Transphobia

[DonnaT]

Has Juwanna Mann inspired a whole league of transphobic idiots?

Sexist Beatdown

[Azurielle]

I seriously think that female gender testing for the olympics should be the following:
Hormones: Majorly female
If otherwise: Is there and Androgen resistance?
If not: Has there the presence of sufficient antiandrogens during a sufficient time period in the blood to prevent irreversible masculinization.
If not: Forced to compete in the mens' olympics due to altered blood composition.

It shouldn't even matter what's in-between your legs. What should matter is muscle development. Many genetic conditions could explain why a genuine female would resemble a man (estrogen resistance, among others) while still remaining female in everything but muscle mass.

[Michelle Miller]

I think the transphobic idiots were always there, they just tend to come out of the woodwork when there's a public figure to belittle.

[DonnaT]

I'd have to disagree Azurielle.

Say a woman has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), resulting in 3 times the normal testosterone/androgen level for women.

Should she be penalized for something not of her choosing?

Should a runner be penalized because he is taller than the other runners, and thus faster?

Or a swimmer that is double jointed in many joints which makes their stokes/kicks more effective, like Michael Phelps?

Not in my opinion. The only reason someone should be penalized is if they are taking enhancements.

[Virginia]

I have to agree with Donna, however I can see the initial shock to the sport when some "unknown" shows up and not only beats the existing world record holder but by a margin of ?what? two and a half seconds?

I know in my sport (such as it is) we just had someone lift an amount that is mind-boggling! A 198 pound class totalled over 2600 pounds, and of course we have guys benchpressing over 1000 pounds! Sure a lot of it can be attributed to the support equipment that they wear and "PROBABLY" the drugs that they are taking, but even with drug enhanced lifting and support gear, how much weight can the human body actually move?

I know the girl was being tested for "XX" or "XY" chromosomes and other alterations in her genetics, but if she was unaware and did not enhance them, I mean where do we draw the line?

Kind of like us, huh? Other than SRS, where do we come down on being female and for what time period? Only when we are dressed, or only when and how we interact with other people, or based on repression/supression, are we 24/7 - The mind boggles!!!!

Love,

Virginia

[KimberlyS]

....Should she be penalized for something not of her choosing?

Donna I do not think she should be penalized no. But I do not feel she should be given an advantage either. We being within the gray area of the the trans-gendered spectrum understand that gender and sex are not as male and female as most of the general society believes it is. So we should understand how complex it is to actually tell if someone is male or female. As there is so much more to it than just what is between the legs and hanging on the chest. I think those in monitor the sports events have a tough job when it comes to those participating in sports that are in the trans-gendered gray areas. They are trying to keep things fair. All all of the performance enhancing drugs and techniques do not help either.

[Bernice]

Call me a Liberal or Progressive when it comes to gender issues, but since the duality of gender is a myth, gender should not be a consideration for ANY activity, be it public restrooms, marriage, Olympic athletics, or combat duty.

I routinely decline to answer the gender question on the job applications I complete. Quotas are not the answer either.

Unless or until the Olympic committee can definitively define gender in such a way that all persons are fairly categorized, I agree with a quote from Ru Paul, about how easy it is to categorize and label people, to make them ultimately small, even trivial.

Then again, having brought up Ru Paul, I admit having put that very quote on my resume cover letters (properly attributed) for many months before realizing exactly what Ru Paul is most famous for. Out of the closet and I didn't even know it!

Hugs,

Bernice

[Bayne]

....Should she be penalized for something not of her choosing?

Donna I do not think she should be penalized no. But I do not feel she should be given an advantage either. We being within the gray area of the the trans-gendered spectrum understand that gender and sex are not as male and female as most of the general society believes it is. So we should understand how complex it is to actually tell if someone is male or female. As there is so much more to it than just what is between the legs and hanging on the chest. I think those in monitor the sports events have a tough job when it comes to those participating in sports that are in the trans-gendered gray areas. They are trying to keep things fair. All all of the performance enhancing drugs and techniques do not help either.

How is any sport ever fair? None are. Being born with better muscle attachments makes one person a possible olympic athlete and another otherwise identical person can never ever ever reach that level as no matter their training their muscle attachment points on their bones are not good enough. Build, variations on oxygen metabolism and sugar metabolism... oh sport never was never is and never ever will be fair.

So let Intersex and even Trans people have their advantages (not that CAIS gives any and Semenya likely can't use the extra testosterone in her body so didn't have that advantage anyway) because people with other born advantages have always been allowed to keep their advantages in sport.

Or should we ban all tall people from basketball for having an unfair advantage? Fat peiple from Sumo? Strong from Karate? Naturally good hand-to-eye cordination people from shooting?