Simone Biles attacks Riley Gaines

I think that the NY Times is trying to sit on the fence somewhat. Perhaps, they are trying to appeal to both sides. It is like the recent series 'The Protocol' . That almost 'got it' but it still supported the Dutch Protocol because it didn't look further enough into the issue. It wanted to reject the modern US version while still remaining true to the Dutch Protocol, despite the reworked statistics pointing to a very different conclusion.

It is all about appearing to be 'moderate' when there really is no moderate solution.

Do they not feel embarrassed at how ridiculous they sound? Saying Gaines' position was 'fringe' until recently... In the progressive wing of the Dems maybe, but nowhere else...

It undermines any political analysis of the issue by the NY Times.

I don't think Trump spends any time thinking about women's rights, but this was such an easily understandable visual demonstration of 'they are lying to us'.

The fact that reputable publications are still willing to tell bare-faced lies shows there’s a long way to go yet before we date mention the Emperor’s new clothes - ie/that trans identifying men largely look exactly like what they are: men.

Saying all of the swimmers were indistinguishable and "In college, when word began to spread in swimming circles that Ms. Thomas was transgender", is perhaps arse covering? Retconing to excuse why journalists weren't talking about it early? How could they have known there was something different about him.

I agree that the piece wasnt as bad as it could be. There is acknowledgement that people dont want men in womens sports, and that throws up the dilemma- TW are women, but not woman enough for sport.

It comes across as on balance Gaines is correct, but is the wrong person saying it the wrong way.

Yes, that quote has been derided on social media. Do these journalists really believe what they are writing? !

Obligatory head tilt from number 2 there 🤣

Good Lord...says it all doesn't it...

Thomas is a well-built man - is the journalist afraid of being beaten up??

Indistinguishable

The New York Times has an article on Riley

https://archive.ph/GsLeg

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/us/riley-gaines-trans-athletes.html

The journalist could be worse but her partisanship is obvious. The first paragraph about the race where Riley tied for fifth with that bloke...whatsisname...Liar? is laughable

With caps covering their hair, goggles over their eyes, and sleek suits down to their knees, the eight swimmers on the pool deck looked indistinguishable from one another.

Indistinguishable? Except one was well over 6ft tall and a man.

I think my larger point is that this trad wife movement is not just something that has emerged from the right of politics and society. It is a circulating theme in contemporary society, more generally, but which has found more ease of expression on the religious right.

It's like clothing fashion.......Fashion picks up on symbols emerging from the collective and gives shape to them. I recall a few years ago there was a fashion for what i would call 'Little House on the Prairie' dresses. They were long and floral with frilly bits here and there...very 1950s Americana and very 'feminine' Women of all backgrounds seemed to be wearing them. They may just be fashion items, but in taking them up and/or wearing them enables people to express different aspects of themselves, and try on different roles.

Is it? Not seen that film, but reading the Wiki synopsis it does mention a model village.

Several right-wing podcasters I've listened to have commented that Republican defence of women's sports seems a lot more about supporting biological sex definition rather than caring much about women's sports otherwise

Having clear biological sex boundaries prevents the possibility of people accidentally appearing gay which is something that US conservatives want to avoid judging by social media.

I agree.

To be clear, I completely support women who want to be SAHMs. Full-time childrearing is still denigrate as stupid etc by men & women all too often. SAHMs obvs can also contribute via voluntary work.

In US especially there's an understandable reaction in both genders to the millennial hustle culture, & people are thinking more about a slower way of life doing things they genuinely value, rather than just do for money.

I'm ambitious for my career but I know myself that I'd like to stay at home for the preschool years.

What I dislike are the tradwife influencers who talk about submitting/obeying their husband, denigrate women who want to work, and are just downright kooky sometimes (paleo diet etc). Plus I disagree full stop w monetising your kids' lives online, tho that's obvs not unique to tradwives.

Isn't that the plot to 'Hot Fuzz'?

Yes, i know....but she's happy to ride the wave. A lot of 'self love', 'Healing'/Wellness' stuff feeds into wholesome home-maker narratives too

Megan's hardly a "homemaker' 😂 she's selling a vision of a life whereas she irl has chefs etc. Just like a lot of 'tradwives' are in reality influencers who monetise their life rather than simply doing domestic tasks. There's more than a few who were onlyfans content creators & then pivoted to tradwife stuff(often done in a sexy way). There's nothing traditional about making money from showing your life (and often unconsenting children) to the world via Insta.

Tbf I agree w one right wing US (& UK) critics of women's sport on one thing : it's hypocritical to criticise men for not watching WNBA, tennis etc & call for higher pay when they don't watch it enough themselves.

It seems as if self identified progressives are also embracing some of that 'trad wife' stuff. Look at Meghan Markle's recent re-invention of herself as a wholesome homemaker.

Personally i suspect this movement is rooted in a realisation that full throttle feminism has not really delivered the liberation or contentment that it was supposed to.

Several right-wing podcasters I've listened to have commented that Republican defence of women's sports seems a lot more about supporting biological sex definition rather than caring much about women's sports otherwise, & I think that's definitely somewhat true. Few, including Trump, advocate for funding or support for women's sports otherwise, and as I've said, many mock them (OK leftists mock them too, but it's more prevalent on the right)

Obvs the tip issue rn is defining what woman is (!) and it's enough that at least some people have seen the light, that should be the main focus obvs

I did read a weird Substack once by a conservative Christian ex-counsellor, which mixed sensible suggestions w out-there fantasies about the US being divided into tiny self-governing towns so no-one would argue )tbh it didn't seem to be a fantasy to him, he'd written a book seriously arguing for this form of government)

One wish for his kind of town was for no woman to do professional sports after high school age. A lot of people were commenting to agree, but tbf you get a lot of weird views on Substack, and most conservatives & Christians wouldn't agree w that.

I did read a weird Substack once by a conservative Christian ex-counsellor, which mixed sensible suggestions w out-there fantasies about the US being divided into tiny self-governing towns so no-one would argue )tbh it didn't seem to be a fantasy to him, he'd written a book seriously arguing for this form of government)

One wish for his kind of town was for no woman to do professional sports after high school age. A lot of people were commenting to agree, but tbf you get a lot of weird views on Substack, and most conservatives & Christians wouldn't agree w that.

I wouldn't really consider Musk or any of those big tech business guys conservative.

However, I do think there is a sense in which the US is traditionally a capitalist, pro-business, pro-freedom nation, and as such, commitment to those things can be seen as "conservative". It's conservative within the American political tradition - there was never really anything like a land based aristocracy at the top of a pyramid of separate, but symbiotic, social classes, mainly deriving their wealth from, and rooting their identity in, land. (Or, there was a little bit in the South, but then they were Democrats...)

How is transhumanism socially conservative? I'm not sure if he's economically conservative either.

This is an interesting read, about how some people regard embryos in the US https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-arguments-that-embryos-are-people-pose-a-threat-to-ivf/