddenly women’s tennis was in the spotlight. This match did a great amount of good for the women’s game and has played a role in women players getting better prize money relative to their male counterparts. The match also brought attention to Title IX, federal legislation in the United States, enacted just one year earlier, which was designed essentially to promote and protect female sports.
But was the impact from the King win over Riggs all good? I would argue it was at the time but over the ensuing five decades that match has taken on a legend of its own that has created some false narratives which have had negative repercussions.
The “I can do anything you can do“ lie we tell our daughters
The broad strokes of the discussion of this post is one of women compared to men in one area of society – sports. However, this is also an important discussion as it relates to any role/activity which has physicality, in whole or in part, as an important requirement to complete the role/activity at the highest level.
Most reasonable-thinking individuals have given up the outdated belief that woman cannot stand shoulder-to-shoulder with men in almost every aspect of our modern world. Women are represented (and justifiably so) in growing numbers in fields like medicine, politics and business. Here is where we should be telling our daughters that they can be equal or even better than their male peers. What you put in, from an effort standpoint, will most often determine your success in these areas.
However, there is one area where men will always have an edge over women and that is the realm of the physical. Jobs which require an element of strength and endurance are almost always dominated by men. I would argue that any attempt to artificially inject more women into these jobs is at the very least unfair and at worst can compromise public safety.
To the first part about creating standards for women being unfair I am saying it is unfair to absolutely everyone. It is unfair to the males who have a greater ability to perform the role yet are often passed over to make room for more women to fill a gender quota. It is unfair to the women who could not meet the standards set for their male counterparts because these same women will be looked down upon as “token” hires. Further it is unfair for the small percentage of women who can meet the standards as they may be wrongfully lumped in with the “token” hires and also be seen to be lacking the qualifications to perform the role. For the males hired, they being the ones who met the minimum standards, it is unfair to them because they must work alongside someone who cannot “pull their weight”.
Finally, and probably most importantly, the public pays unfairly for the societal unexplainable need for this type of equity. It may be difficult to measure, but it makes sense that in some roles (think fire fighters and law enforcement as just two examples of many) when standards are lowered that we as a whole are not receiving the best level of service and there is a possibility that public safety and in some cases the safety of others in those professions is at risk.
Truth or consequences
The lie in this case is that women and men are equal in a physical sense and further that women can compete with men and have success. This is just not in any way factual and it does have wide-reaching negative ramifications in our world.
Returning to the gender discussion in sports. There is so much irrefutable evidence – both scientific/biological and in the results from athletes. There is a website which did an analysis of some of these results, focusing specifically on disciplines in track and field and swimming. There is no commentary on the home page of site other than a line at the top of the page which I will address later. The data simply lays out the facts.
The results 0f female Olympic Champions, the best of the best in the world, were compared to the results of high school age boys from the United States only. The data painted a stark picture of how the best female athletes would fare against American high school boys. When the medal count of this hypothetical (but accurate based on results) competition was tabulated the boys captured 81 medals to the women’s six. Further, 29 0f the 30 gold medals would have been won by the high school boys. (source: boys vs. women).
I mentioned that one line of commentary on the home page of the website. Here it is; “If boys win against the fastest women, is it fair for males to compete in female-only athletic events? What about transwomen and HRT?”
(For readers who do not know what HRT is, it stands for “Hormone Replacement Therapy”. Simply put, females and males receive HRT when they wish to present differently from their biological sex – ie. a man who wishes to present as a woman or a woman who wishes to present as a man. Note that I use the words “present as…” because I do not support some commonly accepted beliefs that a man can become a woman or a woman can become a man. Biology matters.).
The two sentences of commentary from the referenced home page of the website make it clear what the objective of this analysis was meant to illustrate. Further, after laying out the facts which are as irrefutable as a statement like water is wet, the site creators make some further conclusions which I encourage anyone to read. I will focus on one statement because I think it adequately makes the argument that men and women should never compete against each other at a high level.
“However, the statistics demonstrate that the differences between the sexes are not trivial, so any attempt to create a level playing field between males and females must account for all differences between the sexes or risk allowing for unfair advantages.”
Surely, if high school boys would dominate female Olympic medalists then objectively biological males should never be found in the same competitive arena unless it is a very young age or at a recreational level. Yet, in some warped desire to say men and women are “equal” this is exactly what is happening with increasing regularity. We cannot and should not allow this lie to take hold. Women’s records will be extinguished at a rapid rate by biological males should we allow this lunacy to continue.
Further, we risk not only the physical health and safety of female athletes but their mental well-being as well.
Why do we believe the lie?
It is only an opinion but I believe that this discussion of men versus women has morphed into a perversion of the truth. Even though some of us can see the truth there are those who choose to ignore what is evidently factual. Why? I don’t have anything to offer beyond my opinion. I believe the reason is rooted in the desire not to hurt someone’s feelings. We don’t want to tell our 5′ 2″ 120 pound daughter that she can’t compete on the high school football team because it may hurt her feelings. Similarly, that 6′ 4″ boy who believes he is a girl should be allowed to compete against the girls because we may hurt his feelings should we state the obvious that it is unfair to the girls to have to face a biological male.
Words like “affirm” or “validate” in these discussions of gender are often at odds with reality. Rather than “affirming” or “validating” our children I suggest we parent them which means supporting them and being their biggest cheerleaders but also telling them the truth when nobody else is willing to do so.
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