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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Forbes mag article on trans in sports

41 replies

adultingforever · 05/02/2024 13:43

I cannot find another post on here about this one, so here goes! https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanmshaw/2024/02/04/transgender-swimmer-lia-thomas-body-is-not-the-problem. I have never seen this viewpoint before and I certainly do not agree with it. I remember when there was not a separation between mens and womens sports. How can anyone be thinking this way now??? We keep going backward!

Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas’ Body Is Not The Problem

Swimmer Lia Thomas has sued swimming’s governing body for discrimination because it has barred her from competing as a trans woman in elite women’s swimming events.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanmshaw/2024/02/04/transgender-swimmer-lia-thomas-body-is-not-the-problem

OP posts:
Delphinium20 · 05/02/2024 16:55

fedupandstuck · 05/02/2024 13:59

The highlighted paragraph just shows how steeped in sex based stereotypes the author is, if she really thinks that women who don't conform to expected beauty standards look like men.

BINGO!

ZeldaFighter · 05/02/2024 16:48

I do think the idea that "sport is used to prove men are better" has merit. I'd never thought before that sports deliberately highlight skills that men excel in - ie explosive power or physical strength as opposed to delicate skill or long term endurance.

What made me laugh was "there is no evidence". We have all of Lia Thomas' swimming data pre-transition. Was Lia no 1 then? What were Lia's times? What are the times now?

I also love that women doing the same thing - running, swimming, jumping- are clearly just not bothering to do as well as the men 🙄🙄🙄

SinnerBoy · 05/02/2024 16:25

People with little knowledge of the subject will read it and believe it to be true. Aren't they subject to any standards of integrity, or honest journalism?

Fenlandia · 05/02/2024 15:56

LenaLamont · 05/02/2024 13:56

It's the Michael Phelps argument - "different bodies have different advantages" nonsense to obscure the fact that male puberty gives some masive strength, speed and reach advantages. That doesn't even touch the disadvantages women's bodies have during menstruation, pregnancy and postpartum.

I would also like to call out this absolute bullshit:

Think about it for a minute. If women cut their hair the same way as men, wore “men’s” clothes, and didn’t shave their legs and underarms, wear makeup, or pluck their eyebrows, they wouldn’t look nearly as different from men as they do.

I don't do any of those things and I look like what I am, a woman.
Even if I dressed "as a man" in every regard and wore a fake beard, as soon as I walked it would be obvious I'm female because my skeleton structure means my gait is different from that of someone with a male skeleton.

How do such stupid people manage to put their shoes on in the morning? Does this writer honestly think that a woman who isn't performing femininity and adherence to beauty standards becomes indistinguishable from a man? How insulting to all of us.

Tallisker · 05/02/2024 15:26

What a load of absolute bollocks.

CuriousAlien · 05/02/2024 15:18

That made me laugh.

So we don't have evidence to say that men have a biological advantage over women but we have also designed sports that men are magically better at.

Also calling for more sports like mixed doubles in tennis. But how do we know how to mix the teams? I think the bodies of the people involved might have something to do with it.

MrsOvertonsWindow · 05/02/2024 14:58

That article's gibberish. Just goes to show how unthinking adherence to this ideology makes people look like fools.

bebanjo · 05/02/2024 14:55

You got to wonder how prehistoric humans could tell men from women .

Artesia · 05/02/2024 14:54

Yep- she's got a point. If it weren't for the different swimsuits I'd definitely not be able to tell which of these were born male...

Forbes mag article on trans in sports
PriOn1 · 05/02/2024 14:51

First time I’ve heard it proposed that men and women are physically the same and everyone’s just pretending they’re different through making different sports (and haircuts). Pretending men’s and women’s sports where both sexes compete (albeit separately) barely exist is quite the take! Passing over running and shot putting to mention bowling as an example where both sexes compete is fabulous.

Who is this mastermind of sporting knowledge?

nauticant · 05/02/2024 14:31

The article certainly attracted a lot of disbelief interest on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/feministgadfly/status/1754225718748426254

GreatBot · 05/02/2024 14:28

Agree this is nonsensical. We see short-haired women with no makeup and trousers every day of the week and we know they’re women.

Regardless of appearance, the difference in sporting performance is clear even for men and women of similar size. I train in jiu jitsu and a man my size can throw me across the room. The difference is enormous. Doesn’t matter that we’re both wearing the same uniform and both have short hair!

Zaranj · 05/02/2024 14:04

How did this get past an editor? It is denial of science. “Right now, we’re mostly working out of our deeply-held and rather largely unexamined assumptions about biology and gender.”

fedupandstuck · 05/02/2024 13:59

The highlighted paragraph just shows how steeped in sex based stereotypes the author is, if she really thinks that women who don't conform to expected beauty standards look like men.

LenaLamont · 05/02/2024 13:56

It's the Michael Phelps argument - "different bodies have different advantages" nonsense to obscure the fact that male puberty gives some masive strength, speed and reach advantages. That doesn't even touch the disadvantages women's bodies have during menstruation, pregnancy and postpartum.

I would also like to call out this absolute bullshit:

Think about it for a minute. If women cut their hair the same way as men, wore “men’s” clothes, and didn’t shave their legs and underarms, wear makeup, or pluck their eyebrows, they wouldn’t look nearly as different from men as they do.

I don't do any of those things and I look like what I am, a woman.
Even if I dressed "as a man" in every regard and wore a fake beard, as soon as I walked it would be obvious I'm female because my skeleton structure means my gait is different from that of someone with a male skeleton.

fedupandstuck · 05/02/2024 13:52

It's an idiotic article. Full of factual errors and assumptions stated as fact.