Proposal: Add Gender Sorting on the WCA Rankings

[ryanj92]

However, if we actually want to split NR's, CR's and WR's by gender fairly then men would have to compete in one 3x3 event while women compete in another 3x3 event.

What, why? When we have people of different nationalities at a competition, we don't do a round of 3x3x3 for each country, so that really doesn't make any sense. :/

 

[sneaklyfox]

On a slightly related note, I've always been bothered that the Regulations use male pronouns. We have a disclaimer, but I would like the Regulations to be gender-neutral, or at least not male-biased. It's hard to do this while keeping it easy to read for an international audience (i.e. no singular "they"/special pronouns/awkward "(s)he" or he/she constructs). The best I've managed to do is switch the default gender to female. If anyone has any good ideas, I'd love to hear them.
(If you're going to defend the continued use of "he" as the default, please read Hofstadter's "Person Paper on Purity in Language" before you post.)

Weird, but the use of the male pronoun does not bother me. English does not have a gender neutral pronoun equivalent to "he/she" except "it" which is used for objects, not people so why not use "he"? "She" is used to specify us *special* females haha. "She/he" and "(s)he" constructs are silly in my opinion if you have to use them all over the place. People are always so uptight about being politically correct. *Sigh*.

The driving/directions thing is hilariously true. (Although if you women could learn to read a map without turning it upside-down maybe you wouldn't get us men lost in the first place )
In our house we have the problem "why can't the men see what's in front of them" (especially when looking for something in the fridge).
I always liked the explanation that men are hunter-gatherers, used to tracking things at high speed from a distance (partly explains why we like sports so much) whereas women are evolved to protect their children from danger which may be close by which gives them greater spatial awareness.

There are many other common examples of the differences between men and women, I'm sure. Actually, I have some of that problem of not seeing something right in front of me. But I'm not quite typical... in many ways... I won't bother giving examples of that now.

Large studies have shown that the better you think you are at multitasking the more likely it is that you are bad at it.
Just something interesting I wanted to share, I'm not implying that men are better at it because women think they are =P
It's probably related to complacency.

Likely, that's because of the ego difference. Men tend to think they are good at everything and women tend to have lower self-esteem. (Sorry for blanket statement.) It's funny but I am stating all these gender stereotypes when I don't fit most of them.

 

[ryanj92]

English does not have a gender neutral pronoun equivalent to "he/she" except "it" which is used for objects...

Yes it does, 'they' can be used in a singular form (http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/they.html)

 

[sneaklyfox]

Yes it does, 'they' can be used in a singular form (http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/they.html)

Oops, you're right. It just sounds kind of silly in some places, imo.

 

[Stefan]

The best I've managed to do is switch the default gender to female.

Only about 10.7% of WCA members are females.
Only about 5.4% of attempts were by females, so when for example talking about the competitor's solving procedure, "she" is correct about 5.4% of the time.

"He" isn't always correct, but it's at least correct most of the time. "She" is rarely correct, so I'd say it's much worse than "he".

 

[Flatland]

I believe this discussion should focus more on equal representation of women and men, girls and boys in the speedsolving community. If the WCA believes that a 50/50 gender split is beneficial for the longterm health of the sport, then a more prominent position should be given to fast female cubers, which may include but is not exclusive to female-only events at prominent competitions such as Nationals and Worlds and female-only records.

Although there is no overt and explicit gender discrimination in the structure of WCA competitions and in speedsolving, the current 90/10 gender split is a huge deterrent for girls thinking about getting into cubing. This amounts to a de facto sexism that is often easily overlooked. The 90/10 split is not unlike the current situation in many science and engineering fields. Participation by girls and women in these fields is seen as vital for longterm economic prosperity as well as gender equality so there are currently many organized efforts to get girls interested in math and computer science. The point is: if you're a 14 year old girl who just learned how to solve a cube, would you want to get better and attend competitions? Do you have anyone to look up to? We have all watched numerous official solves. How many women do we see in the backgrounds at these competitions? Would a girl feel comfortable in that environment if she were the only girl there?

The creation of female-only events and records is not sexist. Sexism is not only discrimination based on gender but the attitudes and cultural elements that promote this discrimination along with the institutional power to enact that discrimination. Currently, all five members of the WCA board are men, and there will be a slant (however subconscious) in the board's decision making toward male attitudes. More interest among girls and women in cubing will more likely lead to a future where decisions regarding organized speedsolving can be made with the equal representation of men and women.

