At least one difference is the padding comes up bit further in the front to protect the brothers. My wife and daughter have been using my men's shorts without issue, however. I ordered some women's shorts from Aerotech for her recently. They were too small for my wife, and my daughter didn't like thye design and wouldn't wear them. I tried them to see what the difference was and it was as I previously said, the padding did not come up as far in the front. I exchanged them for a pair of lycra road shorts for myself.