Congratulations Ali! Ali Vincent of Mesa, AZ was the first female winner in Biggest Loser history. After losing a whopping 112 pounds, Ali won $250,000 last night in the season finale. However with five seasons passed, I question whether the Biggest Loser will ever acknowledge the evident handicap women face against their male counterparts.

Yes, there was a female winner this year; nevertheless, many people failed to recognize that Ali spent most of her time losing weight on her own. Hence, her return to the ranch was immediately met with far more strenuous exercise and attentive supervision than her 5 weeks spent at home. This forced her body to jump start at a sharper rate than her competitors who remained at the ranch for the past nine weeks and were naturally entering into a weight-loss plateau.

This is not to denigrate Ali's efforts; on the contrary, her ability to lose such a substantial amount of weight at home is to be admired and applauded. But, what about all of the other women on the Biggest Loser? They clearly worked equally as hard as the men. In fact, I would argue that the women worked even harder than the men on the show, with fewer rewards despite their extravagant efforts. Jillian Michaels, a Biggest Loser trainer, spoke to this disadvantage at an elimination weigh-in to be met by a defensive remark from the host, Alison Sweeney. Moreover, I found it very interesting that Bob Harper, another trainer, chose five men and only one woman to be on his training team, while leaving Jillian with the remaining four women and two men. Of course, Bob so tastefully denied the presence of any advantages at that same weigh-in (actions speak louder than words, Bob!).

Considering the inherent biological differences between men and women, I would be interested in seeing a same-sex competition. I think Biggest Loser owes it to its contenders and audience to provide us with a fair competition. At the most basic level, the dynamic would at least be interesting.