Gender identity as a whole is somewhat of a controversial topic. Clearly, society has made strides toward acceptance in the last decade specifically. Although it is not uncommon to hear people define gender as their biological sex assignment, transgenders have had support compared to just before the 1970s when transgenders were barely referred to as people. My blog today is not to talk about my stance on the legitimacy of transgenders on a biological or social level, it is to address a controversy in our country. Transgender athletes, specifically student-athletes, are dominating women's sports. These specific cases have exclusively been male making the transition to identifying as a female. For example, in 2018 a track star won a big women's event at the NCAA level. She developed as a male but started identifying as a woman after high school. Since then, there have been some similar stories with controversial responses. In the last couple of weeks, pressure on states to pass laws preventing these athletes from competing are mounting. Most recently, Mississippi has banned transgender women from competing in sports events, with the Bill being signed a couple of weeks back. So what's my take on this? Obviously, it's a double-edged sword. I am all for freedom of expression and equal opportunity. However, the stories of biological women losing scholarship and opportunity due to what can be looked at as an unfair advantage are hard to ignore. If you are up against women who developed as a male and lost the opportunity, it is unjust. There are also stories of injury due to the physical difference. Being pro-opportunist, I think the best solution is a compromise. Instead of banning women from their own sport, maybe institute rules that you had to identify as female from a certain age. My initial thought was separate brackets of competition for transgenders but that makes them appear different from the rest of society which is not the intention. It's a tough one, that's for sure. What are your thoughts? Should transgender women that have fully developed as males be allowed to compete in women's sports? What are some risks of them competing?
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/mississippi-governor-will-sign-bill-banning-trans-athletes-school-sports-n1259780
Hi Zev. I don't think that biological men should play in women's sports. If it is a physical contact sport then the biological men could harm the biological women and even if it is less physical, it would make it impossible for biological women to succeed in the sport.
ReplyDeleteHey Zev. This is an interesting and difficult topic. While I really do grasp the fact that it is hard and painful for transgender children to not be able to play sports in their preffered gender, it is completely unfair to the other kids. Transgender female atheletes (born males) have an outrageous advantage over other women because of the biological differences/advantages males have.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great post, but I do want to educate you on something - the term is transwomen or transgender people. Transgender is an adjective, and using it as a noun is actually dehumanizing to those people. I know that isn't you, so I wanted to let you know for the future :-)
ReplyDeleteHi y'all! I'm not here to argue with anyone, but I do want to share some knowledge: When they refer to transwomen competing in women's sports, they aren't talking about boys who in a dress. They are talking about people who have been going through hormone treatment that completely changes their body and lessens that advantage. All that testosterone that would give a boy/man an advantage is actually not there any longer. Or at least not in quantities any higher than can be found in people assigned female at birth. Just a little science to help you guys understand more of what's going on!
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