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Original poster

Transwomen in Professional Darts

64 replies

Heliotroper · 15/07/2023 08:30

Van Leuven knows that not everybody appreciates her “big glow-up”, as she puts it. Or the fact that she will be the first trans woman to play in a televised Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) tournament. Nevertheless, she wants to speak. “Because,” she says, “now I have the opportunity to tell my story. And not let other people tell it.”

The rules as they now stand are unequivocal: trans women are eligible to play in women’s tournaments as long as their passports say they are female, they have been in hormone replacement therapy for over 12 months and their testosterone level is below a certain mark. This is, of course, exactly as it should be. Physical strength, body development, player safety: none of these are remotely an issue in a game where all you really need is a functioning arm and decent eyesight.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jul/14/noa-lynn-van-leuven-darts-interview

https://dartsnews.com/pdc/interview-noa-lynn-van-leuven-becomes-first-trans-woman-at-televised-tournament-at-pdc-its-hard-to-do-top-sport-in-such-a-position

Noa-Lynn van Leuven: ‘I think darts is helping me to be the best of myself’

Dutch darts player will become first trans woman to play in a televised PDC tournament after a long road back to the sport she loves

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jul/14/noa-lynn-van-leuven-darts-interview

OP posts:
heckmuffin · 15/07/2023 09:05

Apparently, keeping trans women out of women's sport is incredibly misogynistic, because it suggests that men are stronger than women. And if you cite any differences in muscle mass, biomechanics, reach etc, you just hate women. This is an argument I've seen a lot recently, from my acquaintances in sport.

If that's the case, surely we shouldn't segregate by sex at all?

But then, how would these blokes get to feel validated?

NicCageisnotNickCave · 15/07/2023 09:04

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 15/07/2023 09:02

Don't men and women stand different distances from the board? Which would imply there's more to it than 'anyone can chuck a pointy thing'.

Not at major competition level, apparently!

Transwomen in Professional Darts
Wanderingowl · 15/07/2023 09:04

MrsOvertonsWindow · 15/07/2023 08:46

It's evident that darts has single sex competitions but why? Presumably women can be as good as men so why is the sport not mixed sex in the first place?

They can't. Men have significantly better hand to eye coordination and throwing accuracy at elite level.

JacquelinePot · 15/07/2023 09:03

So why is there a separate women's tournament at all? Because men's and women's bodies are different? Because men, on average, are taller and therefore have greater wingspan than women? Because men have more upper body strength?

Does testosterone suppression and a lie on your passport make a man suddenly give men the same wingspan and strenth as a woman? Does it make him a woman? Does it fuck! I wish they would all just fottfsof!

topnoddy · 15/07/2023 09:02

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 15/07/2023 09:02

Don't men and women stand different distances from the board? Which would imply there's more to it than 'anyone can chuck a pointy thing'.

No

topnoddy · 15/07/2023 09:02

Wonder what the reaction of a drunken chanting crowd will be ?

They may even start quoting a song or two

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 15/07/2023 09:02

Don't men and women stand different distances from the board? Which would imply there's more to it than 'anyone can chuck a pointy thing'.

SidewaysOtter · 15/07/2023 08:56

I thought darts was mixed sex but it just goes to show that even when it’s not, certain people have to muscle in for their validations anyway.

Bugger off back to the men’s, mate. Whatever the ins and outs of physical advantages, you’re still taking up a space that was meant for a woman.

NicCageisnotNickCave · 15/07/2023 08:50

I vaguely recall (probably from a
sports podcast!) that there is a bunch of massively sexually dimorphic traits that impact anything throwing related - doubt that any of the blokes who run international darts give a shit though!

This might be the study I remember being discussed but I don’t have the brain power to read it properly this morning (need caffeine and reading spectacles first!)

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00231/full

Gender Differences in Throwing Revisited: Sensorimotor Coordination in a Virtual Ball Aiming Task

Numerous studies have demonstrated that boys throw balls faster, farther and more accurately than girls. This may be largely due to well-known anatomical and muscle-physiological differences that play a central role in overarm throwing. With the object...

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00231/full

ZeldaFighter · 15/07/2023 08:47

I thought Victoria Monaghan was the first ?

MrsOvertonsWindow · 15/07/2023 08:46

It's evident that darts has single sex competitions but why? Presumably women can be as good as men so why is the sport not mixed sex in the first place?

Original poster
Heliotroper · 15/07/2023 08:43

And the rules may be unequivocal but who wrote them? Any women involved? Were women in the game canvassed for their opinions?

OP posts:
Original poster
Heliotroper · 15/07/2023 08:35

"The beauty of darts lies in its openness. The players arriving in Blackpool for the World Matchplay – 32 in the main event and the eight who will compete for the women’s trophy next Sunday – have come from all over the world in pursuit of ambition, glory, a career-defining cheque. But they all share a single origin story. You don’t need a set of clubs or a mountain of expensive kit. You don’t need to find a team who will take you on. All you need is three darts. In the purest sense, this is a sport for everyone."

Ok, now go to any pub in the country and look who dominates the darts board

OP posts:
DustyLee123 · 15/07/2023 08:34

We can’t have anything 🤷🏼‍♀️