Transwoman Sets NEW RECORD In Women's Sprint, Is This Fair?
A Transwoman Sets a New Record In Women's Sprint and many people are arguing if it is fair or not. Trangender scientist Joanna Harper for instance states that biological males do have an unfair advantage up until they complete hormone replacement therapy. Others argue that regardless of HRT males will still have an advantage and it is not fair.Elements of the far left seem bent on arguing against the science even as transgender people speak in agreement with others in the scientific community. Academics like Nicholas Matte actually argue biological dimorphism doesn't exist.There are important social and scientific arguments to be made for the issue and regardless of what regressive leftists want to believe it does need to be discussed.
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There have been many stories recently about trans women competing against biological females and winning.
That is to say, someone who was born biologically male competing against someone who was born biologically female.
One of the more recent stories is about a track sprint for girls where the first and second place award went to trans women, one of whom even broke a state record.
The issue is actually really complicated.
There's no one-size-fits-all solution, and there's actually some really interesting arguments from a social perspective as well as a scientific perspective as to why we should or shouldn't allow this.
I'm not here to tell you what to believe, but I do want to go over some interesting ideas and statements from experts as to why this is an issue that needs to be discussed.
But before we get started, make sure you're following our new channel, Subverse, at youtube.com slash subverse videos, where we recently did an interview with Dr. Deborah So.
She holds a PhD in sexual neuroscience, and we did a video about the reality of transgender and gender science.
If you want to support these videos, just share them on social media to help spread the message.
Let's start by taking a look at one of the latest stories to give you a sense of what's happening.
This from the Washington Times.
Transgender sprinters finish first, second at Connecticut's Girls Indoor Track Championships.
The story mentions that Andrea Yearwood, a trans woman, recently finished second in the 55-meter dash at the state Open Indoor Track Championships, the winner.
Terry Miller of Bloomfield High is also transgender and set a girls state indoor record of 6.95 seconds.
Miller and Yearwood also topped the 100-meter state championships last year, and Miller won the 300 this season.
Yearwood acknowledges she is stronger than many of her cisgender competitors, but says girls who are not transgender may have other advantages.
for transgender athletes as they break barriers across sports around the world from high school
to the pros.
Yearwood acknowledges she is stronger than many of her cisgender competitors, but says
girls who are not transgender may have other advantages.
"'One high jumper could be taller and have longer legs than another, but the other could
have perfect form and then do better,' she said.
One sprinter could have parents who spend so much money on personal training for their child, which in turn would cause that child to run faster.
But they do face criticism.
One of the other competitors in the sprint said, I fully support and am happy for these athletes for being true to themselves.
They should have the right to express themselves in school, but athletics have always had extra rules to keep the competition fair.
In the story, they mention Joanna Harper.
They say, Joanna Harper, a medical physicist and transgender runner from Portland, Oregon, says the issue isn't that simple.
She believes there needs to be a standard based on hormone levels.
Until hormone therapies begin to work.
Genetic males have a distinct advantage over genetic females, she said.
Most transgender teens don't begin hormone therapy until after puberty.
Younger teens can be on puberty-blocking drugs, but puberty is very individualized, and testosterone levels can vary greatly from one transgender girl to another, she said.
There have been some academics and activists who argue biological sex doesn't exist.
It does.
And they argue that the only reason males are stronger than females in society is because our culture conditions them to be.
That's actually not true.
But before I get into the science of the issue, I want to address a cultural problem.
From Cycling Weekly, we saw this story in October.
Rachel McKinnon becomes first transgender woman to win track world title.
Kinnon, who races both on the track and road, won the women's 35-44 sprint during the UCI Masters Track Cycling World Championships in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Dr. Rachel McKinnon was born a biological male, but identifies as a trans woman and is a campaigner for trans rights.
Many have congratulated the Canadian, who is also an assistant professor of philosophy, on her win, but the victory has also prompted negative response from some.
