"Monkeybone, you are too funny. Here are some beauts:" glad to hear i entertained you.
you are correct in saying that i seem to contradict myself, and that quite honestly my arguements were all over the place. what can i say, i generally lack focus, and was writing at about 9 at night, right before i got out of work. i may not have had any brain cells left at that point. i'm lucky i managed to put any sentences together that made sense. (not that they all did, because they didn't). also, my response was really long, so i figured i'd throw it out there and see what i got.
now, if i recall correctly my main point was that it is no surprise that women do not have the depth in running that men do. for various reasons that i stated earlier women have not had the oppurtunities and experience in the sport that men have had. so while there are fewer women competing at as high of a level as men are, they had a lot more to go thru to get there, and therefore deserve the money that they earn. and also, if given time to catch up women will, at least in the number of those competeing at a high level.
now, as for stating that men are genetically just plain faster than women, i think i got the feeling that many were arguing that the mere fact that men are faster than women means they deserve more money. i think especailly saying that no one watches the wnba, so therefore women's sports are inferior, and therefore they should not get paid as much as men, was an example of this. i was merely countering another arguement made in favor of paying men more.
do my two main points, that women have had less oppurtunties and that women are genetically not as fast as men contradict each? i believe that they do not because they are both true. it is true that women have not had the expereince men have had, and it is also true that women are genetically not as fast as men. so i guess that's a long way of saying, its a little of both as you suggested.
and, as for my statement that running faster does not make men morally superior, i realize that no one came right out and said that it did. however, i got the feeling from the tone of many people's posted that they found this to be true. and if not morally superior, at least athletetically superior and ENTITLED to more in the sport. if no one intended to imply this, i apologize, however i feel that this was the undercurrent of many people's statements. that somehow men's dominance in sports somehow makes them better than women. like i said, if this was not true, i apologize, but a lot of very mysoginistic statements were made.