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A Man in Fuller
As many of you are aware, a young lady and seemingly a first-rate female athlete got on the same field as Vanderbilt’s men’s football team and proceeded to kick a rather unexceptional 35-yard squib.
I have nothing to add to this spectacle. I would like to query if any of you know the answer to the following. There has been much debate here in Connecticut (which is really just a thinking man’s Vermont) directed to whether biological males that identify as women should be permitted to compete against biological females, most notably in track and field events. It seems a given that biological males that identify as male cannot compete against women. In short, no one argues that men should be allowed to compete with women – only men that are women (or is it women that are men?) are afforded such an opportunity.
So how is it that Ms. Fuller, who seemingly is all woman, is able to play with and compete against the boys? I presume that whatever laws or regulations that prohibit men from racing against women would apply here, no? I have never seen a law that allows for women to compete in men’s sports but prohibits the reverse. Such a law would seem to be discriminatory on its face.
Could the gentleman rated number 2,457 in the world in men’s college tennis be permitted to thrash the number one rated female in order to snatch the cup? Is there any way to stop such a thing? If not, why are men not competing in women’s sports as men? What am I missing? Would it not be heralded as a great moment akin to Ms. Fuller’s? And don’t say common sense. Common sense left town when a young lady with a five o’clock shadow dashed across the finish line at the women’s 5K.
Has anybody anywhere asked this question? Has anyone in the mainstream responded?
Lastly, something has been on my mind and, as we are clearly not to acknowledge it, I’d like to throw it out there. I’ve spent four years listening to the verbal and emotional histrionics of Trump Haters saying things such as “How do I tell my daughter to be of high character when the President is such a low life,” and “How do I explain to my daughter that sexist pigs like the President can rise to the top”, etc. Well, congratulations. Whole new worlds of opportunity are available to all young ladies everywhere.
Mothers everywhere may now confidently counsel their daughters that “It is OK if you are an inauthentic, lazy, mentally subpar underachiever with a laughable academic background and not an original or honest thought in your head. In today’s world, if you are willing to show some cleavage and hook up with an ample, repulsive, married, but very politically powerful, man, you can make it to the top on your back all the way to Vice President!” And, yes, I am aware that Ms. Harris more likely made it to where she is on her knees. But that is, as far as I know, conjecture and I will not grant such an observation credence.
There. I said it.
Bonus points: I am a White, heterosexual male. Or am I a lesbian trapped in the body of a man? Seriously, am I? Can I snag the “L”, the “G” and the “T?” How would I know? How would anyone know?
Published in General
I argue this. I have been told all my life that black or white, etc., male or female, other. we are all equal. No group can discriminate by disallowing blacks or women or anything else. So we just need the NFL for all. or one college football for all. Let people get on and play based on their merit. This is the law. Lets embrace it fully and let the chips fall as they may.
If We are all “equal,” then why can She play in a Man’s league, but a Man has to “identify” as a Woman to play in the Women’s league?
And if She’s so good at soccer, as the article states, then why ain’t She playing on the Men’s soccer team?
I don’t doubt what you say. My upbringing was a bit more nuanced. I was taught to always be aware of my physical advantages over women and, as a result, to open doors when possible, pull out chairs, give up my seat on a bus, etc. I was further made to understand that women give life to and nurture our children and, as such, it is my responsibility to provide for and protect my wife. I believe that acknowledging these simple realities is required in order to be a gentleman. And I was always required to be a gentleman.
It is my understanding that we are all equal in the eyes of the law as to our equal worth and right to life and liberty. That said, I have no problem with women playing in the WNBA and men in the NBA. Both leagues provide entertainment as the players are equally matched. I could go further to say if there are two things I enjoy, they are jokes and sports. The WNBA is a joke and the NBA is a sport.
I’m guessing that there are NCAA rules governing who, gender wise, may participate in particular sports. It’s also possible that, in some sports (e.g., tennis), there never had to be rules since (pre-wokism) everyone pretty much agreed.
Regarding the Vanderbilt example, there are no recognized female football leagues/teams, so there may be no bar to women playing on the “men’s” team.
In men’s crew, there are female coxswains, who are actually recruited as such, since low weight is a qualification for the position.
Good points all.
I wanted to do justice to the Tom Wolfe allusion in the title. :)
This is where you go wrong. Merit is, as we all know, just a means for maintaining the white male patriarchy. All organizations and sub-organizations must include representation by all sexes, genders, races, colors, yearning-predilections, and any other characteristic that may arise. Quota management mandates that football teams must be more than 50% female. Such fun to figure out which 6 members of the offensive and defensive lineups will be female. I would normally say the interior lines should be male, but ‘interior line’ might be a sub-organization, requiring 3 females.
Maybe we make it all female, including biological (assigned erroneously at birth) males that so identify.
I do love it when a title comes together like that. It isn’t quite “Headless Body Found in Topless Bar” but I try.
I also think flyweights should be required to fight a heavyweight match at least once. Otherwise, they are being deprived at a chance for equality in glory. And vice-versa, I suppose, for fairness.
Not sure why, but I am reminded of the Boys In the Hall sketch where they refer to Tyrannosaurus Rex as having “That giant roar and those faggy little arms.” Different time I guess.
I’d suggest that “playing” may be the appropriate word to emphasize here.
My daughter played soccer at NCSU and as one of the smaller woman on the field could kick a soccer ball 60 yards in the air without a tee. However she would be the first to admit she and her team could not compete against men. As for transgender athletes (male to female or vis versa)what in the world is wrong with them competing against each other? I bet they would get huge crowds of spectators!
