[Rain Man]

Are we talking participating, watching, or being a fan?

As far as participating in sports, I think it's great that women do it. My half-marathons are on average more than 50% female (road is something like 60%, trail is probably 1/3rd), and it's nice at the starting line to see a bunch of women who are in good shape. I'm not saying that in a leering way - well, I am, but in a less leering way than normal. It feels good to be in good shape and be at the starting line and see everybody else in good shape. And in a leering way, some of the women look really good in those short and those running tights. Bottom line: women playing in sports is cool.

Watching women's sports is not cool. No offense, but women are the junior varsity of genders when it comes to sports. If we're talking real sports and not oil wrestling, I'm going to watch the A team play over the B team any day of the week. Plus, as a guy I naturally identify a little more with my own gender, and if a women is better at sports than me that's not a good ego thing for me, either. So I avoid women's sports.

Being a woman who's a fan of sports? That's gender neutral. It's no different than a guy being a fan of sports. There is an odd conundrum about female sports fans, though. For the same gender identity reasons that I prefer men's sports, it seems like women should prefer women's sports. But if I was a woman, I'd probably prefer to watch the A team over the junior varsity, so it seems like being a sports fan is a little more difficult for a woman than a man. Maybe it's offset by the fact that they get to see the opposite gender looking good. I don't know.