I only recently came across this documentary by Matt Walsh which does an admirable job in pointing out the absurdity of the subversion of biological reality. And I just love the Masai scene!
We signed up for a year of DailyWire+ to access it when it first came out. I thought it was great too.
This series called Hjernevask (which is Norwegian for Brain-Washed) is prescient, done a few years ago. It is fantastic - funny, well-filmed, and exciting to watch. The equivalent of a "Page Turner" novel. Be prepared to binge-watch all 7 if you watch the first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTF_XVspfDM&list=PLWHTKnB0jqZD9cR0zMpNLCvNeqf2UlfIB
Thank you so much for stating these facts so clearly and rationally. I've thouroughly enjoyed reading all three of these articles.
I've been writing about these issues myself for a while now, making similar points, though I tend to do it in a bit of a harsher tone than you do.🙂 I've been coming to some realizations recently that there is definitely a need for a more rigorous understanding from both sides of this issue. As you said, opposing transwomen in sports need not equate to opposing transwomen. Still, people do need to say something, and it seems more people are beginning to.
I'm very encouraged by this kind of writing, so thanks again.
“But MTF trans in sport is a big issue. Trans volleyball players in high school. 6’4” Tiffany Abreu in Olympic volleyball. Cece Telfer pictured above. Lia Thomas, Caster Semenya…”
Are you right to include Caster in this? I didn’t think she was MTF.
Got it. I still wouldn’t characterize her as “MTF” though, which implies a consciously directed transition. As far as I know, she was raised as a girl and shouldn’t be painted with the same brush as Lila Thomas et al.
Very astutely noted. Technically she is intersex, not trans. I included her in the list for simplicity's sake, at the cost of accuracy. And I totally agree (and mentioned in the articles) that intersex is a legitimately harder issue morally and scientifically than trans. ie: an intersex person can be at a significant (and probably unfair, in the case of Semenya) advantage over women if they compete in the female division, but may be at a relative disadvantage over men if they compete as a male. My take on this is that many men compete at a genetic disadvantage of some sort (we all have advantages and disadvantages - ie: tall is great for b-ball and bad for gymnastics), so the only fair thing is that they compete as males. Semenya may have ambiguous genetics and hormones, but is clearly phenotypically male.
Great set of articles. Totally agree that natal women with no hormone doping should be its own exclusive category. If we are in fact trying to encourage all types on a spectrum of gender identities to compete it may also be more attractive to set new categories rather than just have an open division for everyone else not natal female, as in: M - MTF - FTM - F . Yes if a person is in a category all by themselves then they set the record ( ya gotta start somewhere ) and more will join in time and break those records for the love of sport and competition.
Julie here, commenting. This would be nice in an ideal world, but what about in the real world where there are limited resources? Imagine if you are organizing a tennis tournament like Wimbledon. Do you have a whole extra "open" bracket for people who identify as transgender? How will that affect the schedule? Would you have to take a third of the prize money away from the male and female divisions to fund this new division? I think, as Chris has said, that the only "unfairness" issue is in women's sport, which is, in effect, a handicap division. That's what needs to be protected. Everyone else could compete as "open." Nobody has ever had an issue with FTM trans people competing as males (in effect the "open" category.)
As a woman who came along just at a time when women were acquiring a place in high level sport (the first women's olympic marathon didn't happen until 1980!) I find that this new trend of natal males taking hard-earned qualifying spots, medals and prize money away from women and girls just feels like a return to the days when women were told that sport was not meant for them and that they should stay home and let the boys compete. If we carry this current trend to its logical extreme, this is precisely what will happen. Girls will still be able to compete recreationally, of course, but will no longer be able to qualify for the Olympics or compete professionally. Those higher level competitions will be dominated by people with XY chromosomes.
As stated, I'm in total agreement with women's sport being protected perhaps under XX no Y chromosome status. It is a priority requiring immediate attention. Admittedly I had only put my mind to swimming and don't see accommodations being a complex matter to have people swim together and then rank according to their M-MTF-FTM-F category. Lia can have her gold as MTF, and Female competitors can have their just recognition reinstated. As far as funding and division of awards goes, I really don't know and have nothing to offer...perhaps the groups that supported women to achieve the recognition they deserve in Olympic sport can guide these FTM and MTF groups toward successful recognition.
I only recently came across this documentary by Matt Walsh which does an admirable job in pointing out the absurdity of the subversion of biological reality. And I just love the Masai scene!
