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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Mixed 4 x 400m relay heats

70 replies

NotBadConsidering · 30/07/2021 12:11

Just on now.

First heat. All teams started with men first, then women 2nd leg. Nigeria then gambled, but a man 3rd when all other teams had a woman on the 3rd. The Nigerian man powered ahead making the women look very slow. He gave his team mate a 50m head start for the final leg. She was passed by the first man by about 250m and then all the others in the home straight and came last (USA just disqualified).

Second heat about to start.

OP posts:
Whatsnewpussyhat · 30/07/2021 12:14

Nope, no sex based advantage at all.
You imagined it.

That poor Nigerian woman will now be blamed for them coming last too.

Original poster
NotBadConsidering · 30/07/2021 12:18

Funnily enough, in the second heat, nobody did the same Hmm.

OP posts:
Ekofisk · 30/07/2021 12:25

It’s the same in the swimming mixed medley relay.

RockaLock · 30/07/2021 13:35

Ive just watched this with DH.

He couldn't believe (a) how far ahead of the women the Nigerian man got and (b) how quickly the Nigerian woman was caught by all the men.

I think the mixed relays are a great idea. What better way to showcase at the Olympics, in a completely fair way, the advantage that men have over women in sport.

BoattoBolivia · 30/07/2021 13:43

Just watched with my teen DD and her bf- some interesting conversations between them, without me having to say anything 😁 Watch and wait.

Bitofachinwag · 30/07/2021 13:45

Why were the American team disqualified?

LIZS · 30/07/2021 13:49

The stagger for the changeover was in the wrong place, although it looks like theirs may not have been the only one.

Claymorekick · 30/07/2021 13:52

Maybe i am missing the point but if every team has 2 men and 2 women running in whatever order, does it not even itself out over the 4 legs? So if the Nigerian team had ordered themselves the same way the other teams did, they would still probably finished in the same position?

I realise that the point of the OP is that it clearly demonstrates the differences between the sexes when they are actually running against each other Wink

footprintsintheslow · 30/07/2021 13:55

I think the teams should be randomly assigned the order to really highlight the sex differences

Zeugma · 30/07/2021 14:02

There was (some) discussion in the studio afterwards about whether a mixed race was a good idea - did anyone see? Opinions split among the pundits. 'Entertainment' and 'jeopardy' seemed to be the main reasons in its favour. At one point it was suggested there should be a man pitted against a woman at some point in the race....'obviously the man is going to be quicker than the woman' - and at that point the discussion ended pretty smartish.

Hmm
Aroundtheworldin80moves · 30/07/2021 14:06

@Claymorekick sometimes the speed of your competitors can affect your speed. Not going to turn a person off the street into Usain bolt, but if it comes down to a few seconds it can make a difference.

sleepyhead · 30/07/2021 14:09

The Nigerian man may have found it harder to reach his max speed without others to pace him and not got as much of a lead as they needed, even though his lead seemed significant.

Bitofachinwag · 30/07/2021 14:16

@LIZS

The stagger for the changeover was in the wrong place, although it looks like theirs may not have been the only one.
Thanks for explaining
Childrenofthestones · 30/07/2021 14:22

The fastest woman in the world is regularly time beaten by over 14,000 men and boys. The difference is night and day. She could be on every performance enhancing drug there is and she would still be beaten by clean men.

andyoldlabour · 30/07/2021 14:26

The men's 400m record is nearly 5 seconds faster than the women's record. Michael Johnson and the other commentators are fully aware of that, particularly as Michael held that record for a while.

FlippantFair · 30/07/2021 14:27

I watched it with DH and we concluded that it proved the difference between men and women.
I enjoyed listening to Gabby and co discussing it. Interesting that it was the man who said 'maybe' when the women commented on men being faster than women.

TurquoiseBaubles · 30/07/2021 15:32

The swimming medley was interesting - 4 put a man first, 2 of those put a man second as well. They were 3/4 length up, then both of those teams were caught on the last leg.

I felt sorry for the commentators. They were obviously avoiding saying "of course the women don't have a hope".

It won't be as noticeable in the triathlon as the rule is woman, man, woman, man, presumably to avoid chaos at the changovers as a team with 2 men first could conceivably be almost a lap of running ahead of a team with 2 women first.

RufustheBadgeringReindeer · 30/07/2021 15:47

One assumes that it would be possible to have a mixed relay with 4 males

MossRock · 30/07/2021 15:59

One assumes that it would be possible to have a mixed relay with 4 males

Exactly. I think as it stands it is helpful in highlighting the differences between men and women and we need that but ultimately, I worry that these mixed events (also now in track cycling too) will rapidly incentivise males who identify as women and some/all governing bodies to replace female athletes with males.

Sure that will open everybody’s eyes and maybe cause a turnaround but there’s no guarantee of that while men/males are doing so well out of it, and how many women will be penalised during that time.

TurquoiseBaubles · 30/07/2021 16:12

Yes, a mixed relay with four males would be great to watch.

Unfortunately the way things stand at the moment two of the males would be proper athletes, and the other two would be middle-aged, slightly overweight, unfit, and only marginally better than the females on the other teams.

That way it would be fair Hmm

Chickenyhead · 30/07/2021 16:20

There just won't be any space left for women anymore.

HermioneKipper · 30/07/2021 16:51

I thought this was really interesting and my DH also commented on how much this highlighted the difference between men and women. The women have absolutely no chance against men. I hope this opens some more people’s eyes

RufustheBadgeringReindeer · 30/07/2021 17:50

The women have absolutely no chance against men. I hope this opens some more people’s eyes

Not aimed at you hermione just a pertinent quote…

But I don’t get it…honestly I don’t. I’m nearly 52 and ive known since about 3 that daddies are stronger than mummies…everything ive seen sports wise and documentary wise and crime wise in the last 49 years have shown this without a shadow of a doubt

So why are some plonkers acting like this is not a thing…are they actually that stupid

I mean they can’t be surely…dawins law would have kicked in by now

meg70 · 30/07/2021 20:28

Watched with my Dd (15). Asked her at the start why most teams would put the men first and last...she totally got it. Watched the race, she was wowed by the Nigerian male's advantage in leg 3, and in leg 4 she was cheering for the Nigerian woman "please don't come last, please don't come last" ....BUT at the end (she came last) as soon as I said "don't you see how this proves that it's just not fair for women to have to race against men" - she lost it and went back to woke, frankly. So disappointed.

MythicalBiologicalFennel · 30/07/2021 20:31

@NotBadConsidering

Just on now.

First heat. All teams started with men first, then women 2nd leg. Nigeria then gambled, but a man 3rd when all other teams had a woman on the 3rd. The Nigerian man powered ahead making the women look very slow. He gave his team mate a 50m head start for the final leg. She was passed by the first man by about 250m and then all the others in the home straight and came last (USA just disqualified).

Second heat about to start.

I thought exactly the same OP. The differences were so stark and self-explanatory.