Not aware men are stronger than women

[AthenaBasil]

Maybe I’ve just been unluckily but on a few platforms I’ve noticed a number of women who disagree with statements like: men are stronger than women. Anyone else? Why is this?
For some it seems like they acknowledge correctly that women’s sport has been held back but then conclude from that that women’s sport just needs time to catch up with men’s or supersede it(!). I’ve even had women say I have self hate because I don’t think the fastest 100m runner will ever be female.
Obviously you can have a woman stronger than a specific man but in general it’s established that men are stronger.
Is this just women trying to win an argument regards issues like males in women’s sport or do a group of women (and maybe men but I only notice women) genuinely believe this? And if the latter, why? Is it a specific type of feminism?

I admit I've only really become aware of the magnitude of the strength difference because of the trans issue.

I don't have a brother, have never had any interest in either doing or watching sport, and am lucky enough to never have had a man use his strength against me.

I had a similar experience in my 20's. I arm wrestled a male friend, who wasn't by any standards a big bloke, and he did exactly the same thing. He let me get so far and just as I was thinking "this is easy", he bent my arm down on the table so quickly and with such ease that I was momentarily in a state of shock. It was at that moment that I realised the incomparable and actually very frightening disparity of strength.

I think (hope) that the latest Olympic sport of men punching women in the face has woken people up.

I just had a chat over dinner with my sensible, switched on, proud to be feminist, older teen boys.

They genuinely thought there was no difference in strength between men and women. I have failed them.

I don't think all men realise it either! On the running thing, I can come 10th lady at my local parkrun and have 60 men ahead of me, which is a bit of a clue that they are faster and stronger. But they moan a lot about the good for age times for the London marathon and say it's not fair women's times are slower. Well doh.

I remember being shocked when at 17 all my male friends were so much stronger than me at an arm wrestle! It was a bit of a penny dropping moment.

I guess I'd never played with boys growing up much or something, but i had no idea just how strong men and boys were. I'm 5 foot nothing and quite petite, so it was a huge difference! Though I was a pretty fit and tough 17 year old - i suppose i was expecting to be more of a contender! 😆

Kind of scary, really. I had no idea how vulnerable I was on that physical level.

I see I'm not alone in experiencing this!

The strongest women are stronger than the weakest men, but generally men are stronger than women. But if you are talking about the work environment often something that is too heavy for a reasonably fit woman should be a two 'man' lift anyway.

In sports you are starting from elites and elite sportsmen will be stronger than their counterpart elite women in physical sports.

I could beat quite a few of my male friends at arm wrestling when I was young, it's quite a lot to do with skill and technique apart from ultimate strength.

But presumably you'd be unlikely to beat many blokes with the same level of skill as yourself.

@ApocalipstickNow Long distance runner here - even in ultramarathons men do better.

Women have better flexibility - but as someone who can't touch my toes... 🙄🤣

The fact that a few women are stronger than some men, that Serena Williams could beat my DH at tennis, that I Asa female can beat an obese 70 year old male in a marathon, that I have a female friend who is taller than a couple of my male friends... All those things are irrelevant because AT POPULATION LEVEL males are bigger, stronger and faster than females.

Aren't the English & Catalina Channel records still held by a woman?

Perhaps they should make them longer? A 2020 analysis of ultrarunning results showed that beyond 195 miles (314km), women were 0.6% faster.

Me too!

The only English Channel record held by a woman is the four way crossing - and that's probably because it's the only four way crossing ever.

All the one way, two way and three way records are held by men.

The current record for one way crossing of the Catalina Channel is held by a woman, and for the two way crossing by man.

I read sometthing a while ago that even a very elderly man, still has a stronger grasp than the average woman. And it really resonated with me - my father is 90. He's fit and healthy for it, but at 90 he's slowing down significantly. For example, if we go for a walk with the dogs, he's going for a much slower, shorter walk. BUT, he can still open a jar that I couldn't even begin to and he whipped out and grabbed DD to catch her the other day in a way that I just wouldn't. It's fascinating.

And it's sad that people don't get that. DS is 13. He's bigger and stronger than me, even though I weigh more than him.