In which sports are women able to compete directly with men without disadvantage?

The only sport that comes into my mind is chess. It doesn’t require strength, just wit and strategy.

Horse racing?

Race car driving? According to Danica Patrick’s wiki page she has finished as high as 6th in numerous races and has gotten pole position before as well. Seems she is pretty good in a sport full of men.

Tony Stewart (also from wikipedia-I don’t know very much about motor sports btw) said on autosport.com regarding her competing in the league: “I think obviously she’s got talent; she’s been successful in every form of racing she’s been in so far and I don’t see why she wouldn’t be successful here [in NASCAR].”

Chess (Judit Polgar proves that in spades).

And sorry, but Danica Patrick is overhyped as fuck. In 7 years of running in the IRL she managed one win and that was on fuel mileage. She’s had a handful of top 10 finishes in NASCAR, but plenty of drivers manage that without ever actually being competitive. The reason why she’s “successful” is because she manages to get rides in top-tier teams. The reason she manages to get those rides is because she’s photogenic and willing to do bikini shoots. That brings in a lot of sponsorship money, and in auto racing it’s less about how good you are than it is about how marketable you are. And yeah, Tony Stewart’s going to say that. She’s driving for his team and bringing in a shit ton of money for him. Kyle Petty’s absolutely right about her – she’s a marketing machine, not a racer.

Drag racing.

Shirley Muldowney won three NHRA Top Fuel championships.

Car racing was my thought too.

Golf.

Bowling.

I think possibly baseball too.

Chess, a sport? Hahahahaha!!
There are very few sports in which women can truly compete with men & by compete I mean win regularly as opposed to, ah bless, didn’t she do well”
That’s not a criticism, just a fact of DNA, although I see no reason why women can’t dominate in darts or snooker/pool & yet they don’t.

On motor racing, I think it heavily depends on which form we’re talking about. Susie Wolff recently became the first woman to drive in an official F1 session since 1992. I’m not sure that is down to statistics either. I also doubt a female driver would have the strength to be competitive in one of our V8 supercars. However in a smaller car, like in the BTCC, or one geared more to endurance, like an LMP1, maybe a woman could be competitive. I can’t comment on NASCAR, since I don’t follow it, but there’s not a whole lot of steering or braking effort involved, so maybe it is possible. And yeah, Top Fuel too @Brian1946.

Horse racing is a great suggestion, as is darts and pool.

Gymnastics, tennis, bowling, figure skating, all archery and shooting sports, possibly golf.

There is a presumption in this thread that we are discussing the very top level competition and whether women can compete at that level with men. Yet at that level the difference between the very best and the just also ran, the difference between an Olympic Gold and an Olympic Bronze, is so slight yet crucial, that the physical advantage gives men that tiny edge.

Yet I know a lot of women that can not only compete with men, they kick men’s butts on a regular basis. I’m thinking Master level sporting events.

Pool and foosball. Bowling.

Any sport that doesn’t require direct physical contact women can compete equally in.

It’s logical that we would assume those at the top, @zenvelo. There have been times in the past when I totally kicked my ex-husband’s butt in tennis (and I was 6 months pregnant at the time,) in golf and in Taekwondo sparring matches, bowling, in just about everything. He was 6’, I was 5’8”.
I was a natural athlete. He was just a guy with an ego.

A pro woman boxer could probably kick any regular guy’s butt.

Table tennis, gymnastics

M, not gymnastic, @majorrich. Their are certain tricks that a man can pull off because of his strength, that a woman couldn’t….at least, not as well.

I suppose you are right. But women have amazing flexibility in their favor.

We do. We can do stuff that men can’t. So it’s kind of a wash.

@ucme “Chess, a sport? Hahahahaha!!”

Ah yes, the mistaken notion (fostered by professional athletic leagues) that sport has to involve athletic competition.

@Darth_Algar Chess is not a sport, in the same way as poker isn’t, deal with it or don’t.

Have to go with @ucme on that one.

“Sport: an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.
“team sports such as baseball and soccer”
synonyms: (competitive) game(s), physical recreation, physical activity, physical exercise, athletics;”

I don’t necessarily go with the physical criteria, a large element in world class sport is the mental factor, coping with pressure/demands.
Most professional sports stars employ psychology coaches these days, in recognition of the impact on performance that a fully focused mind can bring.
I love chess & appreciate the mental fortitude, but it ain’t no sport, end of.

Obstacle course, like American Ninja Warrior. Women compete with the same course as men.

http://www.eukonkanto.fi/en/ :D

But if it were a race the woman would, most likely, lose @talljasperman.

@Dutchess_III

Amazingly some words have more than one definition. Another definition for “sport” is: “That which diverts, and makes mirth; pastime; amusement”.

@ucme “I don’t necessarily go with the physical criteria, a large element in world class sport is the mental factor, coping with pressure/demands.”

