terfs celebrating that the international chess federation has banned trans women from competing in women's FIDE competitions, because it's sooooooo feminist to argue that women are so biologically inferior and nowhere near as smart as men and thus can't play chess on the same level. girl that's not feminism that's literally just misogyny
I know you’re not looking for an answer but the reason chess sometimes still allows women’s only tournaments has nothing to do with women not being as good at chess, but because chess is such a predominantly boys club where men vastly outnumber women in competitions, and many male chess players are still quite dismissive of women players.
So women made their own chess teams where they could compete together but also didn’t have to worry about sexism from other male coaches and male players.
In fact, we find that gender bias inhibits women chess players; when women are told they are playing against men in online games, for example, they consistently play les aggressively, because we all still live in a sexist society and yes that even affects how we play chess. When women think they’re playing against other women they revert back to aggressive play. (And let’s not ignore the historic dismissal of female chess players by male chess players. Bobby Fischer’s “women are not so smart” quote for example)
So yes. We still allow women to have separate chess competitions, because at it turns out sometimes “equal opportunity” doesn’t actually lead to equality, even in a game like chess.
A vast majority of all chess tournaments are still open to all, coed.
"One study even found that the more men there are taking a maths test in the same room as a solo woman, the lower women's performance become. And, surrounded by men, she herself may come to grudgingly believe that women are indeed naturally inferior in maths.
The mind turns from a focus on seeking success (being bold and creative) to a focus on avoiding failure, which involves being cautious, careful and conservative. A mind that is struggling with negative stereotypes and anxious thoughts is not in a psychologically optimal state for doing taxing intellectual tasks.
Stereotype effects have been seen in women who: record their sex at the beginning of a quantitative test (which is standard practice for many tests); are in the minority as they take the test; have instructors or peers who hold sexist attitudes or have just watched women acting in air-headed ways in commercials."
Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine
Add to that the pressure of having to represent all women: indeed, every time a woman fails against a man it is held as proof of the unfitness and inferiority of our entire sex. I also remember a study that showed men try harder when facing a woman, they really make it a point to destroy her, because it's not just a game to them it's about maintaining their dominance. Worth noting that male chess players have been sexually harassing and threatening female chess players since the begining. You make a piss poor political commentator if you refuse to take any of this into account (or are simply ignorant of those facts) as you complain about women not wanting to compete in a male environment.
And lastly, I'll say it again, even if none of this happened, women don't need your permission to spend time together and play together and exist without men. We don't owe men our attention.
