When girls are pushed out of sports
The ACLU has fully bought into the dogma.
The title does not inspire confidence:
Banning Trans Girls From School Sports Is Neither Feminist Nor Legal
But nobody is talking about “banning trans girls from school sports.” That’s not the issue.
The first paragraph is no better:
Andraya Yearwood, a junior at Cromwell High School in Connecticut, recently finished second in the 55-meter dash at the state open indoor track championships. But instead of well-deserved accolades from her community, she now finds her achievements being publicly challenged — simply because she is transgender.
No, not simply because she is transgender, and in fact not because she is transgender at all. It’s because she has a male body and is visibly much bigger than the girls with female bodies she raced against.
Next we get a sensible paragraph, about the long history of sex discrimination against female people in athletics. Then we get a lurching non sequitur.
The enactment of Title IX, the federal statute banning sex discrimination in school programs and activities receiving federal funds, was intended to end such discrimination, and it has indeed resulted in a dramatic increase in girls’ participation in sports. But girls — and particularly girls of color — still face stark inequalities in opportunities, funding, and resources.
The marginalization of trans student athletes is rooted in the same harmful history of gender discrimination and stereotyping that has impeded the achievement of gender equality in sports as a whole.
Like hell it is. It’s not the same history at all. That dramatic increase in girls’ participation in sports thanks to Title IX is because girls were able to have their own teams so that they could compete against each other. Allowing trans girls, i.e. girls with male bodies, to play on the girls’ teams takes that away from them.
Old stereotypes regarding athleticism, biology, and gender are being directed at transgender girls, who are frequently told outright that they are not girls (and conversely transgender boys are told they are not really boys). This policing of gender has been used to justify subjecting transgender student athletes to numerous additional barriers to participating in sports, from onerous medical requirements to segregation in locker rooms to outright bans on their participation.
It’s not policing, it’s reality. Bodies are what they are. Female bodies are different from male bodies, and that’s not a “stereotype,” old or otherwise, it’s just factual. The list of male athletic advantages is long; sad but true.
The truth is, transgender women and girls have been competing in sports at all levels for years, and there is no research supporting the claim that they maintain a competitive advantage.
That is a shamefully absurd claim, and the link – to Everyday Feminism! – is worse. Take one look at Hannah Mouncey looming over the women and tell us that again.
When girls are pushed out of sports, they miss out on the community building, leadership skills, and all of the other benefits that being part of a team can offer. This is particularly harmful for transgender students, who face detrimental effects on their physical and emotional wellbeing when they are pushed out of affirming spaces and communities.
I wonder if the authors – Shayna Medley and Galen Sherwin – paused to consider whether girls might be pushed out of sports by the presence of hulking trans girls depriving them of all possibility of winning. I wonder if that worried them for even a second before they plowed ahead with taking real sport away from girls and women.
The disingenuousness is staggering. They’re implying that a girl finished first, when in fact ANOTHER TRANS-IDENTIFIED MALE came in first. Fuck the ACLU.
Well, they do say “she is transgender” in the next sentence. But yeah, they’re doing the “polite” “respectful” pronoun thing which just happens to work as a stealth way to condition everyone to believe the bullshit. The whole thing is indeed staggering.Never mind; I missed the point.
It ain’t illegal, especially with Trump in office. There’s nothing in there that says males have a right to be in women’s sports; they’re free to join the men’s teams without harassment.
Old stereotypes like ‘men are bigger than women’? That’s a mere stereotype, is it? I guess all we need to do is go through our lives saying “I don’t see
raceheight” and the problem is over! Men will stop looming over women, because that is just a figment of our imaginations.#2 OB
From your wording, it seems that you may have misunderstood what was said by Cressida’s #1, which was that the ACLU’s article appears to deliberately omit that both first and second went to trans women. The article only mentions that the second place was trans, as if to suggest that the race was won by non-trans.
If there’s no research supporting the claim that males have a competitive advantage over females, then the ACLU of all organizations oughta know that means there shouldn’t be separate men’s and women’s sports to begin with. We know that’s bullshit, and they sure as hell do too.
