I'm really fed up with chancers like Rhys McKinnon and Will Thomas. Those men have no sexual dysphoria to speak of. They just want to win medals they wouldn't get in their own division. Thomas was what, 500th on the male swimming roster? McKinnon is the most out of shape 'athlete' I've ever seen - he fell off his bike, for God's sake! Women's sports : that says it all. I don't care what deluded males think or want, they are not women and never will be!
When I found out that my ex-husband, a man who thinks "he's a woman" for 30 years now, has been competing in various martial arts forms in the women's categories, my heart sank. As I read the diaries 3 decades ago (anniversary of in August, while "on vacation") my thoughts raced in the areas of personal sexual behavior; what's he exposed me to (and I was nursing, so our one year old, by breast milk transmission) what might he expose me to, and wow, he's been leaving us (me, toddler and infant) alone to find for ourselves if someone tried to break in to our apartment.
He's 4 inches taller than me, strongly build, though wiry. I cannot imagine facing him down in a tae kwon do tournament. He always was a ruthless, unforgiving opponent. In the picture of him with the rest of womens team from his dojo, he stands out immediately. No woman should allow herself to be slated to fight him. I just can't imagine. Same old, couldn't stand out as a man, try out your "womanface."
Ute Heggen, author, In the Curated Woods, True Tales from a Grass Widow (iuniverse, 2022)
Thank you for this very interesting essay. It's remarkable that much of this controversy was hashed out decades ago, yet it continues..... I discuss a bit of that history in my article "Steroids, Gender and Fair Play" found here:
...and in Colin's Substack, Reality's Last Stand".
Fundamentally, I see this as an issue of freedom of choice for girls and women. Collins' now vilified cartoon (depicting the philosophical train dilemma) captures the situation perfectly.
Hi Emma, how is the advantage when T is not just suppressed but 'off' because the man was castrated and his body doesn't make T anymore? Do you have a link to literature/an article about this? Because I can imagine that suppression maybe is different.
I'm in a discussion on Twitter with someone who says that it's different for a person like Lia Thomas who first did topsport and grew muscles, and *then* started to join women's sports, than it is for Natalie van Gogh, who first 'transitioned' (whatever that is in his case) and then started in cycling competitions, so after either suppressing T or not making T, which according to the person on Twitter causes him to be less strong against women than if he had started to do serious sports before his 'transition'.
Thank you for everything you've done and continue to do.
This is another excellent, comprehensive account of all that needs to be known to help make good, fair decisions.
I'm really fed up with chancers like Rhys McKinnon and Will Thomas. Those men have no sexual dysphoria to speak of. They just want to win medals they wouldn't get in their own division. Thomas was what, 500th on the male swimming roster? McKinnon is the most out of shape 'athlete' I've ever seen - he fell off his bike, for God's sake! Women's sports : that says it all. I don't care what deluded males think or want, they are not women and never will be!
Thank you for such an informative article! But why refer to these males as women? They are men.
Great article, thank you!
When I found out that my ex-husband, a man who thinks "he's a woman" for 30 years now, has been competing in various martial arts forms in the women's categories, my heart sank. As I read the diaries 3 decades ago (anniversary of in August, while "on vacation") my thoughts raced in the areas of personal sexual behavior; what's he exposed me to (and I was nursing, so our one year old, by breast milk transmission) what might he expose me to, and wow, he's been leaving us (me, toddler and infant) alone to find for ourselves if someone tried to break in to our apartment.
He's 4 inches taller than me, strongly build, though wiry. I cannot imagine facing him down in a tae kwon do tournament. He always was a ruthless, unforgiving opponent. In the picture of him with the rest of womens team from his dojo, he stands out immediately. No woman should allow herself to be slated to fight him. I just can't imagine. Same old, couldn't stand out as a man, try out your "womanface."
Ute Heggen, author, In the Curated Woods, True Tales from a Grass Widow (iuniverse, 2022)
uteheggengrasswidow.wordpress.com
Thank you for this very interesting essay. It's remarkable that much of this controversy was hashed out decades ago, yet it continues..... I discuss a bit of that history in my article "Steroids, Gender and Fair Play" found here:
https://everythingisbiology.substack.com/p/steroids-gender-and-fair-play
...and in Colin's Substack, Reality's Last Stand".
Fundamentally, I see this as an issue of freedom of choice for girls and women. Collins' now vilified cartoon (depicting the philosophical train dilemma) captures the situation perfectly.
Hey Emma, are you sure chess is a "pub" sport ?
Hi Emma, how is the advantage when T is not just suppressed but 'off' because the man was castrated and his body doesn't make T anymore? Do you have a link to literature/an article about this? Because I can imagine that suppression maybe is different.
I'm in a discussion on Twitter with someone who says that it's different for a person like Lia Thomas who first did topsport and grew muscles, and *then* started to join women's sports, than it is for Natalie van Gogh, who first 'transitioned' (whatever that is in his case) and then started in cycling competitions, so after either suppressing T or not making T, which according to the person on Twitter causes him to be less strong against women than if he had started to do serious sports before his 'transition'.
Just came upon BeetleBomb, so glad to find it here on Substack! I'd like to share this cartoon I posted this week about the attempt to erase women: https://annecantstandit.substack.com/p/cease-and-desist?r=7f8gy&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email