Sez who?
Oh is that so.
“Inclusivity comes first – and fairness, I’m afraid, is affected by the drive towards inclusivity.”
Who says “inclusivity” comes first?
And what kind of “inclusivity” are we talking about anyway? The word as I understand it means not excluding people for bad reasons. It can’t mean including everyone in everything. We can’t include everyone in everything; there isn’t room.
Furthermore we can’t include everyone in everything because lots of organizations, jobs, activities, institutions, competitions and the like have rules, requirements, criteria, goals, needs. Fire departments can’t be inclusive because it’s a physically demanding job, so joining a fire department is notoriously difficult. You have to have really top notch strength and endurance. There’s a test, and most people fail it.
Now extrapolate from that to everything. Jobs, schools, universities, groups, campaigns all have criteria, and don’t just throw their doors open to everyone. Some institutions do have to be inclusive: schools, hospitals, public transportation, shops, entertainment venues and the like all have to let pretty much everyone in, but even they can ban people who are violent or drunk or contagious.
Sports are like fire departments rather than supermarkets. At the top level they exclude almost everyone. So why in flaming hell does this goon think inclusivity of men comes first while fairness comes second?
I think I should be included in the cast of the next musical here in town. Just because I can’t sing…or dance…and am only sort of so-so at acting…
Inclusivity – the very idea is ridiculous. I don’t have to include Trump in my family Thanksgiving; I don’t have to include the mailman in my Saturday night plans…there are more places that aren’t inclusive than that are.
It’s a buzzword that doesn’t buzz.
“I’m afraid”? “Affected”? Bullshit. This was not some unforeseen outcome that surprised you, this was a calculated move that has had predictable results. This didn’t just happen, you decided. Somebody is doing this “driving,” and is favouring “including” some small percentage of trans identifying males to the disadvantage and detriment of all women competitors. You are purposely elevating the supposed needs of a very few men over fairness to all women. Funny how “fairness” (and safety, health, and dignity) for women is almost always sacrificed in order to include men in women’s… everything.
I’ll bet you think this bold “drive towards inclusivity” makes you wonderfully progressive in your thinking and actions. Wrong. This is a shitty move you’re pretending to be sorry about, as if you somehow regret its unfortunate impact on women. But the intrusion into women’s spaces and opportunities is the whole point of including men in the women’s category. There is no other outcome possible with this policy. You are perfectly fine with this cost to women because, as you’ve demonstrated, they don’t matter, and you don’t care about them. You’re happy and proud to push them aside for the sake of cheating men. This is just more of the same old misogyny, so you can stop congratulating yourself any time now.
This one chafes, it really does. I’m a lifelong couch potato, and ParkRun has been instrumental in changing that for me, in my forties. ParkRun is inclusive, in genuine and meaningful ways. When I go, I see all elements of society, coming together to cover five kilometres on foot or in a wheelchair. There’s no judgment over being slow, old, overweight, uncool, poorly coordinated, disabled, etc. There’s hardcore fitness fanatics, gym bros, skinny young fashionable types, parents with kids, pregnant women, young keen kids dragging their parents along, young sulky kids being dragged along, middle aged walkers, older ex triathletes, a young disabled man with his carer who can keep up and his mum who has a harder time keeping up with him at her age, two wheelchair users, a young man doing Olympic style race walking, fundraisers in logo shirts, silly hats or pink tutus, people who are rehabbing back injuries and more. Gender special people too. You can’t even come last: that’s the tail walker’s job (which you can volunteer for if you like).
I’ve been to more than fifty now. My sister has done 200. It means something to me.
However, ParkRun has very few winners, and they’re all male anyway, obviously. ParkRun has no bathrooms, no separate men’s and women’s events, no pronouns required. Yes, you can Self ID when you sign up, but that only impacts the statistics pretty mildly, unless you’re actually a competitive woman (and I’m not, most women are better than me still).
I won’t stop being angry about this, but I won’t stop going either. I won’t stop advocating that they restore the women’s category, especially where the seizure of women’s wins is particularly egregious, such as by criminals.
I also suspect the vast majority of attendees have no idea, which is all the more reason to keep going and keep grumbling about it.
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