[Mz]

I thought you had a point. Professional basketball comes to mind, where it's incredibly unusual for someone to be of "normal" height. A height difference gives you an advantage which I suspect creates a positive feedback loop (advantage leads to more enjoyment, which leads to more practice...etc) and remains a significant factor even when all other things are equal (like innate talent).

[luchak]

advantage leads to more enjoyment, which leads to more practice...etc

I actually agree with you here. This is why I think things like sexist/marginalizing presentations at conferences are a big deal: a hostile environment seems to me a lot more likely to achieve this than possible differences at the bare fringe of the aptitude spectrum.

[Mz]

FWIW: I'm female and I'm very aware of the chill effect when, say, in an online forum some guy says something hostile about women/a woman and gets a group high five out of it (massively upvoted and that kind of thing). In such cases, it is not uncommon for me to feel like saying something like "there's some truth to that but there's another side to that story as well" only it's obvious that the other side is not welcome information and trying to present it won't accomplish anything constructive. In other words, I am keenly aware that if it were a neutral, not emotionally charged discussion, I have additional information which might cast light on the subject for the guys and might even be helpful to them but there is no hope of being heard, so I keep my mouth shut rather than borrow trouble. And I'm a rather loud mouthed brassy broad, so I'm sure the chill effect has an even stronger ability to keep your typical woman quiet.