If I had 50c for every time I heard someone say that men’s sports are just more interesting that women’s? I’d have the world’s fanciest pair of custom skates, a wall of wheels for every occasion, and a whole new wardrobe full of that fancy workout gear made of space-age fabrics with go-faster stripes. And maybe even a pony.
Women’s sports aren’t interesting? Y’know, whenever I hear someone say that a sport is less interesting to watch when women play it, I mentally file them away as someone who couldn’t give a rat’s ass about athleticism, skill, teamwork or dedication and who’s just into sports as a way to… damn, now I’m trying to think of a non-ciscentric way to say “wave their dicks around” and I’ve got nothin. (Anyone wanna help me out there?)
Sports are interesting or they’re not, and different types of bodies playing the same sport makes it MORE interesting, not less.
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At the minute, I’m loving women’s ice hockey. Similar to (I guess, freestyle snowboarding today?), ice hockey started out as a very niche, counter culture sport and now men’s hockey has become incredibly commercialised. Women’s ice hockey however, still has that ragtag, bad news bears feel, which really makes me emotional. They do it, without a lot of recognition from mainstream sports authorities, because they love it. And I love them for that.
Yeah, but as a fan of hockey the women’s game just isn’t as exciting. They are slower, and they aren’t allowed to check. It’s nothing like watching men’s hockey. I’m not saying they shouldn’t play, but it certainly isn’t as exciting.
I like rugby, and am watching the six nations games. Today during the break I was in the kitchen and heard a female commentator giving highlights of a game. I was startled, and came in to learn that there is something called the Women’s Six Nations! What? Wow! Now I know what my (male) coworker was on about when he said the women are just as tough as the guys in rugby. And now that I know Ireland just whupped ass 59-0, I want more of it!
I also have an old friend who tried out a few years ago for the Cleveland Fusion women’s American football team, having never played it in her life. She’s awesome, and I love it when she can post videos!
About twenty years ago, men’s tennis went through an overpowered period of boring a lot of viewers who found women’s matches much more like their own games. Then Wimbledon (where there was that notorious Sampras-Ivanisevic final in which on only one point was the ball hit more than four times) planted slower grass, among other things. At this year’s Australian Open, the 6-0 third set of Radwanska-Azarenka is a strong front-runner for the best tennis I’ll see all year, court presence and genius dismantling power.
I watch a lot less golf without the incomparable Laura Davies around. It wasn’t just her capacity for getting out of terrible trouble, but her attitude as well. One of my favourite memories in golf history was the year she went to the par-5 finishing hole at the Dinah Shore major two strokes behind. Needing an eagle to tie, she took the great risk of hitting her driver from the fairway and pulled off the shot, which somehow cleared the pond and came to rest on the left side of the green. This left her with a putt to tie of only about 110 feet, the pin being almost on the right edge – and, while other great players would have been furious, she could hardly stop laughing.
Reblogged this on Cis Is Not A Dirty Word and commented:
I am three lessons into the “sinners to winners” beginners course with Preston Roller Girls. I already agree with all of this!
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For some sports such as figure skating or gymnastics the women are as exciting to watch as the men. For other sports this just isn’t true. I’ve been watching the Olympics; take the half-pipe snowboard competition as an example. The men get much higher air, and do much more complicated tricks with more turns etc. After watching the men the women look like amateurs. It isn’t nearly as exciting. I’m not sure why women would even be different at that event.
The same thing with snowboarding rings true with many other sports. The women just aren’t (generally) as fast, can’t jump as high, etc, and therefore the sport isn’t as exciting to watch.
