10-09-2013, 10:24 PM
How are there "many more chances for boys"? I disagree - a boy of equal strength to a girl in a Chess tournament is significantly less likely to win a prize than the girl (if there is a top girl prize on offer). Surely - therefore - it's the other way around?
That there are many more boys playing Chess is more a reflection on the social norm of Chess being a game that is more likely to interest boys than it is to do with girls not having the opportunity to play it. Awarding prizes specifically for female players is trying to give an added incentive for girl players to take part, when really the only incentive required is a love for the game. Girls are not inherently disadvantaged as far as their ability is concerned, only by the social constraints that are deeply embedded within our culture and our society that they themselves actively participate in creating. If girls don't have that love to the same extent as boys (on average), then I hardly think a female-only prize is likely to change much. And this is backed up by the fact that even despite offering female prizes very few female players play Chess.
I'm all for getting more girls playing Chess, just as I'm all for getting more boys playing Chess. But the reason for the gender imbalance has far more to do with choice than opportunity.
That there are many more boys playing Chess is more a reflection on the social norm of Chess being a game that is more likely to interest boys than it is to do with girls not having the opportunity to play it. Awarding prizes specifically for female players is trying to give an added incentive for girl players to take part, when really the only incentive required is a love for the game. Girls are not inherently disadvantaged as far as their ability is concerned, only by the social constraints that are deeply embedded within our culture and our society that they themselves actively participate in creating. If girls don't have that love to the same extent as boys (on average), then I hardly think a female-only prize is likely to change much. And this is backed up by the fact that even despite offering female prizes very few female players play Chess.
I'm all for getting more girls playing Chess, just as I'm all for getting more boys playing Chess. But the reason for the gender imbalance has far more to do with choice than opportunity.