Rugby becomes first sport to make “ultimate statement in equality “

[BiologyIsReal]

Can’t link but Daily Telegraph reports today that World Rugby is adopting gender-neutral naming for tournaments, dropping the word “women” from in front of the Women’s Rugby World Cup so men’s and women’s will simply both be known as the Rugby World Cup.

CEO Brett Gosper said it was “a landmark and a statement that we are treating the men’s and women’s games evenly and the potential in each is as powerful as the other”

Sir Bill Beaumont, World Rugby chairman said it showed unwavering commitment to advancing women on Rugby.

“Unintentional gender bias in sport is an ongoing issue. As a global sporting federation we need to be seen leading from the front.”

Good for them. Interesting that one of the most ‘macho’ sports is consistently taking the lead in equality e.g World Rugby is offering extra seats to unions on condition the are filled by women.

Let’s hope our friends, the TRAs, don’t try and hijack the change by claiming the tournaments don’t specify they are “women’s”!

I completely agree with every single word of Charlie's post.

I'm another ex rugby mum here who lived the ethos of the game and the emphasis on fair play, just as Charlie describes, but hated how dangerous it was - my DS is slightly built and very, very fast - he would throw himself into the game with 100% commitment, relying on the fact that momentum= MV, so what he lacked in mass he could make up for in speed. But when he was tackled, he was the one that ended up hurt. His coaches always praised how hard he went in and his workrate, but he still spent 50% of his time on the sidelines injured.

It's because I know and love the game, and love the women's game which is like being transported back to the 1970s when rugby was a wonderful open flowing game, before huge pack sizes and dull wars of attrition between the forwards, that I'm so utterly horrified by this.

@Popchyk and others I too am incredibly disappointed in Jo Maugham. I didn't necessarily expect GC views from him but I expected a fair-minded engagement with the issue. But he's retreated into a sort of defensive rage and is blocking women all over the place. Makes me question other stances he holds, and wonder actually how much he ever listens to people who disagree with him.

It's because I know and love the game, and love the women's game which is like being transported back to the 1970s when rugby was a wonderful open flowing game, before huge pack sizes and dull wars of attrition between the forwards, that I'm so utterly horrified by this.

^^ me too. Exactly this.

CharlieParley

Fabulous post.

(I used to joke that I had A & E on speed dial).

I just wanted to say re Charlie’s excellent post, in my viewing experience watching pro games, it is not refereed safely at all. There are so many dangerous or reckless moves that harm players and they seem to target my big Polynesian players more for it, lots of smaller guys do no-arm tackles that tend to only cause lower body injuries so don’t get too much attention. If they tackle women like that, it will be a very different result. I have watched the game all my life, played the game a little, relatives represented their country etc and I am totally horrified males will be playing with women. I am gabbing about it on Spinster as JessSweetValleyHigh and have shared info re studies to make the game safer for men v zero studies on this! And more.

Those familiar with me will know how passionate I am about rugby players with a history of violence getting away with no convictions, name suppression etc what if one of them transitions?! But I’m not surprised the rugby community are all for this. Not at all. Women’s bodies mean nothing to them. Nothing.

I am mentally composing a letter to the English RFU (of which I'm a member due to DS's playing days) about this, pointing out that women will be coming off the field on stretchers with spinal injuries, worse, they will be coming off the field in body bags, and (sorry to shout) THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS STATE OF AFFAIRS WILL REST WITH THE GOVERNING BODIES WHO PERMITTED IT.

Can tweeters direct comments to Bill Beaumont as well?
I'm sure Sharron and Martina and Kelly would be interested to share the opinions too

twitter.com/BillBeaumont/status/1164103569970274304

There are a bunch of men being twats on the tweet thread now, but even they, in their darkest wanky men hours, wouldn't want to see women rugby players injured by men. It's just not rugby.

Great post @CharlieParley

Charlie, would you write that post as a letter to Porth Harlequins, copied to the rugby authorities? You dont have any responsibility to have to do that but it is such a moving and well expressed piece.

Excellent post from Charlie.

As with so many of these bloody things these days, I don't just feel incredibly angry, I feel baffled. The health and safety risk is so huge, so glaring, why would the authorities allow this to happen? Why would the coach not see the obvious problem? It is only a matter of time before someone is very badly injured by this player. We supposedly live in an age of health and safety gone mad, and yet here we are in a situation where the lack of health and safety has gone mad.

Maugham doubling down:

twitter.com/JolyonMaugham/status/1164843050943811586

"No one - not her, her opponents, her team mates, the sporting regulatory authorities - is complaining in this piece. All are trying, with dignity and care, to adapt to a world that is not binary. A pity some of my respondents are unable to do the same".

So because the BBC article deliberately did not explore any negatives for women, and actually edited out the detail of Morgan breaking the male coach's leg, then there must not be negatives for women.

It is a good example of what privileged unthinking rank misogyny actually is.

Take a stance on something that advantages men and disadvantages women every single time. Insist that it is right and fair and joyful. And shake your head at any disagreement.

It is right and fair because only men matter; women only exist in order to facilitate men. That is the root of Maugham's stance.

