I haven’t read a Maggie Merten’s article but it makes me sad to think that she might suggest that if only women trained harder they would get the same benefits physically as men. Elite women athletes work and train just as hard as men but due to biological differences they do not achieve the exact same results. Women should not be made to feel bad because of this.
There are just sooo many things wrong with the dominant ("progressive") narrative about gender being promoted by trans advocates, but at its most fundamental it's just based on complete falsehood, that sex is "just a construct" and arbitrarily "assigned" at birth (a narrative we support we use "assigned female" as you did here; "observed female" is the reality of what happens at birth).
From this basic falsehood, the narrative (rooted in postmodernist denial of any material reality) then posits that "binaries" inevitably lead to hierarchies (no evidence of that, no real way of proving it...), so we must "destroy the binary" as a matter of... justice? Related, the notion that acknowledging that sex exists and that females and males are *different* (on average) inevitably means females are *inferior*. Also, just doesn't follow, though the physical differences have historically been used as the justification for the (historically unfair and harmful to women) social differences (i.e., gender).
But it's also possible (and reality-based) to just acknowledge that sex (and average sex differences) exists and that male puberty confers a physical advantage when it comes to most tests of strength and endurance ("sport") that humans have come up with. Michael Shermer offers a nice visual of this reality in the bell chart here: https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/trans-athletes-and-conflicting-rights
To the extent that we all couch our critiques of the dominant narrative on transgenderism in any kind of "sympathy" that denies the reality of sex, we're just perpetuating the problem. Male and female are it. There aren't "all kind of variations in between." Intersex conditions are not some third sex that prove that sex is "just a construct," just "assigned" at birth; they are disorders of sexual development that happen (very rarely) to males and females. It is possible for creatures as intelligent as we are to promote a society that allows for equality between the sexes ("undoing" gender) without denying that sex exists and that sex differences exist. The latter, while historically being used as the excuse for patriarchal practices (gender), doesn't necessarily mean patriarchal practices are inevitable. (Assuming best intent for the gender essentialism being promoted by the dominant trans narrative; they think they're "undoing" gender by denying the reality of sex, though they're actually just reinforcing it.)
Really well supported arguments, you have collected all the valid criticisms. Thank you.
I leave my thoughts on what has happened in the modern cancel culture, this has been ramped up in an attempt to divide people as much as possible to slide in a Reset with less opposition. When people start to glorify Political Correctness that flies in the face of reality it it a result of malicious influence from underhanded agents promoting a divisive narrative.
"'Political Correctness' is not the same as 'Correctness'. It is usually a political tool used to oppress a dissenting group when expressing a logical argument is too hard." - Kalle Pihlajasaari, 2020
Why not create a third class in sports, for everyone who doesn't want to be in either female or male athletics? Is that a stupid suggestion? We already have a Special Olympics, and apparently now a Paralympics.
Nature is messy. There aren't just men and women, but all kinds of variations in between, relating to hormones, genes, chromosomes, etc.
For example, Caster Semenya has naturally high testosterone levels. From Wikipedia:
'Semenya is an intersex woman, with 5α-Reductase 2 deficiency, assigned female at birth, with XY chromosomes and naturally elevated testosterone levels caused by the presence of internal testes.'
Sporting advantages can also come from a particular family lineage, ethnicity or even economic status (a well nourished person will be fitter than a malnourished person).
I'm all for fairness in sport, but from the outset the idea of a fair women's or men's race is flawed since some advantages may be passively enjoyed.
The only way a race could truly be fair is if every competitor was a clone, that way the competitor who trained most diligently would come first.
I haven’t read a Maggie Merten’s article but it makes me sad to think that she might suggest that if only women trained harder they would get the same benefits physically as men. Elite women athletes work and train just as hard as men but due to biological differences they do not achieve the exact same results. Women should not be made to feel bad because of this.
There are just sooo many things wrong with the dominant ("progressive") narrative about gender being promoted by trans advocates, but at its most fundamental it's just based on complete falsehood, that sex is "just a construct" and arbitrarily "assigned" at birth (a narrative we support we use "assigned female" as you did here; "observed female" is the reality of what happens at birth).
From this basic falsehood, the narrative (rooted in postmodernist denial of any material reality) then posits that "binaries" inevitably lead to hierarchies (no evidence of that, no real way of proving it...), so we must "destroy the binary" as a matter of... justice? Related, the notion that acknowledging that sex exists and that females and males are *different* (on average) inevitably means females are *inferior*. Also, just doesn't follow, though the physical differences have historically been used as the justification for the (historically unfair and harmful to women) social differences (i.e., gender).
But it's also possible (and reality-based) to just acknowledge that sex (and average sex differences) exists and that male puberty confers a physical advantage when it comes to most tests of strength and endurance ("sport") that humans have come up with. Michael Shermer offers a nice visual of this reality in the bell chart here: https://michaelshermer.substack.com/p/trans-athletes-and-conflicting-rights
To the extent that we all couch our critiques of the dominant narrative on transgenderism in any kind of "sympathy" that denies the reality of sex, we're just perpetuating the problem. Male and female are it. There aren't "all kind of variations in between." Intersex conditions are not some third sex that prove that sex is "just a construct," just "assigned" at birth; they are disorders of sexual development that happen (very rarely) to males and females. It is possible for creatures as intelligent as we are to promote a society that allows for equality between the sexes ("undoing" gender) without denying that sex exists and that sex differences exist. The latter, while historically being used as the excuse for patriarchal practices (gender), doesn't necessarily mean patriarchal practices are inevitable. (Assuming best intent for the gender essentialism being promoted by the dominant trans narrative; they think they're "undoing" gender by denying the reality of sex, though they're actually just reinforcing it.)
Really well supported arguments, you have collected all the valid criticisms. Thank you.
I leave my thoughts on what has happened in the modern cancel culture, this has been ramped up in an attempt to divide people as much as possible to slide in a Reset with less opposition. When people start to glorify Political Correctness that flies in the face of reality it it a result of malicious influence from underhanded agents promoting a divisive narrative.
"'Political Correctness' is not the same as 'Correctness'. It is usually a political tool used to oppress a dissenting group when expressing a logical argument is too hard." - Kalle Pihlajasaari, 2020
This isn't complicated. It's simple. And everyone reading this knows it.
Why not create a third class in sports, for everyone who doesn't want to be in either female or male athletics? Is that a stupid suggestion? We already have a Special Olympics, and apparently now a Paralympics.
Nature is messy. There aren't just men and women, but all kinds of variations in between, relating to hormones, genes, chromosomes, etc.
For example, Caster Semenya has naturally high testosterone levels. From Wikipedia:
'Semenya is an intersex woman, with 5α-Reductase 2 deficiency, assigned female at birth, with XY chromosomes and naturally elevated testosterone levels caused by the presence of internal testes.'
Sporting advantages can also come from a particular family lineage, ethnicity or even economic status (a well nourished person will be fitter than a malnourished person).
I'm all for fairness in sport, but from the outset the idea of a fair women's or men's race is flawed since some advantages may be passively enjoyed.
The only way a race could truly be fair is if every competitor was a clone, that way the competitor who trained most diligently would come first.