So, (aside from sexism, of course), is there any reason only women do uneven bars and balance beam, while men get parallel bars and the other equipment? #doodle #cryptid #gymnastics https://www.instagram.com/p/C9-E3tqsYzg/?igsh=dHZ6dWhnZjVtNmZi
Edit – found this out –
Looks like center of gravity issues and some other build differences
Via elsewhere-
Take Parallel Bars: women are wider at the hips than shoulders *as compared to men.* This causes issues with parallel bars – in order for a woman to to PB, many would need to set them wider than would be optimal.
This is why when women started using the “parallel” bars, they set them asymmetrically – one higher than the other, and developed an entirely different skill set as compared to traditional PB.
Over time, these “asymmetrical parallel bars” got wider until they actually created a new set of equipment that has morphed into the modern day uneven bars.