“The only way I can describe this is that it’s like grief. It’s like something has been ripped away.”

It's like I'm not woman enough' - well that's probably because you're not a woman, you're a man. Doh!

Ah but that's just female grief. It's not as good, as real, as important, as high-priority as male grief. In fact you shouldn't really mention it at all in case it hurts any male feelings.

Curtiss plays for Hove RFC. It's a decent club. A lot of young women play for Hove, many of who are young, studying at the local Unis. Not many are over 40. Let alone over 50.

Sadly the club has been totally captured by gender identity woo. See their post below about the RFU rule change. I wonder how much is pandering to Curtiss? Not all of it I think - the Women's team is full of lovely, kind, well meaning women, fully immersed in the Brighton bubble and thinking they are doing the right thing, so not taking this stance under over duress.

What is infuriating is that in addition to the Men's team, there is also the Sea Serpents team for Gay and Bi men at Hove (good for them for organising themselves if they see a need for separate team). But Women (and lesbians) don't get to keep their team male-free.

While the Women's team are transwomen-inclusive officially, not everyone on the ground agrees. But how can individuals stand up against this pressure when the club and prevailing culture is so rigid?

As that Molecular Geneticist at Berkeley said recently "'Women have internalized misogyny to the point where the man's comfort takes precedence over the woman's safety'.

😄😄😄

Camille Paglia once described someone as ' an imploding beanbag of poisonous self pity '.

God, yes. And that's exactly what all the telegraph readers are seeing. Despite anything in the article suggesting otherwise.

“Most of this is about the people who come behind me. There are trans kids who have been banned from playing. What does that say about their place in this sport?”

So, young men who want to play in teams of women their own age.
It says "No, thank you."

Camille Paglia once described someone as ' an imploding beanbag of poisonous self pity '.

This phrase sprang into my mind as I was reading the tragic tale of Fitzgerald...

Ha ha that must be why I could not find it on FB!

Pretty much

‘Something has been ripped away”

don’t tempt me…..🥴😳✂️

Everyone channelling their inner Magdalen Berns. ❤️

😍

Yes, it is interesting that the comments seem to have upped the ante somewhat. There's a lot less nuance and treading carefully whilst wanting to protect women's rights, and a lot more just fuck off, you wanker.

Everyone channelling their inner Magdalen Berns. ❤️

Usually I find the comments on FB from INnependent readers incredibly Right On, so it's interesting and maybe telling that they are not on board with this.

😍

"The only way I can describe this is that it's like grief a narcissistic tantrum. It's like something has been ripped away I stole has been returned to its rightful owners."

There, fixed it for you.

😁You're very welcome.

'The phone rang. It was a member from her rugby club who wanted to check in on her. “My wife, Anne, picked it up. I couldn’t take the call. It was the second worst day of my life,” she reflects.' So many supportive women in Alix's life.

I wonder what the monitors see when they read threads like this?

Does it shake their confidence at all?

Me too, all you said and more, entitled wankers!

I am in awe of your internet talents. In awe I say!

Can you guess I've just read the article using your very handy tip!

Thank you for posting x

These males really have no self awareness at all.

Males in the 50s both and complaining about how they are weaker than the women they play with and against.... but simply cannot understand that the comparator is that they are unfairly advantaged because they should be comparing themselves against females their own age. Of which there are none.

If I was an actuarial Department Head for those Clubs I would be looking at the risk weighting and payout liability for someone who likely has anaemia and the associated risks of dizzy spells, fainting etc plus the likleyhood that the anaemia is as a result of poor bone health due to the side effects of a medication being used off lable.

Big Pharma pays way more insurance fees than Rugby Clubs so I know which client I would seek to retain long term.

Some language reorganisation to recognise the editorial change in reporting language and content influences the readers perceptions :

... a former semi-professional player at the [ men’s ] male side Randburg Diggers in South Africa, Curtiss... as trans in 2016,...... only after Covid restrictions were lifted that she decided to return to rugby... joined Seaford RFC.... one particularly unsavoury experience stood out.

“One of the male coaches couldn’t get his head around the fact that I wasn’t as strong as I appeared to be,” she says. “He thought, ‘Oh this is going to be great, because I can have a trans [ female ] and male player and they’re [ single, sex known = male = he is ] going to boulder their [ single, sex known = male = his ] way through the female opposition.’ He kept going at me, ‘Why can’t you just run through these [ people ] female players ?’ I just wasn’t at that level , (early 50's and starting playing after a long break (pre2016? - 2021)), where I was significantly stronger than [ anyone else ] the (mainly younger) female players.”

I remember reading a 40 something year old man on twitter about this recently.

Yes, he said, he could keep up enough to start with, on the first game. By about week 3 he was tired and not bouncing back, and then the injuries started. And he didn't bounce back from minor injuries. By about week 7, he was off for the rest of the season with a major injury.

The next season was even shorter for him.

This was a fit 40 something that had been playing regularly up to then but finding it harder each season.