And besides, where’s the research supporting the claim that *masculine pronoun preferrers* have a competitive advantage over *feminine pronoun preferrers*, since this of course is the only justification to uphold separate leagues for men and women now that those words have nothing to do with physical differences anymore.
It’s madness.
I’m against trans women competing in women’s sports. It is blatantly unfair. However…
Let’s not kid ourselves — unfortunately it would effectively be a ban at most levels. Trans women aren’t going to want to compete with men. If they can’t compete with women, what’s left? Maybe a very large college could support a separate division for them, but most schools will not be able to.
So that might not be the issue for women, but it is a real issue for trans women.
Skeletor,
If trans activism focussed on educating people about the difference between sex and gender instead of deliberately conflating them, perhaps we could get to a place were trans girls are comfortable enough competing against their fellow males — comfortable enough acknowledging their biological sex and still affirming their “gender identity” social-role preference.
(But of course, if trans activism did that, what might actually happen is those trans girls would realize they don’t need to transition at all in order to live comfortably in their bodies, and god forbid that would happen…)
Well the key thing is that they are free to compete in men’s sports… Gender is covered under anti discrimination laws at the federal level as far as I know, so currently transwomen still enjoy better protections in some respects than gay people.
> The list of male athletic advantages is long; sad but true.
True, yes, but sad??
It’s also important to note that the ACLU let Charlottesville happen… They’re not exactly a wise organization.
I don’t think so. If “school sports” means only competitive sports and school teams, then you could say that. But I think trans advocates’ arguments along those lines are deliberately misleading. They can participate in calisthenics. They can participate in other exercises and in casual games. Very few kids wind up on school teams; most are effectively banned by a lack of strength and skill needful to make the team. That’s not a denial of their rights. Am I missing something here? (Honest question.)
(Anyway, if Yearwood, who is clearly male-bodied, doesn’t want to compete against his fellow males, that is not the result of a ban. It’s a choice. He is male. He doesn’t want to be, but he is. What he wants and the ACLU wants for him is a special privilege, based on his subjective feelings.)
‘Biological stereotypes’! I just…..wow!
Comments on the original linked article are strongly against the ACLU position, with a number saying they are dropping their support or membership because of this article’s stance. I only saw one or two out of 50 comments that were in support of the trans ideological dogma. Very heartening to see. Perhaps a peak trans moment for many who had never thought of the issues before.
I am under the impression that “school sports” in this case refers specifically to competitive sports, generally between schools. Schools often enough have co-ed recreational athletics, and competitive teams in certain sports may well have co-ed practices, but the competitions do not have men/boys competing directly against women/girls. There is nothing to demand otherwise.
It is also my understanding that trans activists want trans women to be accepted without question anywhere as women. There are entirely too many stories where a trans woman got upset at simply being asked, or being “misgendered”, in circumstances where I suspect a woman might simply answer or correct the other person and move on. Being put on the boys’ team or on a separate trans team is unlikely to be acceptable.
Skeletor @6, a ban and choosing not to compete are two very different things. These athletes can still compete in leagues and teams that are available to their physical bodies. If they do not wish to compete in such leagues, but do wish to take part in sport, there most certainly are casual leagues that are open to mixed sex competition (or if not in their area, I bet they could start such). What this amounts to is that there are some trans athletes who want to compete and win, not just play the sport.
It’s interesting that so many on the left are outraged at gaming of college admissions because it displaces otherwise worthy students, but have no such concerns about females being displaced in female only sports competition.
Sackbut,
It is what they’re referring to when trans advocates talk about transboys being “banned,” but I think they deliberately equivocate for propaganda purposes. When, in this should-trans-identified-males-compete-on-girl’s-teams context, you hear “school sports” being spoken of as a “human right”, that makes it sound as if the poor kids will be banned from all P.E. classes and never get any exercise. There is no “human right” to be on any given competitive team; eligibility requirements have to be met, and few kids will wind up making the school team. Not making “the team” can be a source of heartbreak for some kids, but their human rights haven’t been violated.
This particular ACLU appeal doesn’t make that appeal, but I’ve seen it made.
