AUTHOR JK Rowling is no stranger in the realm of gender politics, being labelled transphobic in the past for her opinion that trans-men are not women.
Her strong opinion on this subject made another appearance in the recent boxing fiasco at the Paris 2024 Olympics as reported by social media influencer @OliLondonTV.
Politics aside, perhaps the veracity of JK Rowling’s opinion can be better accessed from a biological lens. According to the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), sex differences in athletic performance are minimal before puberty.
Significant differences emerge at puberty due to the effects of testosterone in males. Testosterone levels rise 20- to 30-fold in males during puberty and are 15 times higher in males than females by age 18.
The ACSM continued, saying that the effects of testosterone during male puberty include increased skeletal muscle mass due to larger muscle fibre cross-sectional area, especially fast, type II fibres.
In essence, males on average have larger ventricular mass (heart) and cardiac volumes, larger airways and lungs, greater body height and longer limbs. They also possess lower percentage of body fat and higher haemoglobin concentration.
This about sums up why Angela Carini abandoned the fight after 46 seconds following a powerful punch to the nose. Surprisingly, the world internet community which were mostly supportive towards people of the LBGT category were quite the opposite here.
A quick skim through the comment section found that not a single netizen defended the idea of having a trans-male competing against a biological female.
One netizen astutely pointed out that no trans-females could be found in the male category, further expressing her worry for the future of women’s sports.
Another made an apt reference to the satire animated TV show, South Park, with an episode where a trans man beat all the women in a fitness competition.
True to its name, netizen @AngryCrabCake66 made a heated comment, stating that such “males” were taking the easy way out by entering women’s sports instead.
Netizen @NuesretKaymak’s suggested that the solution was to have trans folks in their own category while at the same time throwing a thinly-veiled barb by citing the Paralympics.
A netizen even suggested legal actions to rectify this fiasco.
All in all, we do believe that political correctness has no place in the arena of sports. Man and woman have equal rights, but man and woman do not have equal abilities. However, here is a twist. If political correctness is allowed free rein, then we must observe that men and women are equal in rights and abilities. That said, trans-men being women should have no trouble entering the men’s category to compete…or are we wrong? – Aug 2, 2024
Main image credit: AP/John Lochner
