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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Open Letter to The IOC regarding transwoman Tiffany Abreu

208 replies

happydappy2 · 13/12/2018 13:14

Tiffany was born male and competed as a man, then transitioned to a woman and is now taking the place of a woman on the womans volleyball team. (& is doing very well-they are after all 6 foot 3") A very courageous lady Ana Paula Henkel has written an open letter to the IOC outlining her concerns prior to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
A brave lady indeed. Needs to be talked about though.

OP posts:
LangCleg · 15/12/2018 14:40

There is no point in getting bogged down in gender vs sex arguments on this thread.

Said no elite female athlete, EVER.

Ereshkigal · 15/12/2018 14:41

I mean, if specific individuals believe that they can be most effective by actively avoiding the core of the issue then have at it, I guess. The rest of us are going to continue pointing out that it is in fact the main issue though.

Indeed.

indieshuffle · 15/12/2018 14:43

There is no point in getting bogged down in gender vs sex arguments on this thread. dadjoke

I mean, if specific individuals believe that they can be most effective by actively avoiding the core of the issue then have at it, I guess. The rest of us are going to continue pointing out that it is in fact the main issue though.

Exactly angryattakkittens Interstingly, I that is quite a similar mindset to other trans extremist tactics I think. Ignore the core truth and argue and obfuscate around the edges. Very manipulative. I wonder I some people think they are being lawyer-smart and finding an angle, but to me it just comes across as gaslighty.

AngryAttackKittens · 15/12/2018 14:49

In some cases it's unclear whether the person is being dishonest or honestly delusional, but in either case it's irritating. No, we are not going to publish a hiking magazine that never mentions boots or other hiking gear. No, we are not going to discuss car racing and pretend that a boat is a sort of car and it doesn't matter whether it has wheels or not because it has an engine, right? No, we are not going to discuss sex segregation while pretending that people are a sex that they are not.

happydappy2 · 15/12/2018 15:27

dadjoke having read all this thread, I have no idea why on earth you think it would be a good idea to avoid saying that TW are not women.
I think many of us know that to be true.
This is why language is so important, the word woman is for adult human females, no one else.
Transwomen are transwomen. Male born but for a multitude of reasons chose to present as their idea of a woman. Can you explain why we should fudge this issue?

OP posts:
feministfairy · 15/12/2018 15:36

Thank you everyone for standing up for truth.
It's so bloody exhausting continually being hectored, lectured, advised and cajoled into accepting lies and delusions. This battle is about women and sport - if we accept that TWAW then there is no argument against born men cheating their way to the top of women's sport and eradicating it on their way. It's already started with a small number of mediocre sportsmen taking records and places that belong to women - it will become a tsunami if this continues.

DadJoke · 15/12/2018 15:45

I don’t mean my argument is the cutting edge I mean this issue is!

VickyEadie · 15/12/2018 15:53

This battle is about women and sport - if we accept that TWAW then there is no argument against born men cheating their way to the top of women's sport and eradicating it on their way. It's already started with a small number of mediocre sportsmen taking records and places that belong to women - it will become a tsunami if this continues.

THIS.

DadJoke · 15/12/2018 15:58

The reason that you should avoid saying trans women are not women in this context is because, fair or not, that will result in the people who decide dismissing you as transphobic, and any other evidence your present will be ignored.

Male born people have an advantage in elite sport because of their sex. My argument is that it’s sex, not gender in this instance which is important. So whatever your definition of woman, trans women should be excluded. This does not mean giving ground on your core beliefs.

You might be happy to lose the battle to win the war. I am not.

happydappy2 · 15/12/2018 16:04

Dadjoke bollocks, I don’t think saying TW are not women is transphobic. It is a truth. They are transwomen. There’s no fear or hatred in my statement.

OP posts:
Juells · 15/12/2018 16:07

happydappy2
Male born but for a multitude of reasons chose to present as their idea of a woman.

Indeed. "their idea of a woman"

Male born people have an advantage in elite sport because of their sex. My argument is that it’s sex, not gender in this instance which is important.

You've lost me completely now. That's what everyone else on this thread has been saying, while you've been insisting that the sex of trans athletes should never be mentioned.

DadJoke · 15/12/2018 16:27

I am not saying “trans women are not women is transphobic” I am saying it will be dismissed as such!

