# The gender-split in sports **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 26, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gender-split-in-sports/811221 "2018-03-26T19:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gender-split-in-sports/811221/61 "2018-03-29T20:43:57Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > … As for jockeys, at least one (Julie Krone) has won a Triple Crown race, although stature may actually work against women as they have to be at least a certain weight (you get an allowance if the horse is female, but not if the jockey is), so the women would tend to be taller and/or have to wear a lot of weight on them. > > However, I think that, in both cases, the lack of women at the top level comes from the lack of interest at a young age more than anything else. In fact jockeys pretty famously have to be UNDER a certain weight, and you will note that most jockeys are short and light. The weight is added to the saddle, not to the jockey. So as most women are naturally shorter than most men and weigh less, this would not be a disadvantage, particularly. And in fact, for most of the time horse racing has been around, if girls were interested at a young age, they were dissuaded by the lack of adult women as jockeys (there have been a few; one of them later married Fred Astaire) and because it’s not seen as a really desirable occupation, although this happens for men, too. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gender-split-in-sports/811221/62 "2018-03-29T22:35:12Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Snooker champion Steve Davis put it best: > > “The male of the species has got a single-minded, obsessional type of brain that I don’t think so many females have. Women lack that single-minded determination to be the best in something that, it must be said, is a complete waste of time – trying to put snooker balls into pockets with a pointed stick.” > > Are women strong enough to be snooker champs? Sure- but very few women will devote 12-16 hours a days for years on end to become the best in the world at anything as silly as snooker! Men are more likely than women to devote their lives to such a pursuit. > > Men are stronger than women, so you’d EXPECT male golfers to drive farther than women (with occasional exceptions like Laura Davies). But male golfers are much, much better at putting and iron play than women, too. Why? Most male golf pros devote an insane amount of time to practice. Women generally won’t spend that same amount of time practicing chips and putts. > > Which speaks WELL of women, if you think about it. This may be true to a point. I remember what Bruce Springsteen said about his sister: she was a far better musician than he was, but she had friends and a social life. She wasn’t going to sit in her room for seven hours a day playing guitar like he did. That said, though, what about sports like gymnastics? Female gymnasts probably put in more time training than any other athletes (of their age, anyway). Gymnastics training regimens sound more like horror stories than anything else. I’d be tempted to say the same thing about classical violin - I’ve heard astonishing stories about how much time young girls spend practicing and how good they get. Are these exceptional because of some social convention? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gender-split-in-sports/811221.md?page=3)