VisionNutz
Rock Star
Silver Level
Thanks for being a voice of reason in this thread.
How funny, I was just listening to this podcast today on a drive:
https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/dutee
About gender testing and sports and historical moments of concern and confusion.
Fun (but not really fun at all) fact:
-They used to test gender for sports by having males & females undress and check out their genitals etc. Terribly invasive.
-Then they figured out chromosome testing, which eventually proved inconclusive as it turns out quite a few people have atypical chromosomes (XY but anatomically and hormonally a female, XXXX, XXY, and many things outside the "norm")
-Then they moved towards hormone level testing as that proved more accurate than chromosome testing
However, it's still not quite perfect with hormone testing as they're trying to draw a solid, clear "line" between "male" and "female" when the reality is:
There is never a clear line, things are too complex and clearly not black and white especially if you do your research and explore the topic further, and despite our efforts of trying to make things "fair" by splitting up sports by gender, it's never going to be entirely fair when you pit people against each other in competition as there are always going to be countless factors that change advantages and disadvantages from one person to the next, one team to the next.
Another great point made was that, e.g. in Dutee Chand's case, she grew up poor and couldn't even get shoes to train in running, not to mention lack of trainers and resources and much more stress to her body being in less stable conditions of life. So she had major disadvantages compared to others.
My conclusions:
- It's ridiculous to tell someone they can't participate in a sport because they don't exactly fit into one of the two limited categorical options (male or female)
- If we're going to be concerned about what's "fair," in the overall scheme of things and the bigger picture, I'm quite certain that transgender individuals don't have it "FAIR" in this world.
- I think it's important to focus more on the things we can change, like trying to get low income children more financial support for their growth, and creating a healthier environment for those who tend to be more disenfranchised than others, and NOT by excluding someone from something they might enjoy and excel in just because they were born this way or that way. Frankly, I think there are way more important things for us to get our panties in a twist about.
Like uh, world hunger, bullying on large and small scales, the disappearing bees, the fact that due to the Electoral College & gerrymandering and other evils, all American votes are not exactly equal.
Get off the transgenders' backs and pick something more important to focus your energies on! I promise you that they likely don't want to be in the position they're in. Have a little empathy and realize that the people who might be beat by them in a competition, overall in the grand scheme of their lives, are probably going to have it a lot better anyway.
One important thing to note about transgenders: statistically, they won't be "choosing" which gender they identify with specifically so they can get more of an advantage in sports. They're mostly going to chose which gender they LOOK most like, out of pure defense so that they are less likely to get beat up or killed by someone who's disturbed by the fact that they aren't "normal," which is actually a common occurrence in the transgender world. Their sole purpose in life is NOT to cheat in sports. It's to survive and have some sort of place to belong safely. Don't place malicious intentions where they don't exist.
T
A voice of reason or a voice of trailing off into a tangent that is not specified in the topic of discussion??? LMAO!
This topic is in regards to a specific incident and it would help the thread to keep the discussion ON TOPIC instead of veering way off into other lines of beauty pageant like topics such as solving world hunger, curing cancer and other hoopla.
I dont think there is any malicious intention from the OP or anyone actually discussing the topic. This too is a safe place to do just that. In fact, what you'll have noticed if you decided to read other member's inputs is an honest desire to find the best possible solution (again in a safe place) for the Gender Fluid community in regards to athletics (track & field).
So contrary to this posters murmurings. Please continue to share your valued opinions on this topic. Its through expression that we can find new opportunity.
P.S Send me the link to where we can start chatting round and round on how to cure world hunger smh. :withstupi