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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think these men are really just taking the piss out of women?

71 replies

Toorahtoorahaye · 09/05/2019 09:22

or is it more sinister than that. Is this just a hatred of women/of females.

www.pinknews.co.uk/2019/05/08/powerlifter-mary-gregory-world-records-disqualified-trans/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Buffer&utm_campaign=PN

To think these men are really just taking the piss out of women?
OP posts:
OP posts:
Prawnofthepatriarchy · 09/05/2019 09:34

It's hatred - or contempt. I don't know which is worse.

But at least in this case the cheat's medals, and records, were taken away. Most sports are allowing men who identify as women to compete - and they always win. DB1, who's very involved in a certain sport, says women's sports will be wiped on in a generation.

In the USA, where sports success can win you a college scholarship, transgender males are stealing medals from girls by competing in girls events.

So three cheers for the Powerlifting guys for standing up for women.

Prawnofthepatriarchy · 09/05/2019 09:35

wiped out in a generation

JAPAB · 09/05/2019 09:42

Yes you are unreasonable to assume such motives (as opposed to just thinking that they are mistaken or misguided).

SlipperyLizard · 09/05/2019 09:43

It is terrifying, the effect on women’s sport will be that it ceases to be women’s sport. Many sportswomen (Martina Navratilova, Sharron Davies, Kelly Holmes) are being called transphobic on Twitter for saying that men should not compete in women’s sport.

Whatisthisfuckery · 09/05/2019 09:53

Mistaken or misguided my arse. Everybody knows which sex they are and everybody knows full well that one sex has a considerable size and strength advantage over the other. It’s piss taking of the highest order, and nobody piss takes to that extent without being aware of it and intending to.

If it was white people self identifying as black and taking awards and scholarships away from black people would that be misguided or an error of judgement? Race is more of a spectrum than sex after all, and I have very dark hair and eyes, and if I stay out in the sun a lot my skin goes very dark, does that mean I have a bit of wriggle room if I want to pretend I’m black?

Pull the other one, it’s got bells on it mate.

3timeslucky · 09/05/2019 10:02

We needed a bloke (as defined by their XY chromosones and/or reproductive system) to tell us that women could be strong and muscular? Hmm Not sure where that came from Confused as no woman I know is remotely confused about that.

Moonsick · 09/05/2019 10:06

In any sort of individual sport you at least have an idea about where you would place, who your main competitors, what the top scores etc are.

I had a look at Mary's instagram which was linked from one of these news reports and they use it to keep track their best lifts and best scores. There is a chalk board behind them that also charts how they compare to other gym users including women.

I find it totally disingenuous to suggest that this individual had absolutely no idea where they would place when they moved from the male to female competition.

And they didn't just win, they annihilated the competition, won every trophy and broke world records.

JAPAB · 09/05/2019 11:17

Mistaken or misguided my arse. Everybody knows which sex they are and everybody knows full well that one sex has a considerable size and strength advantage over the other. It’s piss taking of the highest order, and nobody piss takes to that extent without being aware of it and intending to.

Well, I am sure that the strongest females could lift more than most males. Yes someone like Fatima Whitbread will know this. But this does not mean that she has bad motives for competing in events with weaker women. Her attitude might just be that if nature made her stronger then so be it.

Maybe such trans athletes think similarly. Unlike with Fatima, you might not agree that a trans sathlete is a woman of course, but that does not mean they can't see things along those lines, and do not have the malevolent motives that are being imputed to them here.

Prawnofthepatriarchy · 09/05/2019 11:28

It's got so I just have to see your username on a thread and know youb'll be issuing misogynist nonsense, JAPAB.

I'm not even going to bother arguing. I'm sure any lurkers will spot that Fatima Whitbread is woman (one of the cunty type) and that comparing her to a male athlete is a nonsense.

Tell you what. Let's get the bantamweights to fight the heavyweights. That'd be fair...

Jamsangwich · 09/05/2019 11:29

Opportunism, isn't it? The opportunity is there, so they take it. The fact that pretty much everyone believes that it's morally and ethically suspect is irrelevant, to THEM at any rate. The people who will take advantage of muddied waters don't give a toss what anyone else thinks or says. They want their wee trophy or award or medal, or whatever form of validation they feel they deserve. They're so self-absorbed that they're looking at what they themselves gain, not what they're denying to anyone else (women). It's all about "me me meeeeeeeeeee". In my opinion, of course.

Toorahtoorahaye · 09/05/2019 11:30

Ah, Jabap the derailer has arrived to put women right- I’d rather Jabap doesn’t make a thread all about him as is his usual fashion so will not be responding and playing his game to feed his ego that he needs to set women straight with his superior intellect and debating skills.