What Is A Woman
https://sp.rmbl.ws/s8/2/J/g/c/h/Jgchg.caa.mp4?u=3&b=0
We signed up for a year of DailyWire+ to access it when it first came out. I thought it was great too.
This series called Hjernevask (which is Norwegian for Brain-Washed) is prescient, done a few years ago. It is fantastic - funny, well-filmed, and exciting to watch. The equivalent of a "Page Turner" novel. Be prepared to binge-watch all 7 if you watch the first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTF_XVspfDM&list=PLWHTKnB0jqZD9cR0zMpNLCvNeqf2UlfIB
Also check out "Trans" by Helen Joyce.
Thank you so much for stating these facts so clearly and rationally. I've thouroughly enjoyed reading all three of these articles.
I've been writing about these issues myself for a while now, making similar points, though I tend to do it in a bit of a harsher tone than you do.🙂 I've been coming to some realizations recently that there is definitely a need for a more rigorous understanding from both sides of this issue. As you said, opposing transwomen in sports need not equate to opposing transwomen. Still, people do need to say something, and it seems more people are beginning to.
I'm very encouraged by this kind of writing, so thanks again.
“But MTF trans in sport is a big issue. Trans volleyball players in high school. 6’4” Tiffany Abreu in Olympic volleyball. Cece Telfer pictured above. Lia Thomas, Caster Semenya…”
Are you right to include Caster in this? I didn’t think she was MTF.
She is "high-T". Intersex
Got it. I still wouldn’t characterize her as “MTF” though, which implies a consciously directed transition. As far as I know, she was raised as a girl and shouldn’t be painted with the same brush as Lila Thomas et al.
Very astutely noted. Technically she is intersex, not trans. I included her in the list for simplicity's sake, at the cost of accuracy. And I totally agree (and mentioned in the articles) that intersex is a legitimately harder issue morally and scientifically than trans. ie: an intersex person can be at a significant (and probably unfair, in the case of Semenya) advantage over women if they compete in the female division, but may be at a relative disadvantage over men if they compete as a male. My take on this is that many men compete at a genetic disadvantage of some sort (we all have advantages and disadvantages - ie: tall is great for b-ball and bad for gymnastics), so the only fair thing is that they compete as males. Semenya may have ambiguous genetics and hormones, but is clearly phenotypically male.
Great set of articles. Totally agree that natal women with no hormone doping should be its own exclusive category. If we are in fact trying to encourage all types on a spectrum of gender identities to compete it may also be more attractive to set new categories rather than just have an open division for everyone else not natal female, as in: M - MTF - FTM - F . Yes if a person is in a category all by themselves then they set the record ( ya gotta start somewhere ) and more will join in time and break those records for the love of sport and competition.
Julie here, commenting. This would be nice in an ideal world, but what about in the real world where there are limited resources? Imagine if you are organizing a tennis tournament like Wimbledon. Do you have a whole extra "open" bracket for people who identify as transgender? How will that affect the schedule? Would you have to take a third of the prize money away from the male and female divisions to fund this new division? I think, as Chris has said, that the only "unfairness" issue is in women's sport, which is, in effect, a handicap division. That's what needs to be protected. Everyone else could compete as "open." Nobody has ever had an issue with FTM trans people competing as males (in effect the "open" category.)
As a woman who came along just at a time when women were acquiring a place in high level sport (the first women's olympic marathon didn't happen until 1980!) I find that this new trend of natal males taking hard-earned qualifying spots, medals and prize money away from women and girls just feels like a return to the days when women were told that sport was not meant for them and that they should stay home and let the boys compete. If we carry this current trend to its logical extreme, this is precisely what will happen. Girls will still be able to compete recreationally, of course, but will no longer be able to qualify for the Olympics or compete professionally. Those higher level competitions will be dominated by people with XY chromosomes.
As stated, I'm in total agreement with women's sport being protected perhaps under XX no Y chromosome status. It is a priority requiring immediate attention. Admittedly I had only put my mind to swimming and don't see accommodations being a complex matter to have people swim together and then rank according to their M-MTF-FTM-F category. Lia can have her gold as MTF, and Female competitors can have their just recognition reinstated. As far as funding and division of awards goes, I really don't know and have nothing to offer...perhaps the groups that supported women to achieve the recognition they deserve in Olympic sport can guide these FTM and MTF groups toward successful recognition.