Oh, look, sex matters

[JellySlice]

Apparently biology makes a difference.

[[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51434749 Rugby concussion: Swansea University study into protecting women
]]
Because women rugby players tend to get knocked heads in a different way to men players, and because women's brain cell fibres appear to be constructed differently and be more fragile than men's, leading to women being more vulnerable to concussion and with worse effects than for men, Swansea University has decided on a radical approach for the women's squad:

"...we train them as women and not as small men."

Wow - ‘women: not small men’

As long as a transwoman identifies as having female constructed brain fibres I don’t see how this is an issue

Women are not small men????

The things you learn at university.

Now about my theory that armadillos are very large earwigs.

They discussed this on Woman’s Hour recently, how woman are more likely to get concussions with more difficult symptoms that last longer. We’re not just small men.

I feel like this is a very pointedly tongue-in-cheek comment from Swansea University. I appreciate it

Now about my theory that armadillos are very large earwigs

www.dailymotion.com/video/x2oh8ia

How are Swansea Uni for women's rights and free speech in general, anyone know?

8 years before I have a university aged child but I'm keeping careful watch!

That is really interesting. I'm going to a lecture / talk in March (www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/theres-no-such-thing-as-the-female-brain-tickets-76041661657) on this subject.

Oops sorry! Just posted a thread on this too!

I feel like this is a very pointedly tongue-in-cheek comment from Swansea University. I appreciate it

Agreed. So often women are treated as if they are just smaller versions of men, with disastrous consequences, as Caroline Criado-Perez has shown.

So what are the implications for those women's teams that are now allowing men who identify as women to play? Such as that South Wales rugby team where the trans woman player "folded" another player "like a deckchair". Any thoughts?

The women will have been taught how to fall safely, so even if that unusually large, unusually heavy, unusually biologically gifted player knocks them down they'll be quite safe. Don't worry your little feminine brain about non-existent risks, dear.

They discussed this on Woman’s Hour recently, how woman are more likely to get concussions with more difficult symptoms that last longer. We’re not just small men.

I heard this too and my thoughts immediately went to sports being made mixed sex.

Now about my theory that armadillos are very large earwigs

Swansea University might have a word with WRU about its policies.

August 2019 BBC Sports Wales
'Transgender rugby player playing with 'a smile on my face'
By Ceri Coleman-Phillips
(extract)
"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.

And she has taken a daily dose of the female hormone oestrogen for the past 18 months.

"They don't half make you cry," she says. "My body shape, my size... it's scary the massive difference it makes. I don't think I'll ever get used to hormones."

At nearly 6ft she stands out among her team-mates, and club captain Jessica Minty-Madley recounts a time she folded an opponent "like a deckchair". (continues)
www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/49298550

I've heard the 'not just small men' line used in a TED talk about the differences between men and women in training and preparation for running, endurance events etc.

Fuck - I’m not a small man, I’m taller than DH and my brother, but shorter than DS...