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Quote: "But they say the law has created a sex-segregated structure for athletic competition that is separate and unequal. The result is a system of playing and competing that reinforces the idea that women are physically inferior to men."
http://chronicle.com
Section: Athletics
Volume 54, Issue 14, Page A25

News items we might have seen…

Harvard President’s Remarks Condemned

At a recent conference on women’s representation in sports such as weightlifting, football and caber-tossing, Harvard President Lawrence Summers was asked to comment on the economic and scientific aspects of the problem.  Seeking to be “provocative” President Summers (speaking from notes) said that the under-representation of women in these sports may not be due to discrimination.  He pointed out that tests have shown women to be, on average, smaller and physically weaker than men and so do less well than men.  He added that “Some researchers have suggested that these differences may be biologically based.”
   Gasps and groans from the largely female audience greeted these remarks.  Athlete Imelda Oxblood commented “I was shocked!  I found it extremely upsetting that someone in Summers’ position could still advocate these tired old stereotypes”  She left the hall in tears, adding “I simply couldn’t stand to hear any more of Summers’ sexist ranting!”   Another woman in the audience commented “Just remember: Once they said that women couldn’t drive cars or even read.  Surely we’ve moved beyond that.”  Moderator Tawana Mbeki reminded the audience that at an earlier conference Summers had made similar comments.  “He said that African Americans are darker skinned than whites!” she said.  “And he was on this biological kick then too!”
   Today at a press conference President Summers apologized for his remarks, which he called “insensitive”:  “I’m afraid I was not fully aware of all the social-science research on this problem” he said.  He agreed to convene a task force of experts, members to be randomly selected from the Women’s Sports Collective and the Feminist Union at Harvard, to provide an objective report on the underrepresentation issue.
   Summers’ office refused to comment on a report that President Summers had agreed to appear at the annual Hasty Pudding fancy-dress party dressed as Eleanor Roosevelt.

[dr_aquatic]

Here is an interesting comparison from NCAA track and field.  The 100m dash and high jump are identical events for women and men, so they should provide a good metric for comparing the sexes.  I include the best performances by women in Division I of all-time and the best for men in the year 2000 for Division III (i.e. the recreational athlete).

Women’s DI 100 dash: 11.2s (all-time)
Men’s DIII 100 dash: 10.47s (2000)

Women’s DI High Jump: 1.95m (all-time)
Men’s DIII High Jump: 2.2m (2000)

Even the world records for women’s track and field (100m (10.49s Florence Griffith Joyner) and high jump (2.09m Stefka Kostadinova)) are not enough to win the Division III men’s titles.
Are women inferior to men?  No! 
Would Candice Parker rather lead her team to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship or ride the bench of a co-ed team because she is not tall enough?  Probably not.