Prizes for shamelessness
Victoria Smith on the surprising absence of embarrassment:
It has just been announced that Danielle McGahey, a biological male, will represent Canada as the first trans cricketer in an official international women’s match. What’s more, McGahey isn’t remotely ashamed to be stealing the place of an elite female cricketer. All the rules have been followed: blood tests, declarations of gender identity, and all the rest. As long as a series of arbitrary hoops — none of which turn males into females — can be jumped through, McGahey assumes the right to pose as the injured party should anyone object.
The cricketer follows Lia Thomas, Veronica Ivy, Laurel Hubbard, Lindsay Hecox, Hannah Mouncey and CeCé Telfer. Objection to any exclusion of male people from female categories has been recast as trans people not being allowed to play at all. In tandem, it has transpired that women themselves are to be considered petty and selfish for complaining. Turns out we sceptics had a lot to learn.
It’s funny because it was only about fifteen minutes ago that women were finally allowed to participate in sports. Blink and you missed it!
Recently, World Athletics, International Rugby League, Fina and British Cycling have been among those finally making moves to protect female categories. Given the historical exclusion of women from top-level sports, it’s a disgrace that these battles had to be fought at all, let alone that any wins for women continue to be framed as “bans” on trans people.
…
When you have a male body and compete against women, any prizes you win are for shamelessness, not sporting prowess. You show who you really are. The trouble — for women, at least — is how many people don’t care, just so long as the same sex gets to win.
We’ll always have the knitting.
I’m sure TIMs will start stealing women’s knitting prizes soon, if they haven’t already.
Every biological male attempting to masquerade as a woman in what should legitimately be an exclusively female event is stealing a winning place from some woman. Such ‘competiors’ fool nobody but themselves, and even that bit of foolery is doubtful. Come to think of it, I suppose that over the course of history, the odd highwayman has been tempted to moonlight as a cat burglar.
It’s one thing to have a mental problem and think you’re the sex that you aren’t. It’s a second thing to believe that you have a gendered soul and that you really “are” the sex you are not. But it’s a particularly nasty thing to say that you’re “trans” and to then go on an pretend that your “wrong” body provides you with zero athletic advantages and to force yourself into women’s sports.
And, finally, it’s frightening how otherwise intelligent people will enable this nonsense by advancing ridiculous arguments (such as “elite athletes have advantages over non-elites therefore men competing against women is totally fair“).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ9YAFYIBOU&t=735s in case my html is done wrong again.
‘I would *really* like to hear from the author about this. She clearly made a choice about pronouns.’
I wonder why this commenter is so fixated on this? Of course she made a choice about pronouns; the subject of the essay is a man, but Smith is risking consequences if she says so in print.
^ The quoted bit is from a comment on Victoria’s article.
GW #1
Speaking of fabric crafts, many years ago the (very large) American football player Rosie Greer was known for needlepoint as well as flattening opposing players. Despite his first name, he never claimed to be a woman.