Chess, like other nerd-based gated communities, has a super-virulent streak of misogyny in it. MENSA, hell, D&D forums. I was an administrator back in the day at a very (very) large RPG forum, and the caliber of misogyny you could find at the drop of a hat was astounding. This was pre-Gamergate. Nerd boys take their ball and leave when it comes to women in "their" territory, quite viciously.
I cannot comprehend the mental gymnastics required to argue that chess needs to have separate divisions or women will not win anything.
Maybe men are higher ranked in chess because the chess federations are run by men and shut out women for decades. Nobody gets to the top of anything, no matter how talented or intelligent they are, if structural barriers exist to gatekeep.
Anyone who says the WNBA or women's soccer is unwatchable compared to the men's game (blatantly wrong, by the way, on both counts) needs to watch footage of the NBA from like the 50's and 60's, when dudes where wearing Chuck Taylors and smoking a pack and a half a day. People like Bob Cousy and Pele would be, at best, regular guys in their respective sports now. So too in chess, now that women are actually allowed to play, we're going to see the women of today get absolutely lapped by the women who come up 40-50 years from now.
Special shout-out to Alexandra Botez (and yes, her sister Andrea) who have somehow made chess cool to The Young People.
If'n I remember correctly, FIDE is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. So, it was Swiss folk that fed the French into Google Translate and just sent it out as a regulation.
The degree to which these freaks and misanthropes obsess over the genitals of others is astounding. Doesn’t matter the context, schools, sports, bathrooms, fucking chess. It is disturbing to care this much about what another person identifies as and what they have underneath their clothes.
that piece in unherd is...really something. the whole last paragraph is basically stating that trans women aren't real. also the comments made me want to eat gravel
At this point, reading the comments section in anything is taking your sanity into your own hands. Even at Defector and probably here, you can get some whoppers if you read long enough.
"Now, chess is absolutely a sexist world."
Nice to know chess is no different from <gestures at everything>.
Chess, like other nerd-based gated communities, has a super-virulent streak of misogyny in it. MENSA, hell, D&D forums. I was an administrator back in the day at a very (very) large RPG forum, and the caliber of misogyny you could find at the drop of a hat was astounding. This was pre-Gamergate. Nerd boys take their ball and leave when it comes to women in "their" territory, quite viciously.
I cannot comprehend the mental gymnastics required to argue that chess needs to have separate divisions or women will not win anything.
Maybe men are higher ranked in chess because the chess federations are run by men and shut out women for decades. Nobody gets to the top of anything, no matter how talented or intelligent they are, if structural barriers exist to gatekeep.
Anyone who says the WNBA or women's soccer is unwatchable compared to the men's game (blatantly wrong, by the way, on both counts) needs to watch footage of the NBA from like the 50's and 60's, when dudes where wearing Chuck Taylors and smoking a pack and a half a day. People like Bob Cousy and Pele would be, at best, regular guys in their respective sports now. So too in chess, now that women are actually allowed to play, we're going to see the women of today get absolutely lapped by the women who come up 40-50 years from now.
Special shout-out to Alexandra Botez (and yes, her sister Andrea) who have somehow made chess cool to The Young People.
Gonna "Well, actually..." you for a minute here.
If'n I remember correctly, FIDE is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. So, it was Swiss folk that fed the French into Google Translate and just sent it out as a regulation.
Okay, that out of my system...
The degree to which these freaks and misanthropes obsess over the genitals of others is astounding. Doesn’t matter the context, schools, sports, bathrooms, fucking chess. It is disturbing to care this much about what another person identifies as and what they have underneath their clothes.
that piece in unherd is...really something. the whole last paragraph is basically stating that trans women aren't real. also the comments made me want to eat gravel
At this point, reading the comments section in anything is taking your sanity into your own hands. Even at Defector and probably here, you can get some whoppers if you read long enough.