41 More Reasons Males Don’t Belong in Women’s Sports
Invisible Performance Advantages You May Not Have Considered
Hi friends and welcome newcomers!
Quiz: How many women’s sports feature rules or equipment specifically designed for female bodies? Lots? Or just a few?
Hint: Remember women’s volleyball? The net hangs seven-and-a-half inches lower than the men’s net. Why? Because women are on average six inches shorter than men. Men’s jumping ability is, on average, one hundred percent higher than women’s. That lower net for women makes sense — until males (of any gender identity) show up on that court.
I mentioned the volleyball net height in previous stories (Part One and Part Two) about the women’s volleyball scandal, which now involves five colleges boycotting San Jose State University because of its male (trans) player. The latest on that unprecedented BOYcott another time.
If all volleyball nets were the same height, males would still have unfair advantages based on their greater speed and strength; longer arm length; and larger heart size, lung size, and hand size. Men’s volleyball serving speed is 30 percent faster than women’s. Men’s spiking speed is 45 percent greater.1 2 But when males play on women’s teams, the lower nets amount to additional, invisible performance advantages for males. They’re invisible because most of us never notice them.
Wait, what about basketball? Do women play with lower rims?
No. But Fun Fact: Organizers of the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL), the first women’s pro league in the United States, did consider lowering baskets to facilitate dunking. But baskets are not designed to be lowered, and manufacturing new hoops for women was impractical. However, the WBL experimented with a new ball: one ounce lighter and one inch smaller in diameter than standard. Designed by Karen Logan, my then-teammate on the New Jersey Gems, it was such a hit that it was soon adopted throughout the women’s high school and college games. It’s now used in the WNBA, too.
Question: Who makes the rules?
Answer: Governing bodies for each sport. Sometimes there are different rules and equipment based on age group, competition level, country, world, etc. There is no overarching authority insisting that women and men use different equipment or rules, and in some sports, such as swimming, they don’t. The fastest men swim faster because of men’s inherent sex-based performance advantages, but male swimmers in the female category enjoy no invisible performance advantages. They do, however, benefit from slower qualifying times, which is beyond the scope of this article.
Question: Aren’t such rules sexist?
Answer: Sometimes. There’s no reason women can’t play best-of-five sets in Grand Slam tennis tournaments, for instance. But those related to such factors as ball size, thrown objects, and distance from tee to green (see below, but only after you’ve taken the quiz!), accommodate female bodies and strength. And favor any males who compete by female rules.
Back to the quiz: Best guess? Five sports with sex-specific rules? Ten? Fifteen?
The big reveal: The Women’s Sports Policy Working Group originally found thirty. That’s a lot. Over time, these numbers are growing. For each sport below, picture the advantage a larger, stronger male would have when using lighter, smaller equipment on female-sized playing fields – a bit like an adult competing on middle-school playground.
Archery: Women sometimes shoot over shorter distances.3 A mixed team event is based on male-female performance differences.
Basketball: Women use a smaller, lighter basketball. The WNBA’s three-point line is about 19 inches closer to the basket than the NBA’s. The WNBA plays 40-minute games; NBA plays 48-minute games. A 3x3 mixed team event is based on male-female performance differences.
Badminton: Mixed doubles format is based on male-female performance differences.
Biathlon: Women sometimes compete over shorter distances.
Boxing: In professional boxing, women compete in 2-minute rounds; men’s rounds are 3 minutes long. Women box for 10 rounds; men for 12. Women have lighter weight classes.
Cliff Diving: Women dive from a lower platform (69 vs 89 feet).
Cricket: Women use a smaller, lighter ball on a smaller field.
Cycling, Cyclocross: Women typically race for a shorter amount of time.
Cycling, Mountain biking: Women sometimes race shorter distances.
Cycling, Road races: Women typically race shorter distances. A mixed team relay is based on male-female performance differences.
Cycling, Track: Women typically race shorter distances.