Juells
You've lost me completely now. That's what everyone else on this thread has been saying, while you've been insisting that the sex of trans athletes should never be mentioned.

No! Their natal sex should be referred to without saying they are not women. The original letter we are discussing manages this.

DadJoke · 15/12/2018 16:28

Look, I’ll write up an objection to send to show what I mean. I am not trying to be obtuse.

Materialist · 15/12/2018 16:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FleetsumNJetsum · 15/12/2018 16:54

Sorry have not read all the thread. But I had to comment here. DadJoke 13:54 You can believe that trans women are women (gender) while accepting that sex segregation is right.

But women is not a gender, it is a sex. And if transwomen are entering sports competitions with an altered birth certificate, then in law they are women and can compete as women. So tell me how it helps to say TWAW?

Materialist · 15/12/2018 16:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Knicknackpaddyflak · 15/12/2018 18:28

My argument is that it’s sex, not gender in this instance which is important.

That makes no sense whatsoever.

The reason for this conflict ever having arisen was the GRA setting a precedent that it was ever possible for a man to become a woman. The discussions in the Scotland census discussion with MPs have shown the only way to untangle this mess is to completely separate sex as a concept from gender, because to do otherwise creates chaos that negatively affects everyone and everything. So appealing to women to be kind and fudge a bit on what 'woman' means is not something I'm prepared to compromise on, and thanks for sharing your concerns but I'll worry about who I get to listen to me regarding my rights and my principles.

Transwomen are transwomen. I cannot be a transwoman, ever, no matter what I do. I was not born male. Transwoman is an identity that should be celebrated, protected, valued, something to be proud of, and I'll very gladly fight for that. But the whole basis of this mess over sport is the same one that is the basis of every problem with this ideology. The insistence that everyone comply with the lie that a man has become a woman. There isn't any nice way to slide around it, and the TRA lobby will be the first to tell you so.

FloralBunting · 15/12/2018 18:40

Tactics are all very well, but its nonsense to pretend that we can acknowledge that transwomen are in any genuine sense women, and still be able to hold the clear and fair line as to why they shouldn't compete against women.

If you do this strange half-light acceptance that TWAW, while focusing on how to eliminate the advantage they have over women, then you will inevitably descend into minutiae of hormone levels which can be gamed and manipulated.

The reason they have an advantage is because they are men, and any attempt to obscure that will do nothing but expose you to as much ridicule as anyone who denies the facts on the Anti-woman side.

Truth is nothing to run from in this debate.

Ereshkigal · 15/12/2018 21:35

We cannot get sucked into debating fantasy. We have to continue to force the debate onto the field of reality. If we’re called transphobic by the IOC, so be it. We’re not speaking to them. We’re speaking to the populace, the vast majority of whom actually do live in the field of reality.

This Wine

Knicknackpaddyflak · 15/12/2018 21:36

its nonsense to pretend that we can acknowledge that transwomen are in any genuine sense women, and still be able to hold the clear and fair line as to why they shouldn't compete against women.

This. The bottom line is 'a man is a woman if he says so, so much so that look, they can compete in women's races and that's fair and fine because WOMAN'. That's the crux of it. It's about proving the extent of how real that asserted womanhood is and witnessing compliance and validation of that assertion. Anything that is reserved for women becomes a boundary that has to be broken in the name of achieving that proof. It's fundamentally about power and control.

Which is why no sensible discussion around wider issues and fairness matter, and why no other offered solutions that meet the actual needs for everyone are considered anything but transphobia.

LangCleg · 15/12/2018 21:37

I'm fucked off with this tactics bollocks.

Stating the truth here. Won't be changing cos DadJoke has an important argument he can't tell us about.

Ereshkigal · 15/12/2018 21:39

We need to push back even harder on TWAW, NOT concede a mythical "gender" category while simultaneously trying to claim that it's because of their sex that it isn't fair for them to compete against women. It won't hold any water.

indieshuffle · 15/12/2018 23:15

dadjoke your arguments and tactics are about as coherent as the TRAs. You would play right into their gender nonsense.

I cannot help but wonder if that is the plan since you seem so keen to convince us to give up the word and meaning of woman.

Truth needs to be plainly spoken. Women don't need to manipulate or spin anything.

DadJoke · 16/12/2018 14:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ereshkigal · 16/12/2018 14:15

LOL that makes absolutely no sense, does it?

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