That’s chess in a nutshell. Especially at the competitive level.

@Darth_Algar It must run in tandem with the physicality to be considered a sport, let it go man, let it go.

Well, yeah. “They dumped water on each other for sport,” like that.

@ucme

According to whom? The professional athletic leagues?

Here is a list of sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). I see “chess”.

Sure as heck. The Olympic committee calls it a sport, as does the wikipedia page about chess

The only sports I can think of where men and women currently compete against each other on equal terms, is equestrian events; showjumping, cross-country, dressage etc. And golf I think.

There are plenty of other sports where men and women could compete on equal terms but currently don’t permit it.

I disagree that gymnastics is one of them. Sure, men and women both do gymnastics but the events themselves are very different. A top female gymnast (typically small and aged about 15) would not be able to compete on equal terms at events like the pommel horse and the rings, which demand extreme strength. Conversely, male gymnasts would be less successful at the female events which demand much greater flexibility and speed.

Also, I lost all faith in the definition of the word “sport” when synchronised swimming was introduced into the olympics.

Women do not compete alongside men in golf, not professionally anyway.
I’m amused the way someone dug deep, I mean, real deep, in order to validate a board game as a sport.
One could throw together a governing body & tag almost anything as a sport, so lets place chess alongside frisbee, sudoku & dominoes for your sports entertainment this evening.
Here’s your host, Mickey Mouse with commentary by Kermit the Frog.

^ Yep. Isn’t it odd how a word like “sport” can mean guys walking around with clubs and occasionally hitting a tiny ball into a hole, while it can also mean beating the crap out of each other? I wouldn’t get too worried that “sport” is a term that is being watered down. It is very flexible and seems to be able to cover all kinds of activities.

Oh, i’m not worried in the least.

Darts.

@ucme

I’m more amused that you think a brief Google or Wikipedia search is digging deep, I mean, real deep. I’m also amused by your seeming insistence that sport be confined to your own narrow preconceptions.

I’m also amused by your seeming insistence that ____ be confined to your own narrow preconceptions. @Darth_Algar. Good thing you’re so meticulous about providing links to your opinions.

I’ve always been amazed at the PGA /LPGA split. The games take place on a defined course. Why can’t a woman stand alongside a man?

@ibstubro Wouldn’t it be, like most other sports, to allow women an arena where they can succeed? The top women golfers cannot drive as far as the top men, so on any hole with a fairway requiring long drives they would lose a stroke from the outset.

Sounds to me like the PGA, the MPGA and the LPGA, @FireMadeFlesh.
Isn’t that how equality develops?

What is the modern connotation of “ladies”?

@ibstubro I’m not sure I catch your meaning. How can equality develop when the differences are biological?

@Darth_Algar You’re allowing your love of chess to cloud your judgement & frankly, come across as crass & silly. I expressed both sides of the matter, telling of my love of chess as a game & yet you childishly insist on demanding it to be a sport on the say so of an extemely tenuous link buried way down in a wiki page. One which you yourself, as an avid chess fan, were unaware of, because to be sure, you would have posted the link yourself earlier in the piece.

Further on the subject of golf, women play on the same course as men, but that course is substantially altered in terms of tee placings, women drive some 50/80yds further along particular holes not only reducing the holes length, but also its score to par, also taking out of play some hazards including bunkers/hazards. So again, there is no direct competition between the sexes, that ‘s just the way it is.

What about curling?

^^ A hairdressers “sport”

Here was my point, @FireMadeFlesh.

@ucme “You’re allowing your love of chess to cloud your judgement & frankly, come across as crass & silly. I expressed both sides of the matter, telling of my love of chess as a game & yet you childishly insist on demanding it to be a sport on the say so of an extemely tenuous link buried way down in a wiki page. One which you yourself, as an avid chess fan, were unaware of, because to be sure, you would have posted the link yourself earlier in the piece.”

Except I’m not the one who posted that link. @hominid and @Dutchess_III posted links to Wikipedia pages. I did not.

@Darth_Algar Which is precisely what I said in my closing sentence, thought you’d have picked up on that considering your habit of constantly repeating others quotes.
Oh & by the way, it’s still not a sport :)

@ucme

Yeah, I’m not insisting that it be called a sport, and certainly not because of a Wikipedia link. Frankly speaking it’s no skin off my nuts what anyone choose to consider it. My only qualm is the asinine notion many have that athletic events are the only thing that can be call “sport”.

And yeah, I quote people a lot because I find that generally helps the flow of conversation when someone knows exactly which statement you’re referring to, rather than trying to guess it.

LOL!

Game set & match @ucme…or maybe that should be check mate, g’day sport!

