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Why do they separate men and women in shooting competitions ?

Metal God

I was just reading where JennB just shot a national "women's" record . It got me thinking why are there separate classes ? It would seem to me shooting sports is one of those sports that the physical attributes that often give a man an advantage in sports is not really present . Especially any shooting that does not require any heavy lifting , running etc like benchrest or laying prone with a bipod . I assume the girls aren't shooting smaller calibers or rifles with less recoil in the same distance matches as men ??

Is this just something that's been a tradition and continues to be ?
 
In Fclass women compete in open competition just like juniors, seniors, grand seniors, military and law enforcement do. They are all eligible to win the tournament outright if their scores are high enough. Some of the bigger matches also recognize the highest shooter in the special categories.
 
dmoran said:
I see it as a form of promotion, to the lack in numbers of women active in some shooting disciplines.
Donovan
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I only know of a few events that exclude men outright, but a chance to give one of the women who shows up at most events recognition is very positive: a medal, certificate, etc. is probably more likely to bring them back.

I like to say, "Everyone who shoots has beaten everyone who stayed home." Those few women who showed up to shoot are all winners in my book.

Men's advantages are probably greater in the disciplines that rely on more muscular support than in F-Class and bench rest.

In the pistol disciplines, getting the next shot off accurately after a given amount of recoil is directly related to the size and strength of the hands and arms.
 
At our club.. A AA master class Men, women, juniors & senior..lots of prizes, fun for all..same game..40 steel targets, all tough to hit..850 900 950 1000 yds..mike in ct
 
All I know is that the number of women at the top ranks seems hugely disproportionate to the number of female competitors overall. I think we might have it backwards.

Seriously, though, there is no good reason. Just the way it's been done. Partly sexism, partly encouragement (ironically). "See, look, you can win too! Come out and shoot". Well, turns out they can do pretty damn well without a separate class too.
 
In all seriousness I believe it is to encourage women to shoot. If they know they are not shooting against men and are in their own classification they may feel less intimidated when attending matches. It is all about getting as many folks to participate as possible. By removing all barriers both real and imagined it helps promote the shooting sports. Just my real 2 cents worth.
 
My wife us to kick my butt on a regular bases and it never bothered me. There are probable 4 or 5 women shooters in our club and every one of them is going to beat you on occasion.
And they all shoot in the same class as the men. we still give out top women trophies at the end of the year if that hasn't changed also!

Joe Salt
 
Well I I'll probably take some heat for this, but I think the way women's minds think and operate it actually gives them an advantage in many shooting disciplines (yes I believe women's and men's minds work differently, each has their advantages).
 
One story goes that at one time the men and women shot together in one category in the Olympics. Along came a military shooter on the USA Team named Margaret Murdock. She cleaned the men's clocks in Mexico City(?) or Columbia(?). All the old stuffed shirts on the international Olympics committees couldn't have that so they put women in a separate class. At the college level the men and women all compete together. The women have a structural advantage in that most of their weight is below their waist and they can get a more stabile position in standing plus their pelvises are usually wider so they have a good place to set their support elbow for standing. The dates and places for Capt. or Major(?) Murdock may not be precise but the story is pretty accurate.
Tom Alves
 
Metal God said:
I was just reading where JennB just shot a national "women's" record . It got me thinking why are there separate classes ? It would seem to me shooting sports is one of those sports that the physical attributes that often give a man an advantage in sports is not really present . Especially any shooting that does not require any heavy lifting , running etc like benchrest or laying prone with a bipod . I assume the girls aren't shooting smaller calibers or rifles with less recoil in the same distance matches as men ??

Is this just something that's been a tradition and continues to be ?
Click to expand...

It's not so much that they don't shoot against everyone on the line, they do, we're all going after the same glory. It's that the NRA recognizes Women, Juniors, Seniors, etc accomplishments while doing so in a Registered Tournament.
 
I used to shoot at Archery competitions quite a bit 20 years ago. They had Youth, Womens and Mens and all kinds of classes for each depending on your shooting style. I liked shooting Mens Open Compound that way I could put anything I wanted on my bow. There were a few times when a Woman would compete in the Mens Division, I asked what that was all about as I know men were not allowed to compete in Womens Div. They told me you can shoot up but not down. Because of the number of Men competing and the quality of most male competitors the Woman who was competing was on a National team and wanted to compete with the toughest competition available. That made sense to me and I don't even remember where she placed that day as I believe she removed herself after the shoot was over.
I do however remember a young lady who I saw at many meets who was in Womans Youth, she was a sweet, tiny maybe 5' 100 lb, polite and cute little lady about the age of some of my children 15 or 16. I was on the other hand a 6' 4" 250 lb jerk. She always beat my score by at least 1 point. Every time I would see he at a meet I would tell her this time I am going to whoop your butt. She would laugh and say we'll see. After we were done and all the scores were in we would compare and Damn she got me again. I would follow up by saying yeah but in a fist fight I think I could take you, she would always tell me don't count on it. In my defense she was chosen as an alternate on the Olympic Team. Glad we were in different divisions.:confused:
 
A friend of mine used to compete at Camp Perry back when he was much younger. He told me on several different occasions that women by nature should be better shots than men. The generally have lower blood pressure and have shallower respiration.
 
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