As a disclosure, I am a man. I am a teacher at an all-girls school. One question I often get is: why is all-girls education still relevant today when it seems like girls and boys should be taught that both genders are equal? My answer lies in the results. I run an all-girls math team. I teach a very popular computer science course. There are two or three girls at every grade level who are interested in solving a Rubik's cube. There was an informal speedsolving competition that was held at a school assembly last year. This is simply not the case at most co-ed schools.

As a life-long participant in male dominated activities (math team, Magic: the Gathering, computer science), I recognize that it is not enough to stand behind the argument that gender neutrality is the same as gender equality. Action is required. If you believe that the 90/10 gender split is bad for speedsolving, then something should be done. Female-only events and records are two good proposals along these lines and should be considered.

 

[Stefan]

Although there is no overt and explicit gender discrimination in the structure of WCA competitions and in speedsolving, the current 90/10 gender split is a huge deterrent for girls thinking about getting into cubing.

Or it's an incentive, as it makes it easier for them to feel special (by being the best or among the best of their gender, or even just by being different and getting above-average attention).

Participation by girls and women in these fields is seen as vital for longterm economic prosperity

Why?

Currently, all five members of the WCA board are men, and there will be a slant (however subconscious) in the board's decision making toward male attitudes.

And I guess an example of this darn male attitude is Lucas' suggestion to use "she" and not "he" in the regulations? And another would be your own post?

This is simply not the case at most co-ed schools.

I'd guess it's not the case at most schools, co-ed or not. Please don't generalize an exception, thank you.

 

[sneaklyfox]

I believe this discussion should focus more on equal representation of women and men, girls and boys in the speedsolving community. If the WCA believes that a 50/50 gender split is beneficial for the longterm health of the sport, then a more prominent position should be given to fast female cubers, which may include but is not exclusive to female-only events at prominent competitions such as Nationals and Worlds and female-only records.

Although there is no overt and explicit gender discrimination in the structure of WCA competitions and in speedsolving, the current 90/10 gender split is a huge deterrent for girls thinking about getting into cubing. This amounts to a de facto sexism that is often easily overlooked. The 90/10 split is not unlike the current situation in many science and engineering fields. Participation by girls and women in these fields is seen as vital for longterm economic prosperity as well as gender equality so there are currently many organized efforts to get girls interested in math and computer science. The point is: if you're a 14 year old girl who just learned how to solve a cube, would you want to get better and attend competitions? Do you have anyone to look up to? We have all watched numerous official solves. How many women do we see in the backgrounds at these competitions? Would a girl feel comfortable in that environment if she were the only girl there?

The creation of female-only events and records is not sexist. Sexism is not only discrimination based on gender but the attitudes and cultural elements that promote this discrimination along with the institutional power to enact that discrimination. Currently, all five members of the WCA board are men, and there will be a slant (however subconscious) in the board's decision making toward male attitudes. More interest among girls and women in cubing will more likely lead to a future where decisions regarding organized speedsolving can be made with the equal representation of men and women.

As a disclosure, I am a man. I am a teacher at an all-girls school. One question I often get is: why is all-girls education still relevant today when it seems like girls and boys should be taught that both genders are equal? My answer lies in the results. I run an all-girls math team. I teach a very popular computer science course. There are two or three girls at every grade level who are interested in solving a Rubik's cube. There was an informal speedsolving competition that was held at a school assembly last year. This is simply not the case at most co-ed schools.

As a life-long participant in male dominated activities (math team, Magic: the Gathering, computer science), I recognize that it is not enough to stand behind the argument that gender neutrality is the same as gender equality. Action is required. If you believe that the 90/10 gender split is bad for speedsolving, then something should be done. Female-only events and records are two good proposals along these lines and should be considered.