When it comes to sports requiring physical activity I can’t think of any, at least without separating individualism from the collective (not counting exceptional cases that is). This is why I’m not a fan of intergender wrestling on a scholastic level. Girls can compete with boys at a similar age and weight when the boys are underdeveloped, because girls physically mature faster than boys, but once the boy becomes fully developed it’s usually game over for the girl.

I think when it comes to non-physical or contact sports such as chess, and maybe others like bowling and billiards, they can compete. Bowling (something I do myself when I have time) is more about technique than strength. Same with pool and billiards. Lack of females playing chess is the cause of male domination within that sport I think. Lack of interest on the behalf of females, or lack of encouragement? I don’t know. Why are there more male scientists, philosophers and inventors? Same reasons?

I would like to see the womens Olympic hockey team play with the mens team. Or against.

@talljasperman makes me wonder if it wouldn’t be interesting to allow any gender-specific team to invite the other gender’s team to play a game for a followup “Peace and Meal Olympics.” Proceeds go to charity, winning team designates.

@ibstubro Yes I would like to see that game. I wonder if the enforcers would react to each other.

@ibstubro I won’t pretend that I understand completely, since I am a terrible golfer, but there is no tactic or advantage in that article that men can’t also employ. A man who works on accuracy, the short game, and the game plan to the same extent as a woman of equivalent skill retains the advantage of a longer drive for the holes that require it. Maybe the gap is narrower in golf, but I don’t think it can be discounted entirely.

Angling is the #1 paticipant “sport” in the UK, another that I don’t consider a sporting endeavour, more like grown men flirting with fish.

Breaking News : Tiddlywinks awarded Olympic status by the IOC, well flip my burger & call me Susan!

diving, fishing, target shooting

I posted a link about golf that was ignored.

Dancing.

@ibstubro Please see my previous post. I clearly stated “there is no tactic or advantage in that article that men can’t also employ.” That would imply that I read the article, and didn’t ignore it.

People say Fred Astaire was a great dancer. But Ginger Rogers did everything he did, but backwards and in high heels.

Sorry, @FireMadeFlesh.

@ibstubro No harm done.

Does this mean I can use the red tees if I want to?

According to the results I have been able to find in the olympic games scores, not many. Though olympic sports were obviously first created for physical competition, not chess.

As for what is and isn’t a sport, I mostly here the term used to only include activities that employ physical components, otherwise a battle of wits would also be a sport, actually every endeavor that more than one person undertook would be a sport. Not that I have a problem using that definition either. I just like clarity of understanding versus fuzzy speech.

My question concerning the chess is/isn’t a sport is why someone would emotionally react to not having what they want to be a sport considered a sport by others? So what if it’s a game versus a sport according to others? Who cares if the athletes don’t consider chess a sport?
Just weird to me.

I love how on the internet every debate is assumed to be emotional.

* Sobbing * I know, right?

I like how on the internet, people assume that people assume things.

Is it customary here to make sarcastic unfounded remarks?

* Sobbing * Yes! And sometimes it ain’t no fun. :(

At any rate, welcome to Fluther. * Runs sobbing away. *

I’ve heard rock climbing is a very equalizing sport. Sure men can use brute strength to “dino” certain holds with their hands, but women have an advantage being smaller and able to use toe holes that wouldn’t support a larger person. Climbing is more reliant on lower body strength than people might think. It’s all about balance and foot placement. I hear that women can compete quite well against men.

@Sinqer Thanks, and welcome!

@keobooks That makes a lot of sense. Men would have a reach advantage, but women would be able to use less stable holds due to their lesser weight.

Plus we’re more limber and can contort more easily than a man.

I’m not more limber, but I agree the average woman is more limber than the average man.

I took Ta Kwon Do for about a year. It was pretty evident there!

Can you touch your toes legs straight?

Used to be able to. Could also sit in a full split and lay my upper torso down flat on the ground in front of me.

I never was able to do any of those things. Not even when I was a six year old taking ballet regularly.

Really? Even though you stretched and stretched?

People are built differently too, yes?
Going from comparing genders in general to comparing individuals?

Oh, sure. I was a natural athlete. My ex thought he was, but he wasn’t.

One time we played guys against girls tennis with another couple from work. They beat us, barely, by one point. My husband was all bragging about how good they were. His team mate said, “Well, we played against two women, and one of them is 7 months pregnant (me) and we almost lost, so I’m not sure what there is to be so proud of.”

Ballet is stretching. They make you stretch before during and after. I’ve never been flexible. I was more flexible at 6 than 46, but nothing to write home about. I still do my best to work on my stretching to avoid injury. Stretching before exercising I am very careful, because I think I’m at risk. After exercise is when I try to push myself a little.

Some ballet teachers like to do floor stretches at the beginning if class, which I hated. It’s pretty impossible for me. In a class of 20, ballet or otherwise, I’m always the least flexible.

Yeah, I did ballet for a bit when I was a kid.