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Notes -
I think it's the third option, though we might have to be specific. Men and women are both competitive, but the ways they compete, and with who can vary widely.
I've been involved in amateur sports for a long time, and on something that is very gender-neutral in basic ability (shooting). The numbers are just insanely male. In a major match with a hundred and fifty competitors, you might have five to seven women, most of them the wives of better shooters who clearly put in little to no practice. When you find one with that drive, who is there on her own, has put in the work to get competent, and is really pushing herself....it's a beautiful thing, but notable in its rarity.
Perhaps it's just that women have less need to justify their existence.
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