“If somebody is presenting to us a scientifically solid system how to identify men and women, we’re the first ones to do it.” This stunningly disingenuous statement was made by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach at a press conference where he vigorously defended two boxers who were found to have XY chromosomes, fighting in the female category.
Thank you Sarah for another wonderful column. I am delighted to share that I am one of the 32 authors of Fair and Safe Eligibility Criteria For Women’s Sport. It is open access, so anyone can obtain it on the internet. It is a critical document -- at it represents the sports medicine/sports science academic community and out position that males and DSD athletes with male advantage must not be permitted in the women's category in sports.
"The editorial ends with a rebuttal to the argument used by advocates of inclusion of men who identify as women that any sort of protection of the boundaries of the female category amounts to 'policing of women’s bodies.' "
This may be the most infuriating statement in the entire piece.
The men who demand entry into women's-only sports and their allies have colossal nerve on an unprecedented scale to reframe a reasonable and effective method of detecting and excluding THEM from women's sports and of protecting women's sports from THEM as the wrongful "policing women's bodies." What do they know about women's bodies?
That this specious argument ever saw the light of day and wasn't drowned in the bath tub proves that governing bodies were either stupid or complicit in opening women's sports to pseudo women. It also further reveals transsexual interlopers' contempt for real women athletes, who were doubtless aware of this argument when it was made. There's no moral difference between this outrage and the humiliating spectacle of a dripping Mr. Will "Lia" Thomas standing in the winner's spot next to the women who came in second and third. Both are unforgivably in-your-face.
In addition to a zero tolerance policy toward the participation of men in exclusively female sports, an immediate and loud public backlash needs to greet every sleazy, disingenuous, double-talking, and/or patently offensive argument that female wannabees and their allies make in furtherance of their assault on women's sports. That would be any and all such arguments, by the way.
I'd be willing to bet that if they'd thought those two athletes actually *were* female, they wouldn't have defended their assertion of their gender so vigorously.
Thanks Sarah, another great article. Yes, the cheek swab…it’s amazing Thomas Bach had never heard of it! I was glad to hear he won’t be seeking another term; his replacement couldn’t be worse, could they?!
World Athletics president Seb Coe, who has protected the female category in elite track and field (it should be at all levels), has hinted he would run for Bach's position. Which would seem a positive step. On the other hand, Caster Semenya said in an interview he would consider running for IOC presidency, which I think would be the nail in the coffin of the Olympic Games--a complete mockery
Why is there only a need to test in women's sports, and not in men's? Why do we have womens' sports, anyway? Such mysteries, will we ever solve them....
I've never been one to believe that it's the potential of male violence or sexual assault that justifies keeping men out of women's spaces. No, men don't belong in women's-only spaces because they're not women and can never become women. No further justification should be required.
Likewise, it is not necessary to establish that any given biological woman has a competitive advantage over men to justify excluding her from men's-only competitive athletic events.
It's simple. She is not a man. She lacks a man's body, a man's lived experience in that body, a history of going through life as a biological man - in short, everything that makes a man a man. A trans man is a woman.
The world is under no obligation to cater to all the fantasies trans men may harbor. If a woman who claims to be a man wants to play with the lads, then she's free to join a recreational club. Men-only sports is not another glass ceiling to be broken, above all when the individual question has the audacity to claim to be a man.
And then, depending on the sport, there's the potential physical danger she'd face from the real men on the team because of men's added strength and body mass. It's a matter of sports physics. Collisions happen.
I think you have started an avalanche: Someone took your cheek swab meme and ran with it brilliantly. Another case where testing might be useful captures the moment in time when women became third class citizens and the political reason for it.
Thank you Sarah for another wonderful column. I am delighted to share that I am one of the 32 authors of Fair and Safe Eligibility Criteria For Women’s Sport. It is open access, so anyone can obtain it on the internet. It is a critical document -- at it represents the sports medicine/sports science academic community and out position that males and DSD athletes with male advantage must not be permitted in the women's category in sports.
Cheek Swab.
So simple yet completely avoided by those who don’t want facts and science to support fair sport for females.
"The editorial ends with a rebuttal to the argument used by advocates of inclusion of men who identify as women that any sort of protection of the boundaries of the female category amounts to 'policing of women’s bodies.' "
This may be the most infuriating statement in the entire piece.
The men who demand entry into women's-only sports and their allies have colossal nerve on an unprecedented scale to reframe a reasonable and effective method of detecting and excluding THEM from women's sports and of protecting women's sports from THEM as the wrongful "policing women's bodies." What do they know about women's bodies?
That this specious argument ever saw the light of day and wasn't drowned in the bath tub proves that governing bodies were either stupid or complicit in opening women's sports to pseudo women. It also further reveals transsexual interlopers' contempt for real women athletes, who were doubtless aware of this argument when it was made. There's no moral difference between this outrage and the humiliating spectacle of a dripping Mr. Will "Lia" Thomas standing in the winner's spot next to the women who came in second and third. Both are unforgivably in-your-face.
In addition to a zero tolerance policy toward the participation of men in exclusively female sports, an immediate and loud public backlash needs to greet every sleazy, disingenuous, double-talking, and/or patently offensive argument that female wannabees and their allies make in furtherance of their assault on women's sports. That would be any and all such arguments, by the way.
I'd be willing to bet that if they'd thought those two athletes actually *were* female, they wouldn't have defended their assertion of their gender so vigorously.
Thanks Sarah, another great article. Yes, the cheek swab…it’s amazing Thomas Bach had never heard of it! I was glad to hear he won’t be seeking another term; his replacement couldn’t be worse, could they?!
World Athletics president Seb Coe, who has protected the female category in elite track and field (it should be at all levels), has hinted he would run for Bach's position. Which would seem a positive step. On the other hand, Caster Semenya said in an interview he would consider running for IOC presidency, which I think would be the nail in the coffin of the Olympic Games--a complete mockery
Why is there only a need to test in women's sports, and not in men's? Why do we have womens' sports, anyway? Such mysteries, will we ever solve them....
A woman who thinks she’s a man is fine competing in men’s sports. She has no conceivable advantage.
These DSDs keep showing up in women’s sports because they have male strength and thus a big advantage.
As a man, I have to disagree.
I've never been one to believe that it's the potential of male violence or sexual assault that justifies keeping men out of women's spaces. No, men don't belong in women's-only spaces because they're not women and can never become women. No further justification should be required.
Likewise, it is not necessary to establish that any given biological woman has a competitive advantage over men to justify excluding her from men's-only competitive athletic events.
It's simple. She is not a man. She lacks a man's body, a man's lived experience in that body, a history of going through life as a biological man - in short, everything that makes a man a man. A trans man is a woman.
The world is under no obligation to cater to all the fantasies trans men may harbor. If a woman who claims to be a man wants to play with the lads, then she's free to join a recreational club. Men-only sports is not another glass ceiling to be broken, above all when the individual question has the audacity to claim to be a man.
And then, depending on the sport, there's the potential physical danger she'd face from the real men on the team because of men's added strength and body mass. It's a matter of sports physics. Collisions happen.
Hi Sarah.
I think you have started an avalanche: Someone took your cheek swab meme and ran with it brilliantly. Another case where testing might be useful captures the moment in time when women became third class citizens and the political reason for it.
https://open.substack.com/pub/deepshit/p/get-this-guy-a-cheek-swab-test-and?r=38fx8d&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true