Throughout the history of sports, there have been
numerous athletes that earned the title of being controversial. Some athletes
create controversy because of their attitude, while other athletes seem to
never stay out of trouble with the law. In class Tuesday, we talked about
Richard Raskind who is now known as Renee Richards. I never heard of Renee
Richards before learning about her in class and I really thought that she was a
unique person to talk about. She is the first person that I know in sports to
do a sex change. I know alot of tolerant people may consider Raskind to be a
cheat just because she is actually a male playing a woman’s sport. I believe
that if a man chooses to have gender reassignment surgery, that's his own
decision, but I believe they ought to then forfeit the right to compete in
women's sports. I mean if a male chooses to become a woman and they feel as
though they should have the right to play in a women’s sport, I think that is
unfair. I have nothing against people who wish to do a sex change, but when it
comes to then playing in sports, I disagree. I don’t know why or how people
could get upset about that. Being male gives distinct physical advantages
(size, muscle build, and ability to gain muscle mass) that are an unfair
advantage against actual females, so of course most males would be dominate in
a women’s sport unless the women is like a BEAST (which is always cool for a
woman to beat a man J). But then I think to myself, what if a female did a sex
change to become a male. Should they be denied to play a male’s sport? Then as
I was reading in the PowerPoint slides from class, "that at the time she
fought for the right to play women's tennis, she suggested that due to loss of
strength (from taking hormones) , she was more like a woman" (N. Spencer,
Personal Communication, November 20, 2012). Should that be taken into
consideration? I believe to keep everything fair, men who were born men should
play in male sports and the same goes for women and if they wish to pursue
sports after having a sex change that they should forfeit.
Alicia Jefferson
The "J" in "which is always cool for a woman to beat a man J" was suppose to be a smiley face (:
ReplyDeleteAlicia Jefferson
ReplyDeleteAlicia,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic. I really can't decide how I feel. I like the idea of the test that decides if a person with a gender change is officially a woman or man for the purpose of competition but at the same time, I don't. I think it expands understanding and acceptance of trans-sexuals into sport. I don't think a woman would have any problem moving into a man's sport. They most likely wouldn't even need a test for it. The problem lies in exactly what you said about the loss of strength. People have a larger issue with letting men play female sports. We've already seen that in class with Richards and Keeling Pilaro.
To answer your question, I think it should be taken into consideration. Biologically, the make-up of men and women is very different. While there are rare cases like Britney Griner and Holly Mangold, I think men are more apt to be stronger and faster with less work put forth. Since this is rather unnatural for women, I think it is only fair to have a loss of strength standard for men converting to women to be allowed to participate. It is an unfair advantage if there is not one.
We did mention in class however that it is highly unlikely that a person would have a sex change just to participate in sport. With the increasing social acceptance of the procedure however, I think in the next half-century or so, you could see an increased number of trans-sexuals in sport. I have no idea what sports will see that increase or if it will be males to females or females to males, but I think there will be a couple that make the switch. Only time will tell though.
-Geoff Roberts
DeleteI agree with you from the fact that men should play with men and females with females because everyone says that it would be unfair to the females if a male played their sport because he would have an unfair advantage. But people often times forget what is at stake if a male loses to a female in their own sport. The media will embarrass that individual (the male) on a national stage. He would be the guy that lost to the girl even if she was just as capable and talented as him. When it comes to the sex change procedure I think is where it gets a little blurry. I would have to agree with you however that they should forfeit the right to compete in sport of their new gender because there is no way to measure if they have an unfair advatage or not.
ReplyDeleteMike Frank
It would make sense to have males who were born males remain in male sports even after a sex change and women in women, but the reason the individuals had sex changes were to in fact become that sex. Yes, it would be scary seeing a female who used to be a male coming at you in order to tackle you in rugby, but I feel as if that individual should be allowed to play the sport because they are females. I also feel as if because they strive to be females they would not want the masculine muscle mass and build; therefore, they would not be as strong as they were as males because they would not want to appear masculine. There is great controversy over this topic because there are so many different views and opinions. The ruling should be, however, that those who are now legally considered a particular sex should participate in the sex of a sport they are.
ReplyDeleteCasey Daulbaugh