I'd like to point out that my participation here, and my assertions about men's tendency to outperform women physically by most metrics, is not in any way intended to denigrate or disparage women or their contributions to our society. On the contrary, I hold women in very high regard, in many ways. I would find a society where women did not noticeably participate to be a very bland and disheartening thing.
Women have many strengths. Women typically have a higher EQ and are better at creating and maintaining personal relationships and ties in society. They are often better at noticing small details that frequently escape men's attention. I suspect they have better memory recall as well. Women often view problems that arise from a different angle than most men and that perspective can be extremely useful in many cases; there are many matters upon which I wish to consult with a trusted female before making a decision. Women are commonly better at fine manipulation tasks than men. They tend to have more patience especially in dealing with issues that involve many complicated details.
However, when it comes to major physical tasks, I think it is just plain fact, well established by existing stats, that men tend to have a substantial advantage in any venue where strength, speed, agility or endurance are primary required attributes. It just is what it is.
Now there are exceptions. Interestingly enough I have two close female relatives who are outside the norm; I will refer to them as M. and D.
M. is a big woman, 5'9 and over 200 lbs. She is astonishingly strong, and I think easily comparable to the average man in upper body strength, if not superior. When she was younger she used to lift me off my feet in a bear hug, even though I weighed in at about 215 lbs myself, and when she hugged me hard I felt my ribs creak.
While her agility is limited and her endurance moderate, she has more of both than someone might expect to look at her. Still, when she was in her 20s and I was in my 30s, she challenged me to various tests of strength and found that, while not far apart in rough size, I was still quite a bit stronger. Even so, I have personal knowledge of her whuppin' the snot out of an average-sized man who wouldn't take "leave me the hell alone" for an answer.
D. has always been a remarkable athlete. She's about 5'7 and a trim 140 in her late 30s, hard-muscled. She lettered in three sports and went to college on a scholarship. I've personally seen her perform some rather remarkable feats of athletic prowess that left me quite impressed. Even so, she did not compete with males in sports, and is still at a deficit in upper body strength and endurance compared to similarly conditioned males of the same age. She has a deep understanding of her own body mechanics, however, and is well versed in how to use what she has to greatest effect. Frankly if she'd chosen to be a firefighter I think she would probably have passed all physical tests required without need for a handicap.... but my caveat here is that she is exceptional, I've rarely met any women so athletically gifted, and her father supported and coached her in athletic skills from infancy. She has a daughter who just graduated HS who equaled her athletic exploits; she's also tall and sturdy (5-9 and about 145 or so), partakes of the same genes (D married an athlete as well) and had the same degree of training-from-infancy.
There are some women who can roughly match men in some area of physicality, but they are not average women; those who can roughly match men in
general physicality do exist but are rather rare.
The "division of labor" that tends to exist in most societies, from the primitive to the present, where men usually do most of the most physically demanding jobs, is not merely a social construct, but a result of biological facts. :shrug:
Even among men, those who can qualify for and make the standard for some of the more grueling jobs (ie front line combat units, elite spec forces, top rank boxers, etc) are typically exceptional in physicality, and the average man often cannot meet the requirements no matter how hard he trains.
