That's beside the point. The point is that in any aggressively competitive game predominated by men, losing to a woman may have an extra bite to it, and if that's the case, an implicit bias could exist against women in these games. To be clear, I don't support such a bias, I'm just pointing out its existence.

This forum takes on a kind of gladiatorial arena atmosphere from time to time, you must admit. — praxis

Okay, I was just curious as to what sport, no offence intended.
I absolutely agree with you in that the forum takes on that gladiatorial arena atmosphere from time to time. I have had to leave the arena, to nurse my wounds from battle on more than one occasion.
It typically happens on the Political threads, and I will be an observer of the thread but someone pipes in with some bullshit and I jump in. Politics is a blood sport so you would think I would have learned my lesson but no such luck.
As to your other point about losing to a female has an extra bite to it.
I'd probably feel the same losing to a woman because there is that same inherent desire to win but society doesn't pressure women to one up another woman, so it wouldn't have the gender sting of what you seem to be expressing. In the same breath losing to a guy would almost seem implied or expected of a woman. So, if a woman doesn't feel the need to dominate another woman and we are expected to lose to a guy, who can we feel victorious over? Our selves, I guess.
It's an interesting idea in pondering what you are saying because it kind of sounds like guys are getting all the pressure to not lose to a woman AND not lose to another guy?
That feels like mental gymnastics to me...
Am I completely off base or is what you are suggesting is happening that fucked up?
Because if a guy is expected to be nothing short of victorious every time he steps on the mat, why would he ever try it?

Alpha cis-gender xim hetero-male :cool:

It's an interesting idea in pondering what you are saying because it kind of sounds like guys are getting all the pressure to not lose to a woman AND not lose to another guy? — ArguingWAristotleTiff

Maybe it would help if I just try to describe my experience. Surfing in Southern California is highly competitive because of the scarcity of good waves. The only informal rule or etiquette in the water is that when catching waves the person closest to the breaking part of the wave gets priority. It's very bad form to 'drop-in' on someone because you'll be in their way and it's hazardous. When it's not too crowded or the waves aren't that great people are usually pretty polite and kind of take turns. In the best spots and when the waves are good it's always crowded and folks get really aggressive. In situations like this positioning in the lineup is key. As I mentioned, whoever is closest to the breaking part of the wave gets priority. I should mention that there are very few women who surf these conditions. Btw, I just asked Google and she said that the ratio of men to women in surfing, in general, is 8/2. That sounds about right.

Anyway, back to the lineup in primo waves. When I'm in the lineup and someone paddles by and positions themself just ahead of me, that is, closer to the breaking part of the wave so they get priority, it feels rather rude if they're too close. A while ago a woman did this and I noticed that it bothered me to an unusual degree. I thought that was odd and that it indicated an implicit bias, in that particular arena anyway.

Sometimes it isn't always clear who should get priority, like if it's a peak wave, or the person on the inside is too deep and may not make it past the break of the wave. I remember a situation like this about two years ago where a woman with a longboard dropped-in on me. In fact, I think it was the only time a woman ever dropped in on me, and I really felt burned. It didn't feel right to feel that burned just because it was a woman. That is fucked-up, as you say, but I'm glad that I'm aware of this bias.