The third place finisher in the sprint, Jennifer Wagner, took to Twitter to call the result not fair.
McKinnon responded.
3rd place Jennifer Wagner claims it's unfair for me to compete.
At Masters World, she beat me in the 500m TT.
She beat me in 6 of 7 races at the 2017 Intelligentsia Cup.
In 2016, she beat me in all 3 Speedweek crits.
She's won 11 of our 13 races.
And it's unfair, excuse me?
She added, this is what the double.
double bind for trans women athletes looks like.
When we win, it's because we're transgender and it's unfair.
When we lose, no one notices, and it's because we're just not that good anyway.
Even when it's the same racer, that's what transphobia looks like.
And this is a really important point.
I'm very critical of the media and want to make sure you realize Rachel McKinnon lost
most of her races.
And that's a really good point.
The media is going to write a story about trans women winning because that's what's sensational, that's what's going to get them clicks and make them their money.
But they're not going to write headlines when a trans woman loses.
So what ends up happening is media skews our perspective and we only hear about the instances where trans women win against biological females.
That doesn't mean I'm arguing for or against, I just happen to be very critical of how media manipulates people.
Still, there are very important discussions in science that we need to talk about that actually goes against the narrative.
When I've pointed out very simply that male and female exist and that biological males tend to be stronger, have more muscle mass, etc, many people accuse that of being transphobic or wrong.
In reality, Joanna Harper, who clearly says that biological males have a distinct advantage, is in fact a transgender runner.
This is not an issue of people being transphobic.
Transgender people recognize the difference between male and female, but for some reason, activists and some academics try to argue it doesn't exist.
Well, the science is actually rather clear.
And until there's a major overhaul in our understanding of science, because I do recognize science can change, I'm going to go with the experts, especially a transgender expert.
Over on Reddit, this data visualization was created based on CDC data showing comparative grip strength between males and females by kilogram.
We can see that around puberty, males have nearly double the grip strength of biological females.
What this means is, if you take an average male and they transition, they are now in the realm of top-tier females.
Yes, hormone replacement therapy will weaken biological males, but they're still, even if they drop, going to be in the top tier of biological females.
And the reason this argument is important can be exemplified by the NBA.
We can see that in the NBA, people range from around 6 feet to 7 feet when we're looking at most players.
Now, there are people who are short.
Muggsy Bowes, for instance, was 5'3", and there are some people who are very tall.
But according to NBA stats, the average height is around 6'7", with a huge spike around 6'9".
According to Healthline, the average height of an American male is 5'9", taking into account all groups.
The reason this is important is that it addresses a scientific but also a cultural aspect of the argument.
In sporting events, male or female or otherwise, we're taking the top 0.1%, the extreme, rare, top-tier athlete and putting them against each other.
How many people in this world get to play in the NBA?
Very, very few.
And you have to be tall.
You can't exercise to make yourself more tall.
You just have to be tall.
Again, it is possible to be on the other end of the bell curve being one of the smallest players and still being one of the best.
But that's rare.
What happens in the NBA is that, typically, if you're a tall person and you're good at the game, you're gonna make it.
The average male in this country will have a very, very difficult time ever competing in the NBA because they're just not tall enough.
And what that means is, when it comes to females, we are having females compete against the .01% best of the best.
If the average male has around double the grip strength, not necessarily general strength, just using grip strength as an example, then even if they go on hormone replacement, the average male will be near the top tier of female competitors, meaning we're not going to be pitting the best against the best, it's just going to be arbitrary competition categories, at which point competition kind of becomes irrelevant.
We want to see the best of the best compete.
The reason we separate males from females is that men do have a distinct advantage.
They tend to be taller, more muscle mass, more bone density, and they tend to be stronger.
So pitting biological males against females… it just doesn't really make sense, because biological females will likely lose.
Now.
It makes sense after hormone replacement therapy, at least according to Joanna Harper.
Some people actually argue against this.