Football, American tackle: In the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA), the field is smaller. Some women’s leagues have shorter game durations.
Football, Flag: Women and girls use a smaller, lighter ball.
Golf: Women’s tee boxes are typically placed closer to the hole and women’s courses are usually shorter because women do not drive as far as men. A mixed team event is based on male-female performance differences.
Handball: Women use a smaller, lighter ball.
Ice hockey: A mixed team event is based on male-female performance differences.
Judo: Women and men have different weight classes, including in mixed team events, based on physical differences.
Lacrosse: Women wear no helmets or pads, use different sticks, and have different rules regarding body contact and checking, all of which increase physical risks to women when male players step into the women’s game. (Thanks to Kim Russell.)
Powerlifting: Women use lighter barbells with smaller diameters to accommodate female strength and hand size.
Rowing: Women and men have different weight classes and individual rower weight limits based on physical differences.
Skiing, Cross-Country: Olympic women ski shorter distances than men (usually half as far).
Shooting: Mixed team events are based on male-female performance differences.
Soccer: Adults use the same balls, but girls’ leagues sometimes use smaller balls.
Softball: Softball has shorter base paths and a smaller field than baseball, the mostly-men’s version of this game.
Speed Skating: Women race 500-5,000 meters; men skate up to 10,000 meters.
Sport Climbing: A mixed relay team event is based on male-female performance differences.
Swimming: The mixed 4x100 medley relay is based on male-female performance differences.
Taekwondo: Women and men have different weight classes based on physical differences.
Tennis: In Grand Slam events, men play best of five sets, while women play best of three sets. Mixed doubles format is based on male-female performance differences.
Track & Field, Hurdles: Women’s hurdles are between six and nine inches lower and ten meters shorter in distance.
Track & Field, Shot Put: The shot is lighter for women.
Track & Field, Javelin: The javelin is lighter for women.
Track & Field, Hammer Throw: The hammer is lighter for women.
Track & Field, Weight Throw: The weight is lighter for women.
Track & Field, Discus: The discus is lighter for women.
Track & Field, 3000-meter steeple chase: Barriers are lower for women.
Volleyball (indoor and beach): Nets are lower for women.
Volleyball (beach): A mixed beach volleyball event is based on male-female performance differences.
Water Polo: Women use a smaller, lighter ball, the same size used by 14 & under boys.
Weightlifting: Women have lighter weight categories and use lighter barbells with smaller diameters to accommodate female strength and hand size. A mixed team relay is based on male-female performance differences and weight classes.
Wrestling: Women and men have different weight classes based on physical differences.
Know of other sports or events with invisible performance advantages? Do tell, and we’ll expand the list.
Thanks to my teammates Martina Navratilova, Nancy Hogshead, Donna de Varona, Donna Lopiano, and Tracy Sundlun of the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group for assisting with this story. Thanks also to readers Betty Carroll Fuller, James Marshall, and Babette Verhoeven for submitting entries that expanded our original list.
Other Stronger Women essays about the need for female-only sports:
"He Cheated" Finally Answers: How Often Do Males Compete in Women’s Sports?
Women Say No Again – This Time Louder – to Males in Women’s Sports (Part 1)
See Greg Brown, “Males and Females Are Different and That Matters in Sports!” October 2, 2024.
“Testosterone suppression for genetically male athletes – irrespective of how they identify – will not eliminate the set of comparative performance advantages they have already acquired… To avoid the loss of a fair opportunity, males must not compete in the female categories of sport.” – United Nations Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, August 2024
“Typically” and “sometimes” refer to event- and region-specific variations.
In Track and Field the women’s hurdles are also 100 m and men’s 110 m. Same number of hurdles but shorter and closer to accommodate the biological reality of women’s bodies!
In swimming, the times are slower to achieve zone, junior national, senior national, and Olympic Trial cuts for women. Ditto NCAA National cuts. (Which is why William Thomas went from 462nd to 1st as Lia.)