Is the strength gap getting smaller? If so, why?

I've heard this a couple times, that the gap between the average man and average woman's strength is less than it used to be, but I've never been able to verify/falsify it. Can anyone verify/falsify it for me?

Also, why is this? Are women getting better nutrition/more exercise than men are? Are women just getting into harder sports more and more because of the prevalence of Action Girl and You Go, Girl! as a cultural icon? Are men succumbing to more diseases and health problems than women are? Are female athletes just taking steroids more?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Could feminism and the gradual acceptance of women's legitimate participation in various sporting activities have caused this? I would expect that to be the case, anyway.

It's possible it's mostly just a function of science having a better understanding of how the body works now than it did in yesteryear, and giving better advice to people wishing to improve themselves. I see all the time on tv how more and more women are being advised to begin weight lifting because of health benefits for metabolism/osteoporosis etc. The definition of beauty has also changed a bit from just plain skinny or hourglass figure to sleek and in shape, which could be a contributor. Also, more gyms and places to work out are woman friendly or even woman only than it was long ago.

It's probably a large number of factors that are causing this.

There are a ton of things that could factor in.

That, and we're finally beginning to realize just how much difference between the sexes on average is generally eclipsed by variance within them.

Because men are sitting on their asses playing video games while women are working out at the gym.

That actually... sounds like it has some truth to it.

Don't women also sit on their asses? Don't men work out a lot more than women do?

But women are pushed to look better; more so than men.

Then again, this probably results in more pencils than Hot Amazons.

Don't women also sit on their asses? Don't men work out a lot more than women do?

More men work out seriously, for sure.

I'm not certain how many men work out at all compared to the number of women who do, though. If it turned out that more women get regular cardiovascular exercise, I wouldn't be surprised.

Isnt it just because women excersize more nowadays? Not to mention that more men have less physically taxing jobs?

I really doubt that the various attributions of "women exercising more" are totally true.

I'd be more inclined to think that, nowadays, there's less emphasis on, say, men being much stronger than woman, as the gender roles are changing. Men are not expected to be strong as a rule, so less men will be that strong; women are not expected to be frail waifs, and so can become stronger.

Speaking in rough, general terms.

We need more information. Is the gap closing because women are getting stronger, men are getting weaker, a combination of the two? Has there been a change in the way the averages are typically measured, such as mode vs. mean?

^ That, too. I'd think that if it was closing, it would be due to a combination.

In the future, sex will solely be a label for genitals.

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I'd say it's a cultural thing, really. It's no longer weird for women to be athletic, so more of them are, et cetera.

Keep in mind that we've all been offering explanations for why it's closing without having established that it actually is. Remember, the OP is a question, which we haven't answered.

In times gone by, employers would segregate jobs that required heavy work and jobs that didn't require heavy work. Then they would employ women to do the ones that didn't require heavy work because they could pay women less.

These days women get equal pay and are thus not spared the heavy work. This makes them stronger.

@ Karalora & Desertopa: It would be really helpful if I could track down a source, but no luck yet.

@Leigh: Where did you hear this in the first place?

Reference from the Athletic Women blog any good?

If that's all the evidence, I'd attribute that to how atheletes constantly top other atheletes that came before them rather than any evidence that women as a whole are getting stronger, or especially as evidence that women are getting stronger relative to men.

After all, the strongest male bodybuilder today is stronger than the strongest male bodybuilder from 20 years ago too.

Probably from steroid usage.