I called the ACLU today to end my membership because of this. I was a $20/month Guardians of Liberty donor. My credit card statements showed a phone number I could call, and I had the same number in my home office files too. The woman who took my call asked for my reason (in a good way, to record my feedback). I said my reason was their blog post yesterday about trans girls in school sports. She asked for the title of the blog post, and I gave it to her, and she found it to write in her records. I said my position was that males could compete with males, so the blog post was untrue, nobody is banned or denied from sports. I said I was upset, but I wasn’t mad, because this issue is bigger than any one person, and I’m just trying to do the right thing. I’ll follow up with an email to them tomorrow.
WELL DONE.
So what is the theory behind the author’s, and their fellow travellers, take on this issue? Are we to believe that trans girl’s “female brains” cancel out the advantages of having a male body? That doesn’t sound progrssive or feminist to me Sounds a bit … misogynist. Have they thought this through at all?
Holms @ 4 – ohhhh. Duh. You’re right, I completely missed her meaning.
Dang, the comments on the ACLU post are a joy to read.
LM,
I agree that such equivocation is rampant, and, upon rereading, I see the ACLU article is a great example of it. Point taken.
I note that the article speaks of leadership and teamwork as if team sports are the only way to get such experiences, and as if trans students are being denied entry to any and all team sports. Sigh.
It’s great to see the tenor of the comments on that article. It gives me hope.
Wow, that is surprising. I’d have thought at least a handful would agree with the ACLU’s “take.” Hm.
Simon, #19, the prevailing orthodoxy is simply that if a male-bodied person declares himself to be a hwrself (typo, but I’ll let it stand), then that person is a woman; a physically, physiologically, psychologically, chemically, biologically, genetically, chromosomally, unarguably, ineveryrespectively, WOMAN.
Reasonable enough, no?
One person did. One whole entire person.
Just checked the comments again. Still at 50. Some of the comments in the 50 that are there make mention of comments against the article having been removed, so the number against was probably more than 49. Even 49:1 is a much higher ratio than I would have expected. Small victories!
That’s the only way to justify the enormous amount of money/time spent on sports, and the culture that insists all students should love and support the sports, even if it is only attending mandatory pep rallies.
The rest of us, those non-sports oriented sad sack losers have no means of developing that. I certainly didn’t encounter any of that in the library club…the drama club…the science club…being the Worthy Advisor for Rainbow (yeah, I know, but I was absolutely required by my family to be a part of that nonsense organization for girls of Masonic families)…the Girl Scouts…my after school job…
If we were totally honest about the ability to learn teamwork and leadership skills in other realms, we might be able to minimize sports back down to the level of any other extracurricular activity.
Posted without irony by PZ this morning. Change the names and a few pronouns and he’d be lampooning the “feelings” of male bodied athletes competing against girls and women, and the “science” used to excuse it. The difference between this and the logic and tactics of trans ideology are tissue paper thin. Wonder if he’ll ever have his own peak trans moment. He seems pretty heavily invested in all this, at least for someone who should know better. Must take a lot of force of will to disregard reality to this degree.
I put this link in the Miscellany Room, but I thought I would put it here, too, in a relevant-ish thread. I came across an interesting article via Dr. FondOfBeetles on Twitter:
Do women exist? – the science of sex, the politics of gender, and the materialist and dialectical thinking needed to distinguish the two
Link: https://convincingreasons.wordpress.com/2018/12/10/do-women-exist-the-science-of-sex-the-politics-of-gender-and-the-materialist-and-dialectical-thinking-needed-to-distinguish-the-two/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
I’m not sure which amazes me more, that I’d be linking to an article steeped in dialectical materialism, or that I’d be following stuff on Twitter…
Well at least you can follow stuff on twitter. I got a permanent lifetime ban, because apparently I’m a bigot, because I told a transactivist, quote, it’s literally impossible to be both a male and a female at the same time. Twitter told me in no uncertain terms that that was such a bigoted statement I am not welcome on their platform literally for the rest of my life, and they’re using high-tech software to make sure I don’t create a new account. Anything associated with my phone number, my email addresses, my IP addresses, and god knows what else, all banned for life. Strange times we live in…
Artmorty, wow.
You should get in touch with Meghan Murphy; as you probably already know, she’s taking them to court for lifetime-banning her.
