a game only gentlemen (read rich) men can afford to indulge in

Hiya Wise One!

Disagree with you here, I think, although I am going by British (and maybe more specifically English) definitions.
A gentleman isn't necessarily a rich man. It's all about manners, integrity and honour. Oh, and ideals, of course .

You'd call someone a "real gent[leman]" on account of the respect they accord to those they meet (especially to supposed inferiors). You'd also take note of how well they keep their word, as a gentleman is impeccably trustworthy. An unwritten "gentleman's agreement" could stand in place of a binding legal contract. Honour is at stake so there will be no reneging on the agreement. A "gentleman's bet" is a particular type of gentleman's agreement (similarly no third parties required), with an occasional extra variant on standard bets that little or no money is at stake.

A gentleman's game, therefore, is as much - if not more - a type of game than a game played by a particular group of people (or a particular gender). It's a game that by its nature makes fixing, cheating and underhand dealing difficult if not impossible.
Probably the truth is that there is no gentleman's game by this definition, but a favourite candidate locally would be cricket. Not my game, but there you have it. Golf would probably come close. Horse racing and football (meaning soccer) would once have come fairly high up the list, but probably not so much these days .

In fact, being a gentleman isn't valued as highly as once was, probably because of mistaken association with high incomes and/or privileged family backgrounds. Baby thrown out with the bath-water a bit, IMHO.

As to gender, the female equivalent of gentlemen is, of course, "ladies" rather than "gentlewomen". I believe the implicit assumption is that ladies are never anything but genteel, i.e. they would always be polite and fair, and can always be trusted to keep their word.
And who are we to argue with our forebears?

Once upon a time it would, I think, have been considered derogatory to refer to a man as simply "the man" rather than "the gentleman". But it definitely wouldn't have been right to refer to "the woman" rather than "the lady". In many circles the latter rule still applies to some extent, which is fine by me.

Oh, thanks imanishimel for a thread that got me thinking, and that I found related to a subject surprisingly close to my heart!

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