People talk about the effects of male puberty on athletic performance. But boys are stronger than girls even before puberty

submitted by Realwoman from self.GenderCritical

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[–]worried19 13 insightful - 2 fun13 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 2 fun -  (16 children)

Interesting. I'm 6'1" and have been lifting weights since I was 14, so I've always been strong for an adult woman.

Prior to puberty, I perceived myself as equal to boys. I could definitely beat them in sports or sparring. I don't know that I was an especially strong child, and I wasn't tall as a kid. I couldn't beat my brother, but that's because he's two years older. I could definitely beat my friends. I always thought boys and girls were equal before puberty. I'm kind of shocked to learn they aren't?

[–]slushpilot 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Just based on statistics I have to assume you don't personally know any women who are taller than you, but probably do know some guys who are. And when you do meet a 5'11" woman, you probably don't really think, wow she's quite tall—when she's actually shorter than you.

So yes, because of your particular physique it's possible to not fully realize these differences when you're comparing yourself to the bell curve of average people.

When it comes to before puberty, it's hard to say... the differences are probably smaller but they're definitely still there. If you're as tall as you are now, it's hard to believe you didn't have some childhood advantages either.

That is to say, everyone's unique, but the averages do tend to cluster, and the differences among outliers are even more extreme: you probably wouldn't want to wrestle someone like Hafthor Bjornsson, but then again neither would any guy!

[–]worried19 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, I fully accept that I am much, much stronger than the average adult woman.

I did play on boys' sports teams and did lots of physical activities with my brother and male friends prior to puberty, so perhaps that influenced my childhood strength. I was average in size. I was athletic, but I was not a star athlete. I was good enough to never be picked last for any team, though.

[–]112223sps 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (10 children)

I'm short af and always have been, and I agree with you. Before puberty almost all of my friends were boys and we all were very equal when it came to our physical ability, we played every sport around and I held my own and was better than a lot of the boys. Maybe I'm the anomaly, but I kinda don't think so. I think it's more down to girls not doing sports as seriously as the way boys do, which I did.

[–]worried19 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Yeah, I was a huge sports kid. Baseball, basketball, soccer, even football although they didn't let girls on the town team. I still played football with my friends. I started early, too. I was in pretty much every organized sport I could find by first grade.

[–]112223sps 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

You sound the same as me! I played every sport that was available and loved it. We had a flag football team in our city and I was the only girl in the whole league.. Lol it was awesome. I think socialization and not being encouraged in sports plays more of a role in this discussion than OP thinks. I literally never felt inferior to the boys before puberty.

[–]Realwoman[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Socialization doesn't have that much of an effect, no studies have shown that strength has anything to do with socialization. Some girls are naturally stronger, but most girls Rae not and the strongest girls are still not aas strong as the strongest boys.

[–]112223sps 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

So you really don't think being encouraged and pushed into sports, and most importantly practicing and being more physical, doesn't benefit boys when it comes to strength? I remember the other girls saying, and I quote, 'being good at sports is gay'. They purposely acted stupid and bad because they thought that's how girls were supposed to be. They already had this attitude at a very young age. Thats literally socialization. I don't doubt that girls are weaker on average, I just think it has a lot more to do with them never practicing those skills rather than being naturally bad.

[–]Realwoman[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I guess I grew up very differently because I saw none of that. And my brother was not into sports much (only watching them on TV), he was more about reading. The pressure on girls to do sports was more or less equal, especially when it came to track and field.

[–]chrysthefeminist 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I agree with you. I am not convinced by the dismissing of girls like you who played sports and were equal to boys who played sports as "outliers" and "exceptions." Boys are given a lot more encouragement and often instruction and access to equipment than girls are and just about everything needed to develop strength and athletic ability. It's like living in a society where only boys are educated and then saying the fact that they can read and do math better than girls is due to superior intellect on their part. We don't fall for that one anymore, though once it was commonly believed. I think that's the stage we are still at in beliefs about girls' physical abilities and falling for it is doing a number on our heads. Yes, I think males do have an advantage and are stronger on average after puberty, but even that is not set in stone for all time, though that is an entirely different story.

[–]112223sps 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I mean I was an outlier I guess, not because I was naturally gifted, but because I practiced 'boy' skills and didn't care about being told what boys do and what girls do. That's why I was good and most of the other girls were bad. They literally didn't try and actually acted purposely bad because to them that's what being a girl was.

[–]chrysthefeminist 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I agree 100% with this.

When I said I wasn't convinced by the dismissing of girls like you as "outliers" and "exceptions" I was responding to OP's assertion of that as being what you are, not to your own. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

[–]Realwoman[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Actually, girls are better at reading than boys. They also start speaking earlier than boys.

The scientific study I linked clearly shows that boys are stronger even before puberty and girls are better at balancing and flexibility. No need to believe in anything, looking at the data is all that's needed.

[–]Realwoman[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

There are always exceptions

[–]Realwoman[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

It looks like you're an outlier in both height and strength, you're taller than the average guy even, even if the height thing only happened after puberty. That's perfectly OK of course, it's just that it would not be fair for you to have today compete with male outliers.

[–]worried19 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Oh, of course. My childhood dreams of playing in the NBA or NFL were just that. I wouldn't have stood a chance against biological adult men in those sports.

[–]RestingWitchface 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I am a tall woman as well. I used to do various martial arts and boxing. In mixed training, the different in strength between men and women is completely obvious. I am physically bigger or a similar size to a lot of men, but despite that, they have a huge advantage over me. You don't need to be a boxer to know that – if you've ever had a boyfriend manhandle you, either as part of a play fight, during sex or an act of aggression, you will know.

Just as an interesting side note, I have a younger sister who has always been shorter than me, and when we were kids she was actually stronger. Probably still is. I didn't grow up with boys so I can't comment on that from personal experience.