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Speculatively, sports were almost exclusively a masculine pastime until feminine participation rose above 10%, and somewhere around that threshold it may have h

Speculatively, sports were almost exclusively a masculine pastime until feminine participation rose above 10%, and somewhere around that threshold it may have had a cascading effect? https://freakonomics.com/2011/07/minority-rules-why-10-percent-is-all-you-need/ https://freakonomics.com/2011/07/minority-rules-why-10-perce... https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110725190044.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110725190044.h... Boys generally don't aspire to do the things girls do, and so it's plausible it's the effect of them switching away from sports and activities where girls' participation rises above 10%. If there were predictive power in that, we could assess in a few years whether things like BJJ, and weight lifting at gyms, golf, and maybe camping go the same way. I'd offer other examples to test but there aren't really any male activities left that aren't considered too low status to attract that 10% threshold.

givemeethekeys 3y ago
I don't know about this. Ping pong and badminton are immensely enjoyable and played by both boys and girls without regard for the other's level of participation. Female participation in track hasn't reduced male participation. The US female running team is incredible - with the level of flash and charisma that's on par with the the best men in history (I'm thinking Usain Bolt). Other sports such as surfing have seen much higher participation from women - their skills and quality has improved considerably, but that doesn't seem to be making the boys avoid surfing. I think many boys just want to play with someone that's close to or better than their skill level. I think this is also true of many girls. Then there are people that want to just play "for fun", but things get ugly when one person's fun is another person's utter boredom.
- scotty79 3y ago
  I think they meant the activity of watching sports not actually playing sports. It might be true for some activities but not others. And it might be true for sports watching ... or not.
- motohagiography 3y ago
  Track and field is an interesting control case as men and women don't compete against one another or practice together in it, where these other sports that are increasingly mixed would be the ones to watch for this 10% rule change dynamic. I was referring to audience, but it's a general "space," thing, where Korean baseball games may have crossed that threshold and then become more feminine spaces as a conseqeunce.

givemeethekeys 3y ago

I don't know about this. Ping pong and badminton are immensely enjoyable and played by both boys and girls without regard for the other's level of participation. Female participation in track hasn't reduced male participation. The US female running team is incredible - with the level of flash and charisma that's on par with the the best men in history (I'm thinking Usain Bolt). Other sports such as surfing have seen much higher participation from women - their skills and quality has improved considerably, but that doesn't seem to be making the boys avoid surfing. I think many boys just want to play with someone that's close to or better than their skill level. I think this is also true of many girls. Then there are people that want to just play "for fun", but things get ugly when one person's fun is another person's utter boredom.

scotty79 3y ago
I think they meant the activity of watching sports not actually playing sports. It might be true for some activities but not others. And it might be true for sports watching ... or not.
motohagiography 3y ago
Track and field is an interesting control case as men and women don't compete against one another or practice together in it, where these other sports that are increasingly mixed would be the ones to watch for this 10% rule change dynamic. I was referring to audience, but it's a general "space," thing, where Korean baseball games may have crossed that threshold and then become more feminine spaces as a conseqeunce.