If you look at the list of top chess players in the world, you'll notice a rather distinct lack of women. In the top 100 list there's only one woman, placed at position 81. The second-strongest female chess player in the world is way down, somewhere like in position 200 or such.
Since quite long FIDE has held separate tournaments for men and women. (Or, more precisely, a general tournament, and a separate women's tournament. It's not forbidden for women to participate in the general tournament if they want, but they also have their own separate tournament.) There's also a separate Grand Master title for women, with looser requirements than the general Grand Master title. (Again, women can be granted a GM title, but more often they get a WGM title because it has lesser requirements.)
For some time now there has existed a sentiment among some part of the chess community that this gender segregation is a "problem", that having separate general tournaments and women's tournaments is a "problem", and that we really need to figure out what is causing this disparity and do something about it.
Rather obviously the reason for this sentiment is that even considering the notion that at the very top men are on average better than women in chess is completely out of the question. It's against doctrine. Even presenting the suggestion is taboo, and pretty much in essence a crime against humanity, and if you dare to even suggest it out loud, you are an absolutely despicable person.
The doctrine is that men and women are completely equal, and that there's absolutely no difference between them that would explain this disparity. Thus, logically, the difference must be caused by something else. It must be cultural, it must be because of education and upbringing, it must be because of discrimination. If we just could find the source of the disparity, we could fix it, and then we'll have reached an utopia where the top 100 list of the strongest chess players would have at least 50 women in it (and probably more).
I'm not even making this up. Many strong chess players are talking in those exact lines, ie. like "until we figure this out, unfortunately separate tournaments for women are a practical necessity".
The idea that men at the very top are on average better than women, and thus there's nothing to "fix", cannot even enter the question. It must not be allowed to enter the question. It's against holy doctrine. You cannot even suggest it out loud, or else you'll be considered an absolutely horrendous person who must be, at a very minimum, silenced. There absolutely is a "problem", and it has to be "fixed", and if you suggest otherwise, you'll be unpersoned and worse.
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