Trans women face potential women’s rugby ban over safety concerns

submitted by Echoofmiles from theguardian.com

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[–]EnnuiOz 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Rugby Union and League are very popular sports in Australia. I am more of an Australian Rules fan (hence Callum Mouncey being my usual point of reference) however, I do have a passing interest in both of the other codes.

I think what really gets my goat is when TRAs bring up examples of some South Pacific Islander women as examples of women who are taller and more muscular than the average caucasian women. Yes, they are sometimes bigger and stronger but they are still women and, as such, don't have the other underlying biological advantages as men (lung size, bone density- you know the drill). In addition these women have often sacrificed speed over bulk (much like in the mens' code,) so the smaller, more agile women are often nimble (not sure thst's the word I am looking for) enough to avoid or outpace their tackles.

I don't think I am putting my point across as strongly as I could but, to take my partner and myself as examples. She is smaller lighter and far more agile than me. In a hypothetical situation I would probably be in the ruck with the other larger, heavier, stronger women whilst she would be skipping down the sidelines laughing at us as the ruck broke up knowing there was no way that we would e able to catch her. However, in the case of a man, he would also likely be in the ruck and be able to push and flatten all of us larger females and therefore win the ball for his team - along with potentially injuring others in the scrum.

I'm hoping that someone with more experience in the codes can chip in and explain things better. I know nothing about American football so I can't really relate the danger in terms of game play with regards to that code.

E: There are also always going to be outliers, look up Jonah Lomu (sp?) playing against England. But, at least they were all still males.

[–]Doobeedoo661 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

You’re absolutely right. There’s a rather unhinged transwoman called Kirsti Miller from Broken Hill, a former athlete, who’s constantly posting images of Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams to suggest she’s no different to a biological man who’s suppressed his testosterone levels.

I’m often staggered by the blatant racism and misogyny Miller spews about Dame Valerie Adams. Miller never addresses who Dame Valerie Adams is, or her incredible achievements in his feed, I’m assuming to avoid the barrage of hate it may attract from Adams fans.

Kirsti is so vehemently poisonous, even Mouncey blocked him on Twitter so I guess that’s saying something. I’d love to report Miller for racism and misogyny but I don’t use Twitter. Perhaps it’s better to allow others to see just how transwomen view Pacific Islanders.

[–]Overdrive 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That's just it. There's going to be outliers, and freaks of nature within both females and males. Sports aren't inherently fair in that way. We still make it our job to keep the playing field as level as possible, and any male has that automatic oomph on any female in multiple ways. Are there women who could wipe the board with certain male athletes? Sure. Yet I don't see how we can fairly be like "Oh this one here, he was a real wimp when he played as a male he can play." The matter is that in general, there are risks and advantages. A lot of trans women athletes were actually male competitors before as well. Not trying to be mean, just fair we can't consider the outliers as a means to open up the ring to everybody.