Vanderbilt lost 41-0 (and then fired the coach) so they never even got close enough for a field goal try, much less an extra point. So she only got to kick the ball once (no fault of her own). And the coach had her squib it because evidently the Vanderbilt special teams are as bad as their offense and defense so they didn’t want to risk a return. Anyway, this publicity stunt wouldn’t bother me so much except the SEC made her one of Players of the Week. Talk about lowered expectations.
Normally I don’t like the idea of women playing against men in contact sports (in golf or cross-country, sure). But I have to admit that when I played football in high school and college we always thought of the kickers as girls anyway.
What bothered me was the coach allowed her to give a speech to the team at the half. She’s “on the team” for a week, hadn’t played a down, and she has the gall to ask if she can give a pep talk at the half? And the coach agreed? No wonder Vandy is 0-8.
Then make it a random draw of whoever is interested. That would be equal.
Yeah, in a team sport you should at least pretend to care about, you know, the team
My upbringing was like you said but I have had too many women give me crap about opening doors for them, pulling chairs etc. I have been told plenty of times that this is a sexist issue and that I could be sanctioned for it. Thus women do not want these things since it shows a preference they demand not to be shown. Fine with me. They can have exactly what they demand. Equal in every way. And since I respect their point of view then that is what they should they have.
Well I think merit makes more sense but if required I can live just a random drawing of interested parties. No quotas, just pure random.
But you’re missing a golden opportunity there. All of the players on a team don’t play every time. So it wouldn’t be difficult to just double the size of the team by adding an equal number of women, WHO NEVER PLAY. That would satisfy the “gender diversity” issue just fine.
I’m against that. When I was wrestling, I wrestled 167. The next weight class was heavyweight. Guess who got to work out with them?
Officer Stickler checking in.
Kids In The Hall.
What’s she going to do when a 280# defensive lineman gets a hand on the ball and has license to smear her?
That’s why She ran directly off the field after kickoff.
I continue to believe that the so-called trans movement will be its own undoing — and will, I hope, take a chunk of wokeness with it.
You can weave fairy tales in math class until the bridges start falling down. Then you have to get back to things that actually work. Women athletes — real women, real athletes — will, I think, grow weary of losing to men, and we will put a stop to it.
“6-6, 348 pound kicker levels returner.”
350-Pound High School Kicker Jaheim Oatis Absolutely Demolished A Poor Kick Returner (VIDEO) | Total Pro Sports
Why? Has any Leftist wave been it’s own undoing before? Seems to me the majority pattern is the Left gets what it wants and the double downs, over and over.
Faux Androgynous One,
You’ve got a point: the left seems to march forward pretty relentlessly. On the other hand, as I’ve said elsewhere and many times, I think the trans movement is unusual, in that it has staked out a position that will simply be unacceptable to the vast bulk of Americans.
Most leftist causes can count on a slow grinding away, with the help of their lapdog press and the tiny little Napoleons who teach in our universities. But when you tell a family that their daughter won’t go to college on a track scholarship because some guy who calls himself Caitlin decided to compete against her in the 200 meter, or when some Indiana famer watches a bearded “woman” follow his daughter into the women’s room at Target, I think there’s going to be pushback. And there will always be pushback. This just isn’t something people are going to pretend to believe.
Anyway, that’s my hope and expectation. They let their fantasies run away with them.
Actually, I know the guy that coached her in high school soccer. The boys football team used her as a place kicker there, too, and apparently she did quite well. Just an exceptional athlete. Maybe it was a stunt, but she has the chops for it, even if the rest of the Vandy team isn’t quality.
Far more indignation has happened over this than it deserves, probably brought on by media hype. Who can blame them? Vandy was going to lose and the only reason people tuned in was to see what she would do. In that, it was the media, not Vandy, pulling a stunt.
It wasn’t preplanned as a stunt. The kickers were out due to covid. Teams are having trouble stitching together a large enough team to play but need to. They need the revenue from fans and TV and players wanted to play. Even my team played without fielding a full complement of players.
Students had gone home for the holiday, all except the soccer team which had just won the championship. She was packing to go home when she got the call. She worked out a day or two with the team, practicing kicking field goals. From the coverage I saw, she could kick them.
She never got a chance. Vandy never scored and never advanced the ball inside her field goal range. She wasn’t going to be allowed to stay on the field to block and tackle on the kickoff return and there was little chance Vandy could stop a return before much yardage was gained, so she was to kick it to the sidelines and get off the field. Since she was mainly there to kick field goals, nobody expected a kick into the end zone, yet she is being ridiculed for a short kick.
Her team called and she answered the call. She gave up her Thanksgiving, practiced hard, and gave fans a little cheer in an otherwise sorry game. The coach had nothing to lose. He was going to be fired anyway. We will doubtfully see another covid season like this one, making her appearance even rarer. Too many people couldn’t just have fun, go with the flow. Instead, they must attack her, for answering the call, for doing a locker room speech, for kicking a short kick,whatever.
This reminds me of the attacks on Tim Tebow, also accused of being undeserving of an opportunity. However, every team he played on drew much higher attendance, including our team. Fans liked it. Professional sports has not been harmed by the kneeling, praying Tim Tebow, but by the kneeling National Anthem protesters. Likewise, it wasn’t her short kick but the whining about her even being there that hurt football.
When I was playing rugby, and one team didn’t have enough players, it just borrowed players from the other team. Of course, we played rugby for fun.