Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - Printable Version

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Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - gailtate - 03-23-2024

I guess the equity thing isn't as equitable many assume that it is?

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - BobK - 03-23-2024

Weird but in some situations are. Still weird

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leftcoast - Leftcoast - 03-23-2024

Ask any of the women you know why ….

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - StanFanFam13 - 03-23-2024

I'm sorry, but does anyone think that male athletes' weight—and every other aspect of their bodies—is discussed, scrutinized, and criticized the way that female athletes are? Equity demands acknowledgment of disparate circumstances, which I certainly think is the case here.

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Mudhead - Mudhead - 03-23-2024

“equity” and “competitive sports” are pretty much mutually exclusive . That’s a good place to leave it.  Esides, does anyone really believe that program heights are accurate?

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RE: leftcoast - cardcrimson - 03-23-2024

(03-23-2024, 06:03 PM)Leftcoast Wrote:  Ask any of the women you know why ….

Absolutely. Why does anyone care, anyways?

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - qwerty49 - 03-23-2024

There's a bit of morbid curiosity here.  It's pretty obvious why the question just popped up now.

It does pose some challenges to defenders, and one of ours does have a history of taking a lot of hard shots underneath.  But we haven't seen the last of it, assuming OSU and UCLA and a few other schools continue to advance.

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - M T - 03-23-2024

Presumably it is because I am a male, but it is hard for me to understand the sensitivity, even though I know it exists.  My wife is sensitive about a number of things that I don't easily appreciate.

I was looking up something I remember about a coach asking his team members (female) to track their own weight (not shared with anyone) and having them formally complain about that.   I didn't find the documentation I would want before giving details.

I noticed that there was a Wikipedia page for a 1984 Olympian who was reported to have an eating disorder in college.  it lists a birthdate, height, and weight (but that might well be from 1984)   I  find it bothersome that (re)publishing personal information isn't considered improper by Wikipedia.

(Yes, there is a Wikipedia page for Crooks but I was glad to see it doesn't list weight or birthdate.)

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - WBB fan - 03-23-2024

I've wondered about this from an historical perspective. If you go back several decades, you'll find that weights were given for female basketball players. For example, all the weights of the members of the 1989-90 national championship team were listed in rosters/programs, or at least somewhere such that I saw them. What changed? Perhaps more sensitivity.

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - terry - 03-24-2024

Eating disorders are much more common among young women than among men. So it's probably a good thing that female athletes' weights are not routinely publicized.

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - Mick - 03-24-2024

My freshman year in college, I took a basic statistics course, and I had the (not so) bright idea to compare heights and weights of the men and women in our dorm with that of their parents' generation. As Terry pointed out, eating disorders are more common among women, and there was one clearly bulimic woman in our dorm, I didn't ask her to participate.

Both genders were pretty forthcoming, no one seemed to think it beyond the pale. I anonymized the answers, of course, but the heaviest people of both genders said, effectively, "don't bother, I weigh xxx pounds, and my mother is xxx pounds."

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - gailtate - 03-24-2024

Traditional norms, societal expectations, and the way male and female athletes have been portrayed in media and popular culture are all part of this. Male athletes are subjected to less scrutiny and criticism regarding their physical appearance compared to female athletes. There has been a longstanding emphasis on size, strength, and physicality in men's sports, leading to a greater focus on metrics like weight and body mass. I get it.

I also get that disclosure of player information in general--including weight--are evolving across all sports. In recent years there's been increasing awareness and advocacy for privacy, respect, and the promotion of positive body image in both men's and women's sports.

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - SamuelMcF - 03-24-2024

(03-23-2024, 10:39 PM)WBB fan Wrote:  I've wondered about this from an historical perspective. If you go back several decades, you'll find that weights were given for female basketball players. For example, all the weights of the members of the 1989-90 national championship team were listed in rosters/programs, or at least somewhere such that I saw them. What changed? Perhaps more sensitivity.

https://www.wnba.com/players?team=all&position=all&show-historic-players=false

Click on any WNBA player's page on the official site and the weight is listed.

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - jonnyss - 03-24-2024

seems to me that it depends somewhat on the sport. weights aren't listed for men or women in tennis, for example, as they are not relevant. weight maybe shouldn't be listed in gymnastics or swimming because it has been used to shame young women. 

but imo the stance for women's basketball is nuanced. incoming freshman often say, "i need to get stronger." kiki appears to have gained 20 pounds of muscle, so her weight gain (if we knew it) would be a positive thing. cam seems more muscular. if her roster weight were listed and showed an increase of 10 pounds, most fans, scouts, and tv announcers would shower praise, not derision. 

weight seems more relevant for forwards than guards, and to me  the number doesn't carry much stigma. for a 5'4" woman to say, "i weigh 110" or "i weigh 150" evokes an image. for a 6'4" woman to say, i weigh 160, 180 or 200 pounds doesn't evoke an image. i have no idea what's the weight of an athletic build for a 6'4" woman. 

lastly, we're entering an era where advertising models now come in all shapes - including muscular. women used to be ashamed of being tall; now they're often proud. should we avoid listing heights because many women are still ashamed of being tall? yes, it makes sense to protect women from fat-shaming. but it also makes sense to admire women for being not only tall but also big and strong - kiki, aliyah boston, alyssa pili, etc - when it's relevant to their performance as post players? should a woman spend 1000 hours in the weight room and then hide her gain in muscle?

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - martyup - 03-24-2024

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - 82lsju - 03-24-2024

and as others have mentioned the published weights (and heights) in some sports are not very reliable which makes the NBA and NFL pre-draft measurements sometimes interesting.

The only sports I can think of where weights are likely accurate (and even here just at the weigh-in) are combat sports (e.g., wrestling, boxing, judo), weight lifting, rowing, and jockeys in horse racing.

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - martyup - 03-24-2024

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - TrumpCard - 03-24-2024

Also, why don’t athletes list all their medical conditions and why can they say they are missing a game for “personal reasons,” without disclosing the precise reason?  And why don’t all students have to put their GPA on the outside of their backpacks and notebooks.

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - martyup - 03-24-2024

(03-24-2024, 11:01 AM)TrumpCard Wrote:  Also, why don’t athletes list all their medical conditions and why can they say they are missing a game for “personal reasons,” without disclosing the precise reason?  And why don’t all students have to put their GPA on the outside of their backpacks and notebooks.

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RE: Honest question: Why are women athletes' height made public but weight is not? - newguy - 03-24-2024

when i was a freshman in Lagunita, i weighed 126 pounds.
those were the days.

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