McKinnon on the Science of Fairness
Speaking of McKinnon – there’s an event in London in October:
Fri, 11 October 2019
6:45 pm – 8:00 pm
Transgender Athletes and the Science of Fairness
Dr Rachel McKinnonVENUE
The Tabernacle (Off Portobello)
34-35 Powis Square, Notting Hill, London,
W11 2AY
The science of fairness, eh? I’m not sure Rachel McKinnon is the person I would consult on the subject of fairness.
Should trans athletes participate in women’s sport? Philosophy professor, activist and world champion cyclist Rachel McKinnon sifts science and ethics from politics and prejudice.
Well now wait a second. McKinnon is a “world champion cyclist” only because he has a large muscular male body and he races against women. He does that and he boasts of being a world champion. That all by itself should be enough to disqualify him for lecturing on fairness.
It’s interesting that they didn’t opt to do it the other way – get a trans man to give a talk on participating in men’s sport. It’s interesting that they phrase the question as “should trans athletes participate in women’s sport?” when the issue isn’t trans athletes in general but male trans athletes. It’s interesting that they veil that fact even though it’s the issue. It’s interesting that they manipulate the issue before they even start.
An issue with profound consequences for society’s ideas of fairness, gender, and equality, the participation of trans women in women’s competitive sports has made regular front page news.
Dr. Rachel McKinnon is at the forefront. As the first openly trans woman to win a world championship in an Olympic sport, she faces constant harassment and abuse on social media, while as an activist and public intellectual, her campaigns, papers, articles and interviews have done much to shift attitudes in the world of international sport and beyond.
But why does McKinnon face all this “harassment and abuse”? Is it because trans? Or is it because male taking women’s places and women’s prizes?
In this talk, Dr. McKinnon will explore the ethics, law and science of fairness in sport, including whether biological restrictions such as testosterone limits violate principles of fairness and equality. Ahead of this autumn’s track racing world championship in Manchester, don’t miss this opportunity to hear from an internationally renowned athlete and scholar on how she is breaking down barriers and helping to overturn prejudice with science.
That is, breaking down barriers to men in women’s sports and helping to overturn the “prejudice” that thinks women’s sports should be for women.
Plus there’s the fact that McKinnon is personally, individually horrible, so horrible that today he is gloating at a feminist woman’s fatal brain cancer.
Given McKinnon’s ability to sift and identify facts and then reason based off them, I think they are the last person who should be discussing science, particularly in a context of ethics and fairness. I mean, gracious, they’re not even a good philosopher.
Who better to talk about “fairness” than someone who’s succeeded in overcoming it? Who better than a thief to talk about security? His thesis was Reasonable Assertions: On Norms of Assertion and Why You Don’t Need to Know What You’re Talking About , so it’s right up his alley.
I wonder if he’ll be taking questions afterwards? Maybe there will be a list at the door so he can bar entry to anyone on his Twitter block list. It would be terrible if this moment were spoiled by ugly facts and awkward questions. I imagine a good contingent of Fair Play for Women will turn up, though I’d have second thoughts if it costs money to attend would want the cheater to get any more reward than he has already.
Who better to talk about chicken coop security than a fox?
Let him speak. I think he’s a great agent for Peak Trans. His shining example does little to help his cause, and the more people who discover the unpleasantness of this asshole, the better. I wouldn’t cry if McKinnon’s sponsors dropped his toxic ass, but I’ll let them come to their own conclusions. The best response is pushback, not deplatforming. I think a display of large banners with Magdalen’s portrait, complete with pithy quotes, or better still, some wall size images projected on the buildings surrounding the venue and its approaches, would be suitably appropriate. Some Berns GIFs with sound would be awesome! https://tenor.com/view/magdalen-berns-truth-bombs-rude-liar-terf-gif-14405000
I’m not arguing for deplatforming, I’m wondering why he was invited in the first place.
It’s shockingly easy to see why being trans works for him: who would be paying the slightest attention to him if he were just some recent hire at a southern college with nothing much to say? But as a hulking Pretend Woman who is willing to get up in public and argue that he is making women’s sport more fair by appropriating it? That’s a whole other thing.
Ooops! I wasn’t suggesting you were arguing for this, but I was thinking out loud it would be better to let him speak, rather than follow the lead of TRAs and respond by trying to prevent that from happening.
Maybr whoever is putting this together is trying to capitalize on his current fame/notoriety before he disappears in a puff of well-earned obscurity. Nobody would care what he has to say about anything if he wasn’t what amounts to a bloke cheating women.
We’re all just thinking out loud here!
Sadly this has now been cancelled owing to embarrassingly low ticket sales.
https://spinster.xyz/@DrLouiseMoody/posts/102711802588909020
I know, isn’t it just tragic?
I shared the tragedy yesterday: http://www.butterfliesandwheels.org/2019/indefinitely-postponed/