I suspected this all along, I really did. There’s just no way women are as physically strong as men, period.
People who believe otherwise tend also to be people who do not classify the sexes by their genitals - and are proud of not doing so.
There's also the mental/emotional aspect, and the two sexes are as desparate here as night and day. Men have the something-to-prove attitude in spades over the average woman, and that goes a long way toward physical empowerment.
Women, no matter how courageous, are also extremely more prone to hysterics than men in the face of overwhelming, impending horror or danger. This effectively neutralizes them when self-possession counts the most in combat.
Many of us on FR actually predicted this and also said that standards were lowered. Its really not a surprise.