It was not too long ago that American society had morals and rules of separation and segregation, most of which have been abolished or reformed. Most of these rules that encouraged separation no longer exist due to the fact that our society realized that they were pointless and offered benefits that were not worth having those rules in place.

This realization came with time and it seems that time is starting to bring upon us another realization similar to the previous ones involving separation. This new realization is that it’s time to allow women to compete on the same level with men if they wish to do so.

The reasoning for this separation is to keep the competition fair, as men would have an unfair advantage against women due to physiological differences.

The fact that during the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics, the time of the best female athlete failed to beat the time of the last place male athlete shows that women are generally not able to perform on the same level as male athletes can.

But although this is true, it should not mean that all women get restricted from doing so. In sports that mainly focus on skill instead of physical ability, such as table tennis, skeet shooting, archery and bowling, the advantage that men receive from the natural physiological differences are very small if any.

Even in sports that do focus on physical ability, some women have overcome the challenges that make it difficult for women to be in the same physical condition as men.

An example of someone who has overcome those psychical challenges would be 23-year-old Sarah Taylor who had the opportunity of joining mens cricket.  This proves that it is possible for some women to overcome those challenges, which in turn proves that women should be allowed to compete alongside men.      

According to the website sportsscientists.com, sexual discrimination within sports has no better reasoning or justification than it does anywhere else in the world. The sexual discrimination of women within sports also reinforces it elsewhere.

Women are forced to compete with men in the academic world, financial world and business world on a daily basis. Why shouldn’t they at least be allowed the option to do it in the sports world?

The fact that they are currently not being allowed that option encourages discrimination elsewhere and supports the overall idea that women are somehow not on the same level as men as a whole.

Society used to agree with the idea that anyone who is not white and male is somehow lesser. If society is looking to move forward from those ideas and move toward total equality, then it is necessary that women be offered the chance to compete alongside men.

According to the previously mentioned sportsscientists.com website, in sports, the entire point of the competition itself is to see who the best athlete is, who has the best combination of skill and athletic ability at that sport. If a sport has two separate divisions, one for men and for women, and shows a best female athlete and a best male athlete at that sport, how can you tell which one is really the best at that sport, considering they will never play each other?  

A simple answer: you can’t.  

Having women and men separated totally defeats the purpose of having a championship because you will never know who the real champion is. Only when you combine those two divisions and have them compete against each other will you finally realize who is really the best at that sport.

There is absolutely no purpose for the separation of men and women in sports other than to encourage the discrimination against women elsewhere. It has been shown that not only are there several reasons for the abolishment of this separation between men and women, but that it’s also necessary in order for our society to move toward total equality.