Where they could thrive
Now for the article itself.
For Amelia Short, Jamie Hughes, Alice*, and Anaya Bangar, women’s cricket promised to be a place where they could thrive as their true selves.
Or to put it another way, women’s cricket promised to be a place where they could give themselves an unfair advantage by pretending to be women.
That was before the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) extended the ban on transgender women and girls from the top two tiers of women’s domestic cricket to the third tier and recreational level last Friday.
Though the ECB acknowledged the “significant impact” of the decision and said it would work with recreational cricket boards to support those affected, it has contacted none of these players.
Oh yes? Did any of these players contact the women they displaced? Or the women they cheated?
Open and mixed cricket remains available, but that provides little comfort.
Short is a 20-year-old trans woman who has loved cricket since she was nine, as well as scoring and coaching more recently.
This season, one year into hormone replacement therapy (HRT), she joined Lindow Cricket Club and has relished training and matches with the women’s first XI.
Of course he has. Cheating is fun when it’s encouraged by newspapers and the government and all the rest of the trans fan club.
“Cricket was escapism. It allowed me to relax and not worry about the real world and have fun, enjoy myself, and socialise with others. That has been taken away,” she tells The i Paper.
“It has affected me quite heavily mentally to the point that I don’t want to be involved with cricket at all. I’m very close to turning my back. I contemplated selling my equipment, moving on, and not picking up any other sport.
“Most sports are not an environment trans people want to be in. Open cricket is predominantly men and is not the nicest place for women to play cricket. It involves prejudice.”
Hey you know what else is not the nicest place for women to play cricket? Teams that are inclooosive of men who claim to be trans women.
Well, he’s got the escape from reality part down.
But these guys never think about the intrusion of males into female spaces. That’s them. That’s what they’re doing. The adoption of stereotypical female mannerisms and dress, even girlish and infantilized ones, is smokescreen and camouflage, intended to fool and deceive. To lull into acceptance and acquiescence. To maintain the pretense that their womanface means they belong their by right, that they are not intruders, but eligible participants.
But all the rainbow laces and head tilting do not guarantee that the so-laced head-tilter is safe to be around. He remains male, after all. The same deceptive behaviour and dress is used to by these men to paint themselves as victims (rather than invaders), if women resist their intrusion. But this disguise is only rouge deep; we’ve seen how quickly the entitled male shows up upon being told “No”. Then they’re not “ladylike” at all. They’re prepared to stay until they are dragged off the field or pitch, or pulled out of the pool.
‘Open and mixed cricket remains available, but that provides little comfort.’ If they love playing cricket so much how is this not acceptable? Wtf even does ‘provides little comfort’ mean in this context?
Well, that’s gender dysphoria for you, a mental illness that will be a drag on your life. Sure, sport is well known to help with mental health issues, so why not pick a sport and a team where your mental health issues won’t be compounded? There are plenty of those.
But also, congratulations on noticing that men’s spaces are often a very threatening environment for women and girls, so how about you hop back into your lane and take a stand against male bullying?
Well said.
I wondered this too. I figured it meant that winning wasn’t as easy, or that being amongst other men didn’t satisfy the needs of his fetish, or some combination of the two. If he feels uncomfortable, that’s something that it’s up to men to deal with. If he’s not interested enough in doing the work of getting other men to accept his “presentation”, he shouldn’t be forcing to accomodate his expectation of sanctuary and asylum in their spaces, which, thanks to him, are no longer their own male-free areas. It works both ways. Or at least it should.
“Cricket was escapism.”
Jeez, has he tried anime. I hear it’s quite popular among a certain demographic.