this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023
347 points (99.7% liked)

196

16582 readers
1571 users here now

Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.

Rule: You must post before you leave.

^other^ ^rules^

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

To highlight the points you're making, Sport England itself has data on its main page that stipulates that women are less active than men in general and that starts at a young age.


https://www.sportengland.org/research-and-data/research/gender

Our new 10-year strategy launched in 2021, Uniting the Movement, is our plan to make being physically active a normal part of life for everyone in England – to make it easier for all of us as we go about our everyday lives.

Because currently, it’s not always a level playing field.

We know that women are less active than men, and this gender gap starts with girls being less active from a very young age.

This inequality, as well as others, is at the very core of Uniting the Movement and we have a laser focus on tackling them in all that we do, because providing opportunities to people and communities that have traditionally been left behind, and helping to remove the barriers to activity, has never been more important.


So, surprise, it's probably not just "genetics" or "testosterone" as people keep claiming that all men are naturally stronger, when the statistics say that women are by and large less active, and that since this starts at a young age, it can have a long-term affect on women's sports abilities.

On top of this, socially, women with lots of muscles are often not viewed as sexually desirable, despite being stronger than a lot of men in their weight class. So it's also justified to consider maybe women don't pursue strength as a virtue in the way a lot of men do, due to social expectations.

As Sport England points out, they're often not being told socially that they can and should be active and involved, and on top of that, they often have negative social consequences for doing so.

Literally a huge part of what Sport England is supposed to do is supposed to be about outreach and inclusivity, to make all Britons more active.

That should include making trans people more active, instead of looking for more reasons to remove them from activities.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

So much this. As a woman without testosterone, the only way I'm able to do well in roller derby is my previous experience playing ice hockey from a young age.