There has been quite a bit of debate and controversy at that over the purported inclusion of trans-females into the ambit of female sport. Quite a bit of trans-females who were basically born biological males are being allowed to participate in women’s sport at the elite level. It is obvious there would be an inherent advantage to these trans people. The controversy has been discussed in the past in these columns. There appears to be a growing case in a section of woke arguing the need to do away with gender segregation and instead introduce a complex criteria based on physical attributes that would bring equality in sports. There is of course merit in the handicap system but that takes away the simplicity of sport. Aside of the complexities in developing an efficient handicap something that should be dynamic, there is obviously no reason for seeking a solution wherein a problem does not exist.
One might argue the trans-persons are emerging as a category and they need to be recognized as such but to accommodate a small fringe, it would be perhaps not worth to disrupt an equilibrium that seemingly exists for a fairly long time – maybe ever since the emergence of mankind. Aside of the debate of trans-genders, there is often a debate on gender equality and segregation in sports. The segregation is not confined to sports but even found in some of the performing arts where the honors categories are divided between the male and female gender like the Oscars or Emmys or Tonys and their cousins across countries. The sports thus is not an exception but merely trying to accommodate the varying skill-sets and physique between men and women. In sports like chess or darts where the physical strength might not be deciding attribute, the number of women challenging men at the highest level is still relatively low. There is equestrian that does not practice gender segregation. Interestingly, while dressage seems to be dominated by women- though at the highest apex, the show jumping or eventing are more male skewed. The reasons might be varied but the fact remains that the gender equality is not pronounced but differs based on the event. In events where women dominate like rhythmic gymnastics or artistic swimming, the men are not dominant only because the sports themselves are meant for women. In sports like competitive cheer, the women are the artists with men being the base. Yet in any of these events, the role of gender equality is something that remains absent.
Gender equality in sports would imply men and women contesting on equal footing with the same probability of achieving the highest rank. There should exist no inherent advantage or prospective barrier of entry that would skew in practice the sport towards a single gender. This is something that is not being witnessed in almost all sports barring exceptions. There of course exists a physical barrier. Sports by their very nature are those activities that entail physical exertion in the pursuit to competitive glory. Biology does favor men over women in terms of physical build. Therefore, it is evident that in a battle between men and women, the former would have a natural advantage. There are sports which do offer mixed events but even there if there were to exist male versus female events the men would have very significant advantage all other things being equal.
There certainly exists a case for gender parity in sports. For instance, there was a long battle for inclusion of women’s ski jumping at the Winter Olympics. This certainly had merit and deserved to be included. There is growing movement for inclusion of 50k walk for women in the Olympics. There is a case just that the women do not have a critical mass at the elite level to create a suitable competition. With the passage of time, there would be a critical mass of women athletes that would form the corpus of participation in the Olympics. There are many such events where women are participating or seeking to participate though events like Greco-Roman wrestling or four person bobsled are still away from the women’s programs at major sporting events. Yet, this does not imply in any way that women and men should participate in the same event on equal footing.
There is however a case of moving to unigender events in quite a few sports over a period of time. While in the case of motor sports like auto racing or bike racing, very few women are present, there are sports like chess, darts or billiard sports or even mini golf where in theory men and women can compete together. There is a possibility that the open events could be encouraged with equal quotas for men and women. Alternatively, there might be designed a few team events which will allow men to compete against women for instance in bridge or poker or chess. These open events would be trial grounds for experimenting gender parity and possibility of women excelling in open events. Till date, very few women have excelled in these kind of open events. Unless the probability of success hits fifty percent, there is little chance of abandoning the gender segregated events.
There seems to be no reason as suggested above towards a need to move towards categories based on physical attributes than mere gender. The sports which do not have women’s events for the moment can begin introducing women’s events so that they can take part. There is a need to introduce men’s events in sports which are predominated by women. This way would be preferable for both men and women to be able to participate in all the sports. There are sports like archery where women use a lighter bow or for that matter women have a lighter shot put or discus or hammer in athletics, these are something related to the attributes essential for the sport. There could be a case for the women’s event in the same terms as men to note the actual differences between the two but that is of something in addition to the existing events rather than replacing existing events. Gender segregation is here to stay and is something sine qua non. What is more relevant is introducing more gender differential events to encourage greater participation of women in sports.
Thoughts on Theory and Practice 