Heather Hying, for instance, who is a biologist, said, If in order to feel more true to yourself you want to
handicap yourself in competition, you should be allowed to do so. If, however, you want to
give yourself an advantage in competition, you should not be allowed to do so.
In response to this tweet, someone asked, How does the equality-equity-positive-discrimination puzzle
work in this space, where the mechanical power lies with the new minority and
the social power is increasing?
Heather responded, Reality, as demonstrated by science, should always trump
social power and feelings, which includes cries of discrimination.
Trans women should not be allowed to compete against women.
Trans men should be allowed to compete against men if they so choose.
One of the problems we're facing is that the argument is not symmetrical.
For the most part, we're talking about people competing against biological females if they're either transitioning from female to male or from male to female because androgens will give you a distinct advantage.
But in terms of policy, that's not what's happening.
Let's take a look at another story about the first story we covered.
In 2017, we saw another story about Andrea Yearwood, the sprinter who won.
They say, the sentiment is universal.
Everyone agrees that Andrea Yearwood should be allowed to compete in her chosen races as a girl.
After all, she identifies as a girl, trains alongside fellow females, and plans to eventually undergo hormone therapy to complete a transition from her male birth gender to female.
They point out she eventually plans to undergo hormone therapy.
As Joanna Harper pointed out once again, a scientist who is in fact transgender, biological males do have an advantage up until they complete hormone replacement therapy.
But policy doesn't work this way.
Right now, with USA Powerlifting banning transgender athletes, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota has argued it's discriminatory under state law.
And she's right, it is.
State law says you can't discriminate based on gender identity.
However, if the individuals competing aren't undergoing hormone replacement therapy, then they do just have an advantage.
It's not so simple as to say yes they should or they shouldn't.
If someone is transgender from a very young age, and they use puberty blockers to not undergo male puberty, they will still be a trans woman, and they won't have the advantages of a biological male.
So how do we draw a distinction in whether or not someone should or shouldn't be allowed to compete is the huge problem.
If by policy, you say, someone who is a trans woman should be allowed to compete, but there's no restriction on whether or not someone should take hormones, then they're going to win.
They will likely beat females across the board.
If we're talking about people who didn't go through male puberty, it's going to be very, very different.
This is an extremely complicated issue.
And another important issue to bring up is that Sporting rules are arbitrary.
We make them up.
We decided what the rules are, and we could change it.
I mean, tomorrow, we could decide that in the NFL, the teams have to be 50% male and 50% female.
We don't have to have all men competing against all men.
In fact, in Major League Sports, there's no rule, my understanding is, no rule against biological females playing.
They just tend not to be strong enough or competitive enough compared to men.
There's a lot more to consider than just whether or not hormone replacement will make someone weaker.
They still may be taller.
They're likely to be taller, and that will put them in the top tier of women in female sporting events.
Longer legs.
More muscle mass.
Even though they will experience atrophy, they may still have more bone density, more collagen, more muscle mass, etc.
It's a really difficult question to pose, especially as we deal with young people who are using puberty blockers and are going to transition into female before they ever go through male puberty.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and I don't think I'm smart enough to have all the answers.
All I wanted to do with this video was present some arguments.
I don't really know what the right answer is going to be.
I do know that we have to protect the civil rights of all people within this country, no matter what they are, who they are, what they believe, what they look like, etc.
But I also recognize that we have to protect the rights of biological females who want the right to compete and succeed as well.
As Joanna Harper said, how you balance that, that's the question.
Well, I don't think I have answered anything really, I just wanted to present some thoughts I had on the issue and address the story that dropped recently.
But let me know what you think in the comments below, we'll keep the conversation going.
I'm pretty sure that people on YouTube are going to fall into one side, one camp on the issue for the most part, saying that they probably shouldn't be competing, trans women shouldn't be competing against women.
But let me know what you think, and we'll keep the conversation going.
You can follow me on Mines at TimCast.
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