I’ve met quite a few highly competitive women. Set the mark and they will do whatever they can to make that goal (from foodstuffs to sports to highest politician in the land). There has been some recent talk about the “baby penalty” when it comes to professional women (I’ll include all women here, wherein the cultural norm is to be “baby maker” vs. actual potential of the individuals involved). If an individual, female or male, decides to put the effort into changing their body/mind to be elite, I really don’t see a reason why they shouldn’t. Now, there are biological sacrifices that are made (I’m thinking specifically of body builders here) to reaching those objectives, and the social costs of dedicating ones life in pursuit of a fixed goal are numerous and well documented, but it shows it can be done. And fairly easily, given the right economic conditions.
