Hello everyone,
For my blog post I read an article that sought to have a solution for transgender women competing in sports. Their goal was to appease both sides of the argument and allow for transgender women to still compete, but with some caveats. The article mentions that transgender women should be allowed to participate in practices, travel, and the general camaraderie of the team, but when it comes to scoring transgender women in sports they would be in their own category. Now, this category would not contain all transgender women. It would only contain transgender women who went through "male" puberty. The article discusses how people who have gone through "male" puberty have an advantage over biological women.
This is an interesting solution in my opinion because it is trying to make both sides feel comfortable. However, I think that by making a third category for transgendered women to compete in this might not validate the transgender women's gender identity. By not allowing for these women to compete with women I think it is inherently saying that transgender women are not women. I don't know how we could come up with another solution though. I see where the argument is coming from because biological males do have advantages over women in sports. For example, in high school one of my best friends who is a cisgendered women did wrestling. There weren't very many women on the team so they would often go again boys, but everytime they did this they lost. This was due to the men being biologically stronger than the females.
In terms of our class I thought this was an interesting piece to look into, because we do a lot of thinking in the binary in this class. We look into women and and men, but have not really dove into people who are transgender or even non binary. This is interesting because when someone does not fit into the binary what gender roles might be there? Would transgender women fit the same categories? When we talk about investing in women, are we including transgender women? Also, this article didn't touch on transgender men. If a transgender man has gone through hormones and is on testosterone are they at the same level physically as a biological male? Should transgender men compete in a third category? A forth category? Where do we draw the line of separating people? Are we going too far and invalidating gender? Please let me know your thoughts!
Wauren
Lopiano, D. (2022, October 12). A Fair And Inclusive Solution For Transgender Women In Sports. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/donnalopiano/2022/08/04/a-fair-and-inclusive-solution-for-transgender-women-in-sports/?sh=f0e930412efd
Outstanding contribution to the class, Wauren!
ReplyDeleteI think this topic is related to what Correa et al.’s article analyses about essentialist framings and recognizes that “sexuality is an integral to a matrix of social, economic, cultural and relational forces” (pg. 27). As we know, LGBTQ+ is a vulnerable community that has been extensively manipulated by conservative sectors, including the economic one. It is common to read that academics and public authorities discuss their focus on inequalities, but their discourse never mentions sexuality as part of their approach. So, I believe this idea prevails among progressive development projects. I think it opens up invisible dichotomies such as sexual exclusion and poverty; economic deprivation and sexual violence; compulsory heterosexuality and homophobia; and hegemonic masculinity and various forms of violence (pg.28). It also reinforces human rights actions to stand up for sexuality and diversity.
I would love to answer your question about categorizing sexual diversities, but I do not think we will develop an accurate number of subcategories. As the author explained, “we need to seek rights for people in all our diversity, including the diversity in each individual.” This type of recognition is a small step to universal recognition of the cultural variation in sexual identities. By supporting and promoting more open, safe spaces for LGBTQ+ people, we are transforming frames into actions and breaking traditional norms to increase possibilities for individuals to make their own choices without discrimination. So, I think we will find solutions as we keep studying their vulnerabilities and supporting their fight over power struggles.
About the biological part, I think they must compete among people that share their characteristics so the contest is fair, and their victory is even more valuable. Invalidating gender is the norm, so by opening their participation, they will break the stigma by providing feedback and improvements for future events. The critical fact about empowerment in these types of events is to allow them to speak and take part in the logistic organization.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThank you Wauren! This is a very interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteI have recently read an article in The New York Times about the “Transgender Women in the Sports World”. The article mentioned that the efforts to exclude transgender individuals from sport are harmful to all women and girls. Athletes are more than bodies, hormones and sex assigned at birth. Proximity to coaches, facilities, and parents with money and time are most predictive of success. Moreover, The International Olympic Committee, after consulting with leaders in medicine, athletics and human rights, stated in new guidelines last year that there should be no assumed advantage due to sex variations, physical appearance or transgender status. Also, the author asserted on including and embracing trans people wherever they want to be and stop demonizing them in the name of protecting women. “When all are welcome, everyone wins”.