TED Conversations

greg dahlen

Alumnus, academy of achievement

TEDCRED 20+

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

Let's create a sport men and women are equally good at so they can compete together.

Nowadays most sports are segregated. Men's basketball, women's basketball; men's swimming, women's swimming; men's track, women's track. Could there be a sport we could do equally well so we could compete/play together at the highest level?

0
Share:
progress indicator
  • thumb

    Mike Colera 10+

    • 0
    Mar 25 2013: Isn't this what the pro-creative act has become?

  • Warrick Harrison

    • +1
    Mar 19 2013: You may be onto something there.
    The whole goal of having men and women compete together may be less difficult than we all thought at first...
    Another part-solution might be to "classify" a sport's competitors according to height & weight. In some sports, that might even out the playing field (oh, sorry!).
    Two other problem I haven't seen addressed are the issues of market-share and jobs for the athletes.
    Sports with two elite divisions (one for men and one for women) generate more revenue than just one elite division would, presumably. So to give up that incremental revenue might be tough.
    Next, if there's only one elite division in a sport, there may well end up being fewer spots for athletes to compete at the top level, whether women or men. That would need to be addressed as well.
    For both those issues, it's easy to see some quick fixes, but it would take some effort to iron out the details.
    What does everyone think?

    • greg dahlen 20+

      • 0
      Mar 25 2013: Well, thanks for replying, Warrick. I wish I had more time to think about your idea of "classifying" competitors as to height and weight, but this conversation is closing soon. I would tend to think it might make things a little too complicated, that when we play sports we want to go at it fairly quickly, without too many weigh-ins and such, that's why we call it "play." As I say, I wish I had more time.

      My idea was inspired by walking by a schoolyard and seeing the girls playing in one area and the boys in another. It seemed a little sad, like it separated the sexes too much.

      It sure seems like it'd be fun to turn on the TV and watch a game of basketball where three of the players on each team were women, and two men.

  • Warrick Harrison

    • 0
    Mar 14 2013: Great idea, Glen...Like some of the other commenters here -- and yourself, no doubt -- I have no clue how to begin designing such a sport.
    You could start a Mission on Gajantic, pump it out to your friends, and see if anyone has ideas about how to get it done.
    I hope you do, because I've always thought having to segregate women and men in sport is kind of lame.

    • greg dahlen 20+

      • 0
      Mar 14 2013: warrick, I started thinking maybe men and women could compete together in sports where the judging is subjective. In games where there is a strict number tally, the stronger men may win. But what about gymnastics, where judges might value beauty and grace more than strength? That would be interesting to put men and women against each other and see who prevailed.

      Just for fun, what if you took games that are usually judged on points scored and made them subjectively judged. Like you could pit men and women against each other in basketball and instead of the winner being judged on who scored the most points, maybe the judges would decide the winner is whoever played the most beautiful game.

      Or you could play tally-type games with an equal amount of women and men in each of the opposing teams.

  • Harry Downes

    • +1
    Mar 3 2013: Perhaps a sport where both genders' advantages (male strength vs. female flexibility) somehow have equal worth?

    • greg dahlen 20+

      • 0
      Mar 10 2013: Harry, are females truly more flexible? In what way?

      • Harry Downes

        • 0
        Mar 16 2013: To specify, I've rarely seen a man sit on his perineum. :P
  • thumb

    edward long 100+

    • +1
    Mar 2 2013: You are looking for a physical activity where superior physical strength and a psychotic desire to avoid losing is not an advantage? Good luck!

  • Scot Wilcox 10+

    • +1
    Feb 27 2013: Does it have to be physical? If it's physical, they'll always be segregated. The body types are just different. I guess though the a sport has to be physical activity, otherwise it'd be classified as a "game" not a "sport." Although what about tennis, or track and field? Is there a huge mismatch there? I don't know enough about either to tell you.
Showing all 10 comments