In the news...

I don't usually do a wrap up but I thought I'd try it.

Thought I’d do a little ICYMI (mom, this means “in case you missed it” in internet lingo.)

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Thanks Trace

Friday night, I was on Trace Gallagher’s Fox News at Night. Subjects covered included the Olympics very weird and nothing to do with sport opening ceremonies and the new Olympic press guidelines which mark the word “biological” as “problematic.”

Here’s the segment.

And here are the highlights if you don’t want the full four minutes!

Title IX Re-write Blocked

In other news, 6 more states blocked the Title IX rewrite from going into effect on August 1. If I’m understanding correctly, this means the re-write is on hold in half of the states in the U.S. That’s a win for fairness in women’s sports. But it’s not over. Lawyers for the Biden administration are seeking to delay the injunction.

This one’s a win for now, though the final outcome remains to be seen and may very well be decided by the Supreme Court. (Lawyers, feel free to correct my understanding.)

And of course, for every win, there’s a loss. . .

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“Biology” is problematic

The new Olympic media guidelines state that using the term “biological” in reference to trans athletes is “problematic.” Yes, the truth is “problematic” in today’s upside down world.

As I said on Trace’s show per the clip above, fine — if saying “biological male” is bigoted as a way to truthfully refer to trans women, I’ll just say “male” and I invite you to do the same. Because that is the reality. Here’s a snippet from the guideline from the International Olympic Committee (IOC):

“A person’s sex category is not assigned based on genetics alone and aspects of a person’s biology can be altered when they pursue gender-affirming medical care.”

The IOC guide went on to state that “biologically male” and “biologically female” is “problematic language.”

No. Sex is not assigned, it is observed. And if you “feel” the opposite sex and prefer to present that way, that doesn’t change your biology.

I’m not playing their language games. If you go along, and you say “trans women ARE women” then there is no way to say “but they can’t compete in women’s sports.” You’ve already said they are women. So don’t say it. Trans women are men. Dress how you want, do what you want, but leave children and our sports alone.

Thank you Jordan Peterson.

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Social validation

We at XX-XY Athletics did a fun little social media effort on Twitter/X.

Thanks to those who posted their pics and tagged Biden and Harris. We even got some nice coverage for it here. I don’t know what Twitchy is but thanks for the shout out. And thanks to folks that shared pictures of themselves. If you haven’t, there’s still time!

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Forbes & the parallel economy

Just today, a great piece ran in Forbes about the parallel economy. For those who don’t know the term, it is often used to refer to brands pushing back on woke capitalism.

But, as I say in the piece, I reject it.

“I reject the parallel economy positioning because it makes us second-class citizens.

In the case of our brand, 70% of Americans agree with our mission. So the other mainstream athletic brands are actually the ‘parallel economy’ not us.”

Again, when you accept language being thrust on you that alters literal reality, it’s a losing game. So don’t accept it. (Don’t capitalize covid either. We don’t capitalize flu so why covid? We don’t even capitalize cancer FFS. — h/t to my husband on this one. I resisted his insistence — What’s the harm?! The AP style guide says to do it! But he’s right. No big C. Little c covid.)

Public Square and XX-XY Athletics are not parallel to anything. We are regular businesses. We are building brands that appeal to anywhere from half of Americans to — in the case of protecting women’s sports — 70% of Americans. How is that “parallel”? Parallel to what?

Nobody puts baby in the corner.

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We made a shirt and now it’s gone.

At XX-XY Athletics we introduced a limited edition t-shirt that says Stand Up. Save Women’s Sports. Here it is:

It’s pretty much all gone now. There’s a handful left in men’s (sizes XL and XXL) and in women’s (XS and S). If you didn’t get one and would like one, let me know. We will make more!

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Some things never change

Lastly, Francesca Block wrote this beautiful piece for The Free Press about the ongoing breaking of American gymnasts.

I was interviewed but that has nothing to do with why it’s really good. She just captures it. What it’s actually like. It was supposed to get better after Nassar and Safe Sport and all of it.

Sadly, I don’t think it has. USA Gymnastics is pretty good at PR but sadly, not so good at actually caring about their athletes.