On what is their competition based? How is the winner determined?

Shoes, clothing, make-up, houses, boobs, boyfriends, husbands... you name it. Women are just as competitive as men.

Something the article did not mention, that I have found to be true. We tend to collaborate with people we trust and fiercely compete with those we do not. Two women may get on fine together (no fierce competition only friendly competition) but two who dislike each other, will not get along and will try to outdo the other... just like guys. So I'm not sure it's 100% gender that determines the situation.

So the women in your example compete to see who can have the best boyfriends and husbands and possessions, right? While the men compete to see who can do the best job, run the fastest, hit the hardest, and win the football game or finish the job or beat the other guy at pool.

I think this goes back to sunir's post.

Women at the school yard are competing on who is winning the popularity contest, which is like a political campaign. You need to bring together all the money and the tools to win the hearts of the voters. The tools are an enabler, rather than the end-game.

Like you said, men simply need to bring the biggest X, where X is football prowess, muscles, humor, girlfriend. Then the job is done.

Bring the biggest girlfriend? That can't be right.

Among guys, the fighting is often playful and we can actually build a relationship during competition. I thought that among women, fighting is almost always destructive to a relationship. Guess I'll have to rethink that.