However, i was actually referring to Pink News more than Mary in the way it covers these issues. It’s choice of headline is definitely mocking and gaslighting women imo.

OP posts:
bigbadbadger · 09/05/2019 11:31

I am happy too say 'she', respect pro nouns and your decision to live as a transgendered woman. But you are not female and you never will be. XY cannot change to XX. A man can no more become a woman than a bull can become a cow. It is utterly absurd.

bigbadbadger · 09/05/2019 11:39

Fatima Whitbred is an outstanding woman. An abuse survivor, raised in care who represented her country countless times and remains one of only 2 women to ever throw a old style javelin over 75m.

WTF has the male bodied athlete shown in the OP, who has male sex organs and male hormones got to do with Fatima? Fatima is a woman, she has a child, her chromosomes are not in question. Why do TRA and apologists constantly make derogatory comments about outstanding female athletes whilst demanding biological females accept a male in a wig and lipstick 'becomes' a woman?

JAPAB · 09/05/2019 11:44

I'm not even going to bother arguing. I'm sure any lurkers will spot that Fatima Whitbread is woman (one of the cunty type) and that comparing her to a male athlete is a nonsense.

You really didn't understand the point I was making, did you.

Someone can know that they have a strength advantage without this meaning that their motives are bad. eg people like FW.

If you think someone is mistaken that they are a woman, then that makes them mistaken on that front. You still cannot reasonably infer a motive in their minds of piss-taking and hatred and contempt.

Helmetbymidnight · 09/05/2019 11:46

I'm speechless at this whole issue - and all those who want to see men in women's sports. I mean, WTF.

WTF has the male bodied athlete shown in the OP, who has male sex organs and male hormones got to do with Fatima? Fatima is a woman, she has a child, her chromosomes are not in question. Why do TRA and apologists constantly make derogatory comments about outstanding female athletes whilst demanding biological females accept a male in a wig and lipstick 'becomes' a woman?

Well bloody said.

YouJustDoYou · 09/05/2019 11:50

It's that arrogant white male sense of entitled privilege. I deserve to do what I want! I deserve to be the best! What's that? A woman isn't as strong? Pah! I have decided that I am a woman, and will ignore the sheer fact I have a stronger, faster male body! Therefore I am the best woman! The strongest woman! HOW DARE YOU SAY OTHERWISE!

bibbitybobbityyhat · 09/05/2019 11:53

I am also speechless and filled to the brim with frustration that stories like this are not all over the news and in the headlines daily!? Why not? Women's sports will die long before any of the 1,000,000 species under threat.

Why aren't ALL WOMEN IN SPORT and everyone who cares about it bleating and tweeting and making an utter fuss about this all day every day?

It's an emergency. I can't get my head round it at all!

Helmetbymidnight · 09/05/2019 11:55

And its perpetuated by the mind-set of the weirdy men who support them.

'Aw, anyone who wants to compete with women should be able to, it's just like Fatima Whitbread really.'

AntennaReborn · 09/05/2019 11:56

@Moonsick I compete in powerlifting, and you're absolutely right, everyone knows everyone else's numbers. It's unusual to not have at least heard of the opponents in your weight class, and know what kind of performance to expect out of them.

Should I become a man, I know pretty accurately where I could hope to place (right at the bottom!), and any man in my gym would break records if they started competing as a woman

endofthelinefinally · 09/05/2019 12:02

Careful - because it is a hate crime to complain.

JAPAB · 09/05/2019 12:06

'Aw, anyone who wants to compete with women should be able to, it's just like Fatima Whitbread really.'

How sports should be segregated is a separate discussion. Maybe it should all be on weight classes, or maybe on chromosome. Or maybe hormone levels.

All a separate discussion from the question posed in the OP. Which was about whether or not it is reasonable to think that trans athletes have X Y or Z going on in their minds.

Helmetbymidnight · 09/05/2019 12:20

Not a separate discussion no.

I was responding and agreeing with the posters point about that 'arrogant white male sense of entitled privilege'.

Please don't try and police my posts.

Jamsangwich · 09/05/2019 12:23

Maybe we need to introduce more classifications within human sports, so a trans-athlete can compete against other athletes of either sex within their height, weight and handicap level. A bit like horse racing. I can pretty much guarantee that trans-women will be competing against the blokes though....

3timeslucky · 09/05/2019 12:28

We have a perfectly acceptable classification system already - based on sex (reference those pesky but oh so useful chromosomes and reproductive systems again). That system exists for very good and well documented reasons.