Oh and btw what's with all the finding joy rubbish? Identifying as Marie Kondo now 🤦🏼‍♀️

twitter.com/nolli15/status/1164534943319564289?s=20

Not sure if this has been linked yet but thank you so much, Danielle. Blows Jolyon’s theory that ‘nobody minds’ out of the water. Of course they fucking mind although they probably mind less if they’re on the same team.

No one is complaining because - as with most other sports authorities that have demonstrated their contempt for women and women's sports by allowing men who claim womanhood to cheat women out of their own sport - they have fucking well put guidelines into place silencing dissent.

Every single fucking one of these fuckers had done that. No complaints allowed. Well, of course there are no complaints in that BBC piece. None of these women have a real choice. And when complaints are not allowed, they will therefore not be registered. Unlike Jolyon, we know how this works - raise your voice, lose your place or stay silent and keep it. That is, until a bloke comes along who fancies playing in your team and replaces you.

It took the track and field high school girls in Connecticut more than two years to finally speak up publicly. They tried to complain immediately. And got nothing but trouble for it.

Yes, that poor girl in Connecticut is only able to speak up because sadly, her athletics career is screwed before it even got started so she has nothing left to lose.

As Janis Joplin put it "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." (The flip side of this being of course the old adage "a coward is just a hero with a family.")

Quote from the JoMaugham twitter thread:

They’re pointing out that trans women are male - and before you jump up and down, that is definitional. Females can’t be trans women, only trans men. And since sport is played with bodies, not gender identities, trans women - like other males - belong in the male class.

I hope I remember this next time I get into a discussion about trans and sport!

@CharlieParley That's a fantastic post. Much thanks. Made me almost tear up a bit. Must've been so tough for you.

I truly do not get - do not get - how most people simply cannot see how unfair and deeply dangerous this is. Do we have to wait for a woman to be so badly injured she never walks again - or god forbid worse? Well, do we? What'll take. What!?

Great post Charlie. Please do submit to the RFU if you feel you can.

Also posted on a separate thread

TheTimes :Transgender policies could alter after hormone research

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/transgender-policies-could-alter-after-hormone-research-hwbkb9wzd?shareToken=f9d8c654ce35dbb188c9b69700ea3d28

Thanks TimeLady

No one - not her, her opponents, her team mates, the sporting regulatory authorities - is complaining in this piece. All are trying, with dignity and care, to adapt to a world that is not binary. A pity some of my respondents are unable to do the same".

He really is a moron, isn't he? The BBC reporter didn't interview any opponents for the piece so of course they're not bloody complaining. Seriously, how does someone that thick get to be a barrister?

Thanks for the link TimeLady. From that article:
Most rugby unions now have policies that players who were born male and now identify as female must have testosterone below 5nmol/litre for at least a year.

That includes World rugby:
she must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Expert Panel (on the balance of probabilities), in accordance with clause 4, that the concentration of testosterone in her serum has been less than 5 nmol/L continuously for a period of at least 12 months

The BBC report says:
Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) guidelines - which are "fully committed to the principles of equality" - state Kelly can play providing her blood-measured testosterone levels are within a certain range.

The short report on the BBC Wales news last week said that Kelly Morgan has testosterone levels which comply with the IOC rules, which is 10 nmol/litre. According to this article, normal testosterone levels in men can be lower than 10 nmol/l. So a man whose natural testosterone levels are at the lower end of the normal range could be eligible to compete in women's sport without taking any testosterone lowering medication. And why does the WRU use IOC rules instead of World Rugby rules? Although of course, as the Times article says, men shouldn't be on women's teams no matter what their testosterone level is.

BBC news clip on here.
en-gb.facebook.com/Rhondda-Senior-Ladies-Rugby-279252139343905/

Thread from last week.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3664990-Transgender-rugby-player-in-womens-team

Sorry to bring this up again but it's back to the NSPCC definition of abuse - defining the acceptability of behaviour only by what people feel about it - so if children aren't upset by sexual contact its not abuse; when of course it is.

Likewise even if every woman in the team loves Beast and would never complain about her, it's still not ok for her to be playing with or against women.

Seems to have peak-transed a few.

Martha Kelner, Sport Correspondent at Sky News.

twitter.com/marthakelner/status/1164847479617200130

"This piece is completely uncritical. Ignores the reasons that sex, not gender, divisions exist in sport (particularly contact and combat sport). Places one individual and their wish to continue playing rugby above safety of teammates and competitors".

And Matthew D'Ancona, Guardian columnist, says:

twitter.com/MatthewdAncona/status/1164929342436253697

"There is no way that this has anything to do with trans equality: exploiting the residual physical advantages of male physiology to beat natal women in sport. Sport is divided into all manner of categories - for fairness. Let’s not pretend otherwise".

This was in response to news of a wonderful talent emerging in women's middle distance running. Jonathan Eastwood, who ran an 800m in what would be the second fastest time ever for a woman, now identifying as a woman.

Caster ain't gonna be happy.

Just to recap, in the 2016 Olympics, the gold, silver and bronze medals in the women's 800m event went to competitors who are biologically male.

And now more male athletes enter the fray.