Well said. (And welcome to the forums. You appear to be new here.) I have to think more about this, but I can answer the question about being the only girl at a competition. A bit of background first... I studied mechanical engineering at university so most of my classmates were men. In my robotics class, I was the only female in the room with about 30 other men. I'm accustomed to being in the midst of gathering where the vast majority of the people are male, but would have welcomed a female companion. At the one competition I went to, I was not the only girl there. But I wondered if the other girls in the room actually cared about cubing as much as the men there. If there was an equal dedication among female cubers that would be great, but given the choice, I'd feel more comfortable sitting at a table of all-male cubing enthusiasts than a table of all females who just know how to solve a cube and don't really care all that much. Encouraging more female participation by having "official" female records will probably work to some degree, but getting a 50/50 split is probably never going to happen.

Or it's an incentive, as it makes it easier for them to feel special (by being the best or among the best of their gender, or even just by being different and getting above-average attention).

Because I think a 90/10 split is intimidating to most girls who wouldn't want to do it in part because they view cubing as a boys activity. If this view is put out of their minds then perhaps it would be more attractive to girls to participate. Right now, probably more women can solve it than we know officially because they're too shy to go to competitions and I think this would change if there was a female/male split.

 

[qqwref]

The best I've managed to do is switch the default gender to female. If anyone has any good ideas, I'd love to hear them.

I still think "they" is a far better gender-neutral pronoun. Although it is arguably not grammatically correct, it feels natural in speech and in writing, and is very clearly not gendered. To be honest, when I read "she" it makes me wonder why they are specifically talking about women. The following regulations with "she" seem to work fine with a "they" replacement or with a slight rewrite:

