Simone Biles attacks Riley Gaines

[ItsCoolForCats]

Simone Biles has come out in defence of males in women's sports, and has attacked Riley Gaines for fighting against it. She said on Twitter:

"@RileyGaines
You’re truly sick, all of this campaigning because you lost a race. Straight up sore loser. You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding a way to make sports inclusive OR creating a new avenue where trans feel safe in sports. Maybe a transgender category IN ALL sports!! But instead… You bully them… One things for sure is no one in sports is safe with you around!!!!!"

So, so disappointing. Both my daughters do gymnastics and are huge SB fans, so it is awful for her to show such contempt towards RG, who is fighting for a level playing field for women and girls in sport. And to suggest a separate category as if nobody has ever thought of that and tried it 🤦🏻‍♀️

Fair enough. I do get why the sources were asked for, as I said it's a good thing. It's simply that my suggestions about Gaines were on balance more likely than the stuff on Kellie. Simone Biles' private life is little known, so any blanket accudation is suspec5.

@AliasGrace47 you've made post after post about how people need to be careful in supporting Riley Gaines on the sports issue because of her views on abortion but your views on abortion are also not agreeable to many feminists.

It's simply that my suggestions about Gaines were on balance more likely than the stuff on Kellie.

It doesn't matter!

Making stuff up about someone doesn't become more ethically justified by increased likelihood of it being true.

Indeed, on the contrary - it's probably more damaging to make stuff up that's plausible.

If you said Gaines was a Martian people are more likely to spot that you're just making stuff up.

The thing is though, we've now consumed an awful lot of pages going round the houses about things Riley might believe, based mostly on assumptions drawn from her demographic profile, with a side order of her having spoke with people on her podcast who quite separately and quite a long time ago said something that was arguably objectionable.

I don't find this very productive.

In real life, people have all kinds of mixes of beliefs, they have a diverse array of friends... you don't need a very sophisticated class analysis to know that we all have different life experiences and that affects how we react to different things or events.

The sectarian approach that says there's a correct answer to every question, my group of friends happens to have that correct answer, and the people who dissent are bad people who must be excluded - I've seen that, experienced it first hand, and it gets us nowhere.

You yourself by your own words are pro-life. You realise abortion is til 24 weeks because many foetal abnormalities don't show up til the 20 week scan, right?

I would make an exception for 2nd trimester for women who have been raped, or danger to the mother, or if she was suicidal

So the woman has to suffer before being allowed autonomy over her body? And you realise the general reason for an abortion is the woman would be suicidal if she can't get it, right? That's what women will claim That is the reason put down by the two doctors. So that is the general reason so you support abortions in the 2nd trimester then by your own words.

Simone has sort of apologised.

x.com/simone_biles/status/1932470954610901259?s=46&t=AjtjSItRj-kgZwRzL-pdyQ

Not much of an apology, apart from saying sorry for getting personal , but until Simone accepts the premise that males of whatever age should never be in female sports and says so clearly, all the guff about fairness and inclusivity holds no water. If boys want to be in sport then there are plenty of sports and opportunities for them to be in sport, with other boys.

It is not an issue for women to sort, we have enough issues about abusive coaches, shared changing facilities, lost scholarships, team places, records, sponsorships, training opportunities, medals and future earnings to keep us busy without having to arrange special opportunities for able bodied boys who probably don’t want them in the first place because they would prefer to steal them from girls because then they get to stand on the podium.

I was going to ask for a definition of 'pro-life'. Is there a definition? Or can pro-life include people who will support an abortion until a particular stage of pregnancy when they, personally, consider 'life' of a foetus has started?

Oops! Looks like her PR team have stepped in!

I thought the exact same thing!

Because wherever one is on the trans in sports issue, this was terribly executed. If she wanted to come out as a trans ally or whatever, and it's notable she still hasn't actually said TWAW or that males should be able to self ID into women's sports, it could've been done in a way that would allow her to gain maximum commercial benefit. Body shaming in a way that makes you also look thick is not that.

Quite.

It appears she got her arse handed to her by the TRAs also. So quite what she hoped to achieve with this is not obvious.

It read to me like there wasn't any thinking involved. She saw something she found objectionable from someone who she disagrees with on a lot of things, and didn't pause for breath.

Superb reply from Riley Gaines:

I accept Simone's apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me. I know she knows what this feels like. She's still the greatest female gymnast of all time. A couple of things. Sports ARE inclusive by nature. Anyone can and everyone SHOULD play sports. Competition, on the other hand and by definition, is exclusive. So the idea of "competitive equity" is nonsensical. Secondly, the boys are publicly humiliating the girls. To suggest that women and girls must be silent or ignore a boy who is PUBLICLY hurting or humiliating them is wrong. You can't have any empathy and compassion for the girls if you're ignoring when young men are harming or abusing them. I am not ashamed to be a voice for the voiceless. Lastly, I agree with you that the blame is on the lawmakers and leaders at the top. Precisely why I'm suing the NCAA and support candidates who vow to stand with women. That's why I joined
@realDonaldTrump at the signing of his Executive Order. I didn't see you there or championing this effort with your platform. Women's sports can't be used as an excuse for girl's to center the feelings and validation of men and boys. I welcome you to the fight to support fair sports and a future for female athletes. Little girls deserve the same shot to achieve that you had.

https://x.com/Riley_Gaines_/status/1932493510868906128

Wow. Great response.

Definitely. The line about 'welcoming' is great. It's highlighting that Simone still hasn't actually said she thinks males ought to be able to ID into women's sports.

And who knows, maybe she's on a secret terfy path? It would not be the first time someone took exception to the tone from an already radicalised sex based rights defender, presumed they were the first person to have ever thought of eminently reasonable third space solutions, and eventually realised it's not the GCs who are preventing those from working.

Riley nails it again. I do hope Simone reads and digests what Riley is saying because she lays it out very clearly.

If her PR team have stepped in, it's because what she has said has damaged her reputation.

That's interesting.

Great response from Riley. I suspect Simone Biles will get some TRA flak for the apology too, so she deserves some credit for this.

I thought that. Is TRA/TWAW looking a bit tired and stale now? Not the cool kidz choice any more?

There’s quite a few videos on YouTube asking if Simone Biles has damaged her legacy over this. And that half apology didn’t sound like it came from her mouth. I think the media in the US has been questioning her tweets rather than supporting her.

Yes the style is very different to her previous post, isn't it? Still unimpressed

That's a real backing down by Simone, and a rare thing to see. I doubt she'll say anything at all on this again.

It's clearly a scripted pr statement not her personal thoughts.

She's not had a moment of epiphany. She's paid someone to do a damage limitation exercise.

I always think it is interesting when an unsuspecting poster who considers herself pro-choice innocently mentions that she thinks abortion rights ought to have limits, and is totally shocked when she is jumped on by people telling her that means she is not pro-choice, and all feminist/pro-choice people must support abortion for any reason right up to the moment before birth.

I's seen a few really shocked, and with a suddenly very differernt view of why some people, in the US in particular, aren't on board with the pro-choice lobby.

Why would it damage her legacy? It’s a tweet. She’s still an Olympic gymnastic champion.