Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Dominoes Falling in the Fight to Protect Women’s Sports
The Federation Internationale de Natation (FINA), which governs international competitive swimming, has come to a remarkably fair and humane conclusion regarding the participation of transgender athletes. A couple of excerpts:
The Science Group reported that biological sex is a key determinant of athletic performance, with males outperforming females in sports (including Aquatics sports) that are primarily determined by neuromuscular, cardiovascular, and respiratory function, and anthropometrics including body and limb size. The extent of the male/female performance gap varies by sport and competition, but the gap universally emerges starting from the onset of puberty.
…
Male-to-female transgender athletes (transgender women) and athletes with 46 XY DSD whose legal gender and/or gender identity is female are eligible to compete in the women’s category in FINA competitions and to set FINA World Records in the women’s category in FINA competitions and in other events recognised by FINA if they can establish to FINA’s comfortable satisfaction that they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 or before age 12, whichever is later. Specifically, the athlete must produce evidence establishing that:
i. They have complete androgen insensitivity and therefore could not experience male puberty; or
ii. They are androgen sensitive but had male puberty suppressed beginning at Tanner Stage 2 or before age 12, whichever is later, and they have since continuously maintained their testosterone levels in serum (or plasma) below 2.5 nmol/L.
The first physical indications of puberty are classed as Tanner Stage 2.
Did we just get a win? I did not see this coming. Slava Ukraina! Nothing like the distant fall of hot metal rain and the prospect of a cold winter to shake off summer dreams, eh?
Published in Politics
On your mark! Get Set! GO!
FINA faces backlash over new ‘gender inclusion policy’ for transgender swimmers.
🍿🍿🍿🍿
Whether or not it confers an advantage, don’t we want to actively discourage anyone but adult progressives from transitioning? A better person than me would also want to discourage adult progressives from transitioning, but I am not that better person.
Hav you written about this as a Doctor?
“LGBTQ+ rights groups and other swimmers said the policy would hurt transgender athletes.”
Yes. Yes it will. But it will help everyone else who is competing by eliminating people with a demonstrably unfair advantage. Most fascinating is the claim by LGBTQ & Allies that FINA’s decision is anti-science. Science does not back the idea of ‘transitioning’ in any way.
There are some significant athletic advantages of males over females that are present before puberty, notably in metabolic capacity.
Illustrative example: One of my daughters’ high school track teammates set a national high school record in a distance run after only a couple of years of serious training. (I believe the record still holds.) Truly an outlier among females.
Sometimes to save time, high school meets will run the boys and girls distance run events together (separate races, just at the same time). At one of these meets when she was in 12th grade, her younger brother in 9th grade was running at the same time. A late bloomer, he was still pre-pubescent – high voice, still 6 inches shorter than she was. And yet he beat her easily (and she did NOT want to come in behind her little brother)!
Science only provides information which proves the Democratic party’s stance correct. Accept it kiss your shot at a blue checkmark bye-bye.
Well your 9th grade had male growth hormone pumping through his body. Your daughter won without that!
Reminds me of the castrati in opera. All these young boys would be castrated in the hopes their voices didn’t change. Sadly, many of them had voides that deepened anyway, and of those who voice didn’t change, many of them weren’t good enough for a career in opera. So you ended up with a bunch of men no women wanted.
Okay, not all was lost. I read an article that said some castrati were able to . . . how do I put this? Were able to rise to the occasion and perform. They became popular because they guaranteed baby-free sex . . .
Exactly right. This is the point Matt Walsh made in his podcast. It’s a Pyrrhic victory that cedes the underlying trans premise of gender fluidity while encouraging younger “transitions” – i.e. chemical puberty blockers etc. Not a win! They can’t define legally what a woman is.
“If people’s feelings are hurting, government has got to move,” or words to that effect.
Truly nature is cruel. When you can have safe sex it’s never fun…