Comments up to 105, still all castigating the nonsense.
I feel hopeful.
Good idea. I hadn’t thought of contacting Murphy. I’ve been following her situation of course, but it never occurred to me to get in touch. She’d probably get a kick out of my case; the specific tweet that got me banned is so utterly innocuous, and I took care to never ever “misgender” anyone on the platform. (Although I certainly wanted to; it’s just that I was wary of violating their stupid TOS.)
Well, I haven’t gone so far as to open an account, I just click on links (like those posted here) to Twitter threads that look interesting and look them over. Not that interested in actually joining up. I don’t need another electronic time sink.
YNNB, I haven’t ever opened a Twitter account either. I have trouble with ideas that are presented in a few characters; I don’t even like flash fiction! Twitter just seems sort of like bumper stickers to me, but not even as clever. Though…there are some people who manage to do a lot on Twitter, but then, I can probably find them in another forum that suits me better.
That way at least I don’t have to worry about getting lifetime banned (or is that an honor? I’m not sure these days).
Skeletor #6
The key word there is want: trans women might not want to compete against men, but the fact remains that it is blatantly unfair for them to do otherwise. And since when does anyone have the supposed ‘right’ to choose our opponent?
Lady Mondegreen said:
” I think trans advocates’ arguments along those lines are deliberately misleading. They can participate in calisthenics. They can participate in other exercises and in casual games. Very few kids wind up on school teams; most are effectively banned by a lack of strength and skill needful to make the team. That’s not a denial of their rights.”
I take issue even with “trans girls” participating in regular gym class “sports” — like calisthenics, other exercises, and intramural or non-competitive sports and games — as members of the GIRLS’ class. Their physical danger to their female classmates remains. I am also influenced by an article I had read (not sure if I could find it now), about the trials and tribulations of the poor “trans girl” in the girls’ locker room. He made sure he changed clothes and showered behind visual barriers, like curtains or closed stalls, while having every opportunity to ogle at and spy on the actual girls, who had no such privacy from him. “Trans girls” can stay in the BOYS’ locker room, where they belong, and do their calisthenics and exercises and casual activities with the boys, not the girls. If they REALLY want to make it okay for boys to wear gender-nonconforming clothes, then go ahead and express yourself to your heart’s content, as a boy. Quit making girls and women do ALL the accommodation work for gender-non-compliant males.
When Americans FEAR saying the obvious, because it could ruin their future, exclude them from schools, sports, work, expose them to frenzied campaigns of vilification and ostracism by ruthless, soulless ideological forces, when THIS is the prevailing social climate (or imperious, domineering pretender TO “Social Climate”), then we find ourselves appallingly, creepily, in a place not unlike Germany in, say, 1932. I need not elaborate, I’m sure.
The little boy cried, “But the emperor has no clothes on!”, and finally the grown-ups admitted what was perfectly obvious all along. I don’t think it would end so well for the little boy in a world like ours, where the grown-ups shriek in lockstep chorus, “But OUR truth is, he has clothes on! Away with the hater!” It’s a big risk, little boy. Ya gotta be brave.
These girls in Connecticut are brave. They are running races against BOYS who call themselves girls. So the girls are losing the races, of course. Just two-and-a-half minutes ago on the socio-historical timeline even the “mindless mob” would, in a rare moment of lucidity and common sense, have said “Well, that’s just stupid! Boys can’t call themselves girls and sweep the gold in girls’ sports!” (These girls, to their credit, are even trying to be polite about the transgender “girls’” self-identification, but we all know what it comes down to.)
Today the mob is browbeaten and cowed, trembling in fear. The whole world, seemingly, can be camped out at your front door in five minutes, hounding and savaging you for…something you said, to assure that neither you nor anybody else ever dare say it again….
“Yeah, he’s Jewish. So what? He’s my oldest friend!”
Your services as professor are no longer required at this university.
“But why are BOYS allowed to run against us? That’s not fair!”
Your application to this university has been turned down.
It is going to take courage and tenacity to stand up to and defeat this madness.
Once upon a time it took courage for somebody to stand up and say, “Ya know, maybe we’re making a mistake with all these lobotomies….” I need not elaborate, I’m sure.