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I don’ think it’s about “dick waving” as the author stated. That statement actually revealed a great deal more about the author than the men watching sports. Women are not as athletic as men. Men have fought wars with swords and heavy armor on horses (leave Joan of Arc out of this she’s one woman in all of history). Since the beginning of humanity men have overwhelmingly performed the most laborious and physical tasks from building our cities to fighting our wars. Women do not have this same history and cannot compare to the physical abilities of men. I like watch women’s tennis or some of the Olympic sports (I’m a huge curling fan). But as far as the major American sports I like to watch: American Football. A woman would get destroyed playing with men and watching the ladies play football without men might be worse. Women carry a football about as often as a man carries a baby in his stomach. Basketball, there are plenty of talented women who have made it to the spotlight on the hardwood in the US, but it’s a slower game and just not as entertaining. Women’s hockey, laughable. The alternative to women’s ice hockey is field hockey, enogh said. Women’s baseball… For some reason women don’t play baseball. They play softball. Again not as good as the real sport. I actually like to watch some women’s fighting such as MMA or boxing, but again it doesn’t come close to watching the superior athletes. I don’t care that women care a lot about the sport they play. I don’t watch it because they care. I watch it to be entertained and see the game played at it’s apex with all the strategies and ins and outs of the game being displayed at the highest level.
Nice try.
It’s a pity that your ‘history’ is entirely made-up and not actually based on fact at all.
I would agree that it is nonsense to say women’s sports are boring. Most people watch professional sports because they want to watch excellence. There is also something to be gained in watching people of comparible ability battling it out. However, the very best people at a particular sport will always draw the larger crowd. For sports that both men and women play, men are generally better at it in absolute terms. There is a reason that people pay top dollar to go and watch a premiership soccer match but wouldn’t spend the time to watch 22 lads playing a match down the local pitch. While many women excel at their particular sport, they are generally not as proficient as men who play the same sport. They might be just as technically skilled but even then they will be at a significant physical disadvantage. None of this is to say that women playing sports cannot be exhilerating to watch, it is just that men who are at the top of their sport represent the best players on the whole planet. People are attracted to the very top tier of anything. How many people can name the third guy who went to the moon with Amstrong and Aldrin? Who holds the record for the second fast 100m sprint? That sort of thing.
When you are used to watching men play a sport, women playing the same sport can appear a lot more sedate, I suspect this is where the charge of boring may come from. It is a little bit dismissive and judgemental to accuse people who find women playing a sport more boring than watching men of “waving their dicks around”.
I should point out as a matter of disclosure that I find almost all sports dreadfully boring to watch. Some sports seem like a conspiracy to passively torture the observer. cough cricket cough. When I do watch sports, I am most impressed by skill as opposed to determination, team-work etc. (though these things can be engaging). When I see someone doing something that is far beyond my own capabilities, that impresses me. I suspect a lot of men view sport the same way. It is to some extent the nature of men to do this.
That’s nice, chicken.
Jaysus, I’d love to see a bit of evidence for your claim that having less testosterone in your body makes a person less proficient at a sport (as opposed to simply having, on average, a lower muscle mass). Of course, if you figure that all there is to sport is muscle mass.. well, you did mention that you find sport boring in general.
Also, anything that includes the phrase “the nature of men” is going to need some citations. Hefty citations. Extraordinary ones, even.
Do you deliberately try to interpret any position that is not in agreement with you in the worst possible way.
Which of the following statements do you disagree with:
Men are on average faster than women.
Men are on average stronger than women.
These two factors set the pace of many sports. If you think these factors are not game changingly significant in some reasonably large number of sports, do you think a women’s team would be competative when playing against men’s teams, in general?
I have no doubt that there are some sports where women could compete with men. This is completely unsurprising.
Not sure why you would make a distinction between testosterone and muscle mass in the sense that testosterone is essentially the reason for the increased muscle mass.
Also, anything that includes the phrase “the nature of men” is going to need some citations.
Fair enough. I will gladly refrain from representing how men in general might feel about something if you will agree to never represent how women in general might feel about something. Unless of course you are willing to to supply hefty, extraordinary citation.
I think netball is an amazing example of a mainstream women’s sport. I’m not sure about other countries but here in New Zealand the professional netball league has major sponsors and a large following. It’s also the only sport that I can think of that is played professionally ONLY by women. Please correct me if I’m wrong.