I think the pattern we see of the arguments to support male athletes such as Semenya fall into :
Sex is complicated so therefore some male people with male pubertal physical advantage should compete as female people.
(No. For the purpose of playing sport, screening for conditions where a male a
body produces male levels of testosterone and processes it to virilise is not ‘complicated’ at all)
It is racist to exclude these male athletes so therefore some male people with male pubertal physical advantage should compete as female people.
(This is based on several aspects, one is an absurd ‘standards of beauty’ which is immediately redundant when it is realised that it is the accuser who is racist in declaring that male people should be set as any benchmark for female ‘beauty’, and looks have nothing to do with sporting performance. Also, more importantly though, those making such accusations forget the female athletes negatively impacted by the inclusion of this group of male athletes).
Then comes the calls to emotion.
These male athletes have had their entire life changed by the discovery they are not female so therefore some male people with male pubertal physical advantage should compete as female people.
(Every single day peoole across the world face similar discoveries, why does this male athlete group deserve special treatment when all the others have to face reality that they cannot compete in the sport category, or even the sport, they want to?)
These male people have suffered deprivation and hardship so therefore some male people with male pubertal physical advantage should compete as female people.
(This weak argument ignores the many female athletes with similar life experiences who are negatively impacted by the inclusion of this group. And more importantly, deprivation and hardship should not mean such extraordinary accommodations being made that cause female people to be so negatively impacted. Grants, bursaries etc yes. Inclusion in a protected category that they don’t belong in, no)
The sporting federation allowed it so therefore some male people with male pubertal physical advantage should compete as female people.
(Sure. But this also removes the agency for male athletes to acknowledge what was at one stage universally understood without need to seek fresh evidence - that this group of male athletes have advantages and they should respect female athlete’s needs)
Usually we also see such fallacies and falsehoods of :
’Only a few’
(The count of displaced and negative impacted female athletes can be huge for each and every single male athlete being included in competitive level sport. It is still meaningful when safety is considered at social level)
’But natural variation!’
(Protected sport categories allow for a wide range of allowable body variations within the protected characteristic. The expectation is for everyone person who has a combination of natural attributes that give performance benefits, others will have another combination that will
compete.)
’But sport is a human right!’
(Sport maybe, but competing in a protected category you don’t belong to is not.)
They don’t always come first.
(This is irrelevant. The inclusion of this group means a mediocre male athlete, when compared to exceptional male athletes in the sport, still causes safety and loss of opportunity for female athletes. And those female athletes who win are even more exceptionally skilled because they win! )
This list is just some of the most common flawed arguments we see on these threads defending male athletes who have a body that produces male levels of testosterone that their body processes to virilise making considered, conscious and free choices to compete (or continue competing after finding out) in female sports categories.
The one thing they all have in common is that they never once centre the female athletes who are unfairly negatively impacted. These arguments always centre the male athlete.
In addition, we are also told we should be kind and use female language for male people who know they are male people and choose to disrespect female athletes’ needs. I would go so far as to say they are, intentionally or not, abusing female people. Why are we, as women, expected to use inaccurate language that is female language for male people when doing so perpetuates the harm to female people individually and collectively?