Spoiler

2a) Any person may compete in a WCA competition if they:
2j1) If a competitor is disqualified from an event for any reason, they are not eligible for any more attempts in the event.
2j2) If a competitor is disqualified during the course of an event, their earlier results remain valid. Exception: cheating or defrauding (see Regulation 2k2a).
4g) After scrambling a puzzle, the scrambler must verify that they have scrambled the puzzle correctly. If the puzzle state is wrong, they must correct it (e.g. by solving the puzzle and applying the scramble sequence again).
5b1) If a competitor chooses to repair the puzzle, they must repair only the defective pieces. Tools and/or pieces of other puzzles must not be used to repair the original puzzle. Penalty: disqualification of the attempt (DNF).
5b3b) If, after repairing the puzzle but before the end of the attempt, the competitor finds that the puzzle is unsolvable, they may disassemble and reassemble a maximum of 4 pieces to make the puzzle solvable.
5c) A puzzle defect does not give a competitor the right to an extra attempt.
7h1) The organisation team may require a competitor to remain within the Competitors Area, from the time they are called to compete until the end of their last attempt for the round.
9f9) For "Average of 5" rounds, one DNF or DNS is permitted to count as the competitor's worst result of the round. If a competitor has more than one DNF and/or DNS result in the round, their average score for the round is DNF.
9f11) For "Mean of 3" rounds, if the competitor has at least one DNF or DNS result, their average score for the round is DNF.
9p3) If a qualifying competitor withdraws from a round, they may be replaced by the best-ranked competitor below the cutoff from the preceding round.
11d) If the WCA Regulations are not fully clear or if the incident is not covered by the WCA Regulations, then the WCA Delegate must make a decision based on fair sportsmanship.
A2a) When called for a round, the competitor submits her puzzle, in its solved state, to the scrambler and waits in the Competitors Area until they are called to compete.
A3b1) When the judge believes the competitor is ready, the judge asks "READY?". The competitor must be ready to start the attempt within one minute of this. Penalty: disqualification of the attempt (DNF), at the discretion of the judge.
A3b2) When the competitor confirms they are ready, the judge uncovers the puzzle. If the attempt requires a stopwatch, the judge starts it at the same time.
A3c3) The competitor may reset the timer before they start the solve.
A4b) The competitor places their hands on the elevated sensor unit of the timer, with their fingers touching the sensors and their palms down. Penalty: time penalty (+2 seconds).
A4d) The competitor starts the solve by confirming that the timer light is green and then removing their hands from the timer, thus starting the timer.
A6a1) If a stopwatch is in use as the timing device, the competitor ends the solve by releasing the puzzle and notifying the judge that they have stopped the solve.
A6a2) When using a stopwatch without a Stackmat, the competitor's default notification signal consists of releasing all puzzles from their hands and placing their hands on the surface with palms down. The competitor and the judge may agree on another appropriate notification before the beginning of the solve.
A6b1) If the timer stops before the end of the solve and the timer shows a time strictly below 0.06 seconds, then the attempt is replaced by an extra attempt. A competitor forfeits the right to the additional attempt if the WCA Delegate determines that the timer was stopped deliberately.
A6b2) If the timer stops before the end of the solve and displays a time of 0.06 seconds or higher, then the attempt is disqualified (DNF). Exception: if the competitor can demonstrate that the timer malfunctioned, they may receive an extra attempt, at the WCA Delegate's discretion.
A6g) The judge determines whether the puzzle is solved. They must not make moves or align faces when examining the puzzle. Exception: The judge is permitted to make moves when examining a Clock.
A7a1) If the judge finds that the puzzle is solved, the judge calls "OKAY".
B1b) The competitor must supply their own blindfold.
B2b) The competitor places their hands on the elevated sensor unit of the Stackmat, with their fingers touching the sensors and their palms down. Penalty: time penalty (+2 seconds).
B2d) The competitor starts the attempt by removing their hands from the timer, thus starting the timer.
B4b) The competitor must not apply moves to the puzzle before they have fully donned the blindfold.
B4c1) In all cases, the competitor must wear the blindfold such that their view of the puzzle would be clearly blocked even if the opaque object were not in the way.
B4e) The competitor may remove the blindfold to return to the memorisation phase, as long as they have not applied any moves to the puzzle.
B5b) When using a stopwatch, the competitor ends the attempt by placing the puzzle back onto the surface and notifying the judge that they are stopping the attempt. At that moment, the judge stops the timer.
B5c) As long as the competitor is not touching the puzzle, they may remove the blindfold before they stop the timer. However, if this is done, the competitor must not touch the puzzle until the end of the attempt. Penalty: disqualification of the attempt (DNF).
C1b2) If a puzzle defect occurs, and the competitor chooses to repair it, they must repair it using only the solving hand. Penalty: disqualification of the attempt (DNF).
C1c) During the solve, once a competitor touches the puzzle with one hand, they must not touch the puzzle with the other hand. Penalty: disqualification of the attempt (DNF).
D1b) During the attempt, the competitor must only use their feet and the surface. Penalty: disqualification of the attempt (DNF).
D3a) The competitor places their feet onto the timer sensors.
D3b) The competitor removes their feet from the timer sensors to start the solve.
D4a) The competitor stops the timer by placing their feet onto the timer sensors.
E2e1) The WCA Delegate may ask a competitor to explain the purpose of each move in their solution, without referencing the scrambling algorithm. If the competitor cannot give a valid explanation, the attempt is disqualified.
F3) At the end of the inspection period, the competitor places the puzzle onto the mat in a standing position. They must not change the positions of any pins from their scrambled positions before the beginning of the solve. Penalty: disqualification (DNF).
H1a) Before an attempt, the competitor must notify the judge of the number of puzzles they wish to attempt blindfolded. The number of puzzles must be at least 2.
H1b) If the competitor is attempting fewer than 6 puzzles, they are allotted a time limit of 10 minutes times the number of puzzles in the attempt; otherwise, the time limit is 60 minutes.

I believe this discussion should focus more on equal representation of women and men, girls and boys in the speedsolving community. If the WCA believes that a 50/50 gender split is beneficial for the longterm health of the sport, then a more prominent position should be given to fast female cubers, which may include but is not exclusive to female-only events at prominent competitions such as Nationals and Worlds and female-only records.

Why should there be a 50/50 gender split? Why does gender even matter? Why can't we just let whoever wants to cube cube, and have the gender breakdown be what it may? Is it not possible that, if we completely ignore gender and give exactly the same opportunity to cube to everyone, there will still be more boys who are interested?

I would point out that there was a time, before any kind of speedcubing community, when people would only become extremely interested in the cube for their own internal reasons. There was no big cuber culture that could potentially be biased against women, just a toy that became a huge fad across every age and gender. But, when we look back at that era, we notice that almost all competitors in cubing competitions, and almost all people who wrote books about how to solve the cube, were male. Again, isn't it possible that boys are simply much more likely to become obsessed with solving this puzzle? And if we really don't care about gender, how can we conclude this is a problem?

 

[BaMiao]

Or it's an incentive, as it makes it easier for them to feel special (by being the best or among the best of their gender, or even just by being different and getting above-average attention).

