Is FIDE sexist?

You know what they say - gender sells.

yh I might copy you two as well and stay out of it from now on because I've learnt you try to prove a known scientific fact right and somebody always waiting to bite your head off for it because it's always those who can't accept fact and class you as (in the case of women vs men) a sexist when I'm not I'm just trying to educate them by answering the question in the thread and I end up getting my head bit off for it

Then there is no proven fact, is there?

Interesting this subject came up again.  I was having an early dinner with one of my associates, who is also an avid amateur "pool" player that goes to the national events in Las Vegas, and I asked him if there were sex-segregated events in billiards.  He said not in the amateur division, but in the professional division the women play for their own titles but may enter male competitions as well.  

What does this have to do with anything?  It's because for the most part, billiards and pool aren't physical sports that would be necessarily sex segregated -- but indeed they are.

Am I close when I say that the WGM title is about at the level between a FM & an IM? Does that seem about right?

Yifan Hou finishing tied for first at the 2012 Gibraltar tournament(lost on tie-break games to Nigel Short)

"Women are better off competing among themselves; at least this way they can receive some recognition and earn prizes and money from winning women-only tournaments/events. It's why there is a separate women's world championship."

I don't get it. If you are talking about female 2500s who have no chance of winning the world championship, well, male 2500s are in the exact same boat. The female 2500s have it no worse than the male 2500s. I personally think that neither female 2500s nor male 2500s deserve as much recognition as the male 2800s, but notice that 2800 is a bigger number than 2500. I certainly think that female 2800s deserve as much recognition as male 2800s, because I care about the rating, and that means caring about anyone who has it.

I don't buy that to be honest. For a person to have a certain rating, they must get certain results; to get better results, requires more skill. Ratings are relative, but the higher ones are nonetheless as a result of more absolute skill, and so that's measured indirectly. You might as well say every town has skewed ratings, as they all involve different player pools. What is it that causes one player to perform better than another of a lower rating? More absolute skill. And it's, overall, the same amount of "more skill" no matter who you play (for example, blundering a certain percentage less than a person 100 points below you).

men's and women's shoe sizings are different too. hmmm

Sigh. Some of the responses to this thread are so sad. Apparently, certain men need to feel they are superior to women. Unless, you are just trolling!?

Hmmm, I wonder if the following could be factors:

Exposure to chess (I never even set-up a chess board until my child wanted to learn how to play)

Opportunities to play (I have no female friends away from this site that even know how to play chess)

Gender roles and expectations (people always assume my husband must have taught our son how to play chess)

Importance of child rearing versus studying chess (really, how much time is there for chess study)

Not feeling as if you belong in such male dominated "sport" (Overheard at an all-male chess club, incredulously, "Does she know how to play?")

Nurturing instincts clashing with the merciless aspect of the game (Sometimes, I feel bad when my opponent is losing)

Some men either treating you as if you are inferior or being threatened if you win (Sometimes, I feel as if I'm expected to prove that I have a brain in my head and other times I feel my opponent is embarrassed he lost to a woman)

Inappropriate behavior, simply because your female, while your just trying to play/learn chess (I don't think I need to elaborate, here)

There's more. Cultural differences... Maybe, since this site is predominately male, some of you with your superior brains can help me out and think of more reasons. I'm tired!

i am feeling so sad.

Good points LesuhAn.

that was a sex joke for sure.

I don't know, a person can list fifty things that make chess hard for them if they want. For a person who really likes chess, the real obstacle is just the difficulty of the game itself. It's not like chess players are perceived, by society, to have charisma due to having a high rating (probably the opposite, let's face it) -- you are driven by your desire to learn and improve. Everyone struggles with something but I don't think we should rush to make excuses -- the people who make it to the top don't make excuses and say "I could have been good if... bla bla bla," they just do what they have to do. They turn their "what if's" into a reality.

In any case, LesuhAn, don't let anyone tell you that you don't belong here. You very much belong. The people who want you out are just sexist men who use chess as a way to feel superior to women, which is silly. I don't think there's any reason to give into them -- they don't know a thing about you.

he said "hard". more sex.

"(Sometimes, I feel bad when my opponent is losing)"

That's not a chess player's attitude! They take pleasure when their opponents are in pain, just ask Magnus Carlsen

(jk)

yeah, we all regret your response too.

although i'm certain women are intelligent.

I absoultely agree with LesuhAn: chess is expected to be played by much more men tha women, society does that and not many girls learn how to play or are motivated to play.

And I think the WGM title is a way to say «Hey, chess is NOT a game for men!» when the percentage of female players grows up abolishing that title would be pretty needed.