Thread by @Scienceofsport

@oldeisyoung @helenopinion @Rolnikov That’s great, she’s probably on the far right of the athleticism spectrum within the female sex. But the comparison with you is absolutely irrelevant, because, and I say this factually, you’re not an elite athlete. How does she compare to the top 10% of men? Nothing sexist here.

@oldeisyoung @helenopinion @Rolnikov So the thing for your sister is that if you got your wish, the only sport she could ever do is play it socially against (and again, I’m being blunt here) mediocre males like you. The moment she stepped on a court or track, or jumped in a pool against top 10% males, she’s nowhere

@oldeisyoung @helenopinion @Rolnikov And if that still seems sexist to you, spend some time on wiki and compare world records in track and field, swimming, weight lifting, cycling. Or even high school records. NCAA winning times. Take your pic. Check how many males are far ahead of the best females in history.

@oldeisyoung @helenopinion @Rolnikov That dataset (and spoiler - you’ll find the best men are 10% faster in running & swimming, 30% stronger in weight lifting) leaves you a real dilemma. You now have to either accept that males outperform females in sport (not sexist, biology). Or, you have to tell all those women

@oldeisyoung @helenopinion @Rolnikov …who are 10% to 30% (and punch power is 160% lower, by the way, so the range is huge), that they’re massively underperforming, why can’t they just run or swim faster? What’s wrong with women? You think it’s the former, or the latter?

Point is - a category for females in sport

@oldeisyoung @helenopinion @Rolnikov …exists precisely because of the sex difference. It’s not sexist to recognise this, and then to say ‘Females need a category so that we can celebrate their excellence in sport!” The great irony is that the category actually achieves equality, that’s why it must be protected

@oldeisyoung @helenopinion @Rolnikov And conversely, to deny biology and its impact on sport is actually undermining and achieves inequality for women. So the attempt to play the “that’s sexist” card actually reveals sexism. We celebrate women Olympic champs as equal BECAUSE we have a separate female category.