That's the whole point of the proposal to recognize top female cubers officially. We're trying to heighten this incentive.

Why?

Demand for people in technical fields is increasing drastically. We've largely been drawing talent from only half the population.

And I guess an example of this darn male attitude is Lucas' suggestion to use "she" and not "he" in the regulations? And another would be your own post?

It's more about a potential for skewed decisions or the perception of one. Let's say you have a daughter in a school athletic program, and you feel the girls' programs aren't getting enough attention relative to the boys'. How would you feel if everyone on the board of athletics was male?

I'd guess it's not the case at most schools, co-ed or not. Please don't generalize an exception, thank you.

Maybe I'm reading what he wrote differently, but I think he's talking about the problem of math/science activities being overrun with boys. I fail to see how this is possible at an all girls school.

I still think "they" is a far better gender-neutral pronoun. Although it is arguably not grammatically correct, it feels natural in speech and in writing, and is very clearly not gendered. To be honest, when I read "she" it makes me wonder why they are specifically talking about women.

I was told at school that "they" is exclusively plural, so it has always bothered me to see it used as a singular. Things seem to have changed, however, and it seems that it is increasingly recognized as a proper gender neutral singular pronoun. I would be ok with a change in the regulations to use it. I'm still getting used to it, though.

 

[cubizh]

I agree that something should probably be done that uses the gender information in a more visible way. Otherwise, it's somewhat strange why gender status was not removed from the database along with the age of the competitor. It's not being used for anything right now (is it?)
I think separating to a female ranking makes the same sense as having age categories really (like sub-10 year olds records, senior records, ...). It may improve visibility and motivation but I don't think it's absolutely necessary.

 

[Stefan]

Demand for people in technical fields is increasing drastically. We've largely been drawing talent from only half the population.

If you want more people (your own word), why don't you try to get more people? Why do you want to restrict yourself to only getting more women? Makes no sense at all.

It's more about a potential for skewed decisions or the perception of one. Let's say you have a daughter in a school athletic program, and you feel the girls' programs aren't getting enough attention relative to the boys'. How would you feel if everyone on the board of athletics was male?

No idea. I'm not in that situation and I don't know the circumstances. With the information you provided, all I can tell is that I'd feel the girls' programs aren't getting enough attention relative to the boys' (and I don't even know whose attention we're talking about).

 

[Stefan]

I agree that something should probably be done that uses the gender information in a more visible way. Otherwise, it's somewhat strange why gender status was not removed from the database along with the age of the competitor. It's not being used for anything right now (is it?)

Please show me the WCA page of Yifan Li (李一凡).

 

[qqwref]

Why aren't those numbered? Shouldn't the name itself be unique, so people can tell what person is being referred to? Most pages on the WCA site don't even list the gender.

 

[Stefan]

Why aren't those numbered?

Don't know.

Shouldn't the name itself be unique, so people can tell what person is being referred to?

Well there simply happen to be people with the same names.

If you meant we should make them unique (for example by adding numbers): Yeah that would be nice and I'm considering doing that. But it still won't help you if you only know your friend's actual name and don't already know the number as well.

 

[qqwref]

Well yeah, I just mean that when you see the name on the leaderboard or something you should be able to theoretically know exactly which person it is. Having two people with the same name and different genders ruins this uniqueness if the gender isn't displayed anywhere but their profile.

 

[cubizh]

Please show me the WCA page of Yifan Li (李一凡).

Absolutely, it helps, but it's nevertheless redundant (in database terms).

 

[Stefan]

it's nevertheless redundant (in database terms)

What do you mean?

 

[cubizh]

What do you mean?

I just meant the gender information is not currently used for anything other than information.
I assumed you pointed Yifan Li (李一凡) as an example of same name competitors with different gender.
It makes it a lot easier to distinguish but not essential, since personId should be key(?)

 

[Stefan]

I just meant the gender information is not currently used for anything other than information.

So it's not redundant (in database terms).
Also, what information do we use for anything other than information?

I assumed you pointed Yifan Li (李一凡) as an example of same name competitors with different gender.

Correct. And you can't tell the which one I meant. But you can if I tell you the gender.

It makes it a lot easier to distinguish but not essential, since personId should be key(?)

Really? You know people by personId, not just by name? How did you find out the personIds initially?