Poor woman. I am so sad and furious about this. My mum had a brain haemmorhage at the same age. The gp was phoned, promptly came out to the farm, he phoned an ambulance that whisked her straight to a hospital bed. 40 years on, we still have our mum https://t.co/74WekrDUJu
There has been decades of research on the immense physical advantages males have over females, and transwomen are almost always typical males with no sex development disorder.
The strength difference between male and female bodies is vast. Equally trained males have 57% more grip strength,[1] 65% more leg strength,[2] 90% more total upper body strength,[3] and 162% more punch power.[4]
To put these numbers in comparison, males are only 7% taller than females, yet on the population level we easily see the considerable height differences between them.[5] Percentages like 50-160% are therefore immense and have considerably less overlap between the sexes.
But what about transwomen who suppress their testosterone? Do they retain an advantage? Yes. At baseline, depending on the sport, males have 10-50% advantage over an equally trained female. For transwomen on T suppression, their muscle mass/strength parameters (the main source of their advantage) only reduce 2-12%, even over the course of two years. This does not come close to eliminating the musculoskeletal advantages.[6]
But then one might respond with, “Even if transwomen have advantage, the advantage is irrelevant because we allow all kinds of competitive advantages within women's sport."
The advantage is not irrelevant. We are comparing apples to oranges. Sport is about recognizing and rewarding exceptional abilities within similar categories.
Even if we separate sport by height or weight categories, males will still dominate in those categories over females. Why? Because being male gives a giant boost to almost every physiological aspect of sport performance, even after all things are equal. For example, in weightlifting, a male will lift 30% more compared to an equally trained female of the same weight and height.
Thus, letting males compete in female sport would not be rewarding exceptional abilities within females. It would reward being male.
References:
[1] Bohannon, R., et al. (2019). Handgrip Strength: A Comparison of Values Obtained from the NHANES and NIH Toolbox Studies. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 73(2).
[2] Lassek, W. D. and Gaulin, S. J. (2009). Costs and benefits of fat-free muscle mass in men: relationship to mating success, dietary requirements, and native immunity. Evolution of Human Behavior, 30, 322-328.
[3] Morris, J., et al. (2020). Sexual dimorphism in human arm power and force: implications for sexual selection on fighting ability. Journal of Experimental Biology, 223(2).
[4] Ibid.
[5] Roser, M., et al. (2019). Human height. Our World in Data.
[6] Hilton, E., Lundberg, T. (2020). Transgender women in the female category of sport: Perspectives on testosterone suppression and performance advantage. Sports Medicine, 51(2), 199-214.
BOOKS FOR SCHOOLS. I am restarting this project. Any state school may apply to me for money to buy not text books but reading books for school & classroom libraries. I will set up a dedicated email address and make it public on here soon. Please RT/pass on.
Happy what would have been Birthday to George Harrison.
Still astonished and grateful to have permission to include his lyrics 'Here Comes the Sun' in A Poem for Every Day of the Year. 🙏🎼📚
#Beatles#GeorgeHarrison#lyricist#HereComesTheSun
📚GIVEAWAY ALERT📚
For National Poetry Day, win
📕A POEM FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR📕
plus a box set of CDs
Also signed by HELENA BONHAM CARTER & SIMON RUSSELL BEALE, who read the poems – brilliantly!
#bookbloggers#edutwitter#teachers#readers
Follow+RT
UK
Ends Oct 8
��� COMPETITION 🎂 To celebrate our 75th anniversary, we’re launching the most exciting competition in Folio’s history... One lucky Folio fan will win their choice of 75 different Folio editions! To enter: RT this post and follow @foliosociety.
#BoTD
Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow
Mary Stewart
Her stories were generally narrated by poised, smart, highly educated young women who drove fast cars and knew how to fight their corner, but were also tender-hearted with a strong moral sense
#LITRASAURUS
https://t.co/OVLiYMj13u
@MelanieJaxn Madam, Will You Talk? and The Ivy Tree. Actually, all of them! Reading Wildfire at Midnight in honour of her birthday, chose this one because it seems apt now as it is set at the time of the Queen's coronation