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Boys playing in girls' sports - is it fair?

(38 Posts)
Davidhs Fri 16-Aug-19 12:02:10

When it comes to testosterone levels we already have restrictions, the South African runner has been limited to her events so if sex change athletes are an issue the limits are already there.

PamelaJ1 Fri 16-Aug-19 11:46:11

Paddyann, as janipat has already pointed out this wasn’t a mixed game. It was girls against boys.
David’s- if a team wants to field girls against boys and be at a disadvantage then I think the opposition would be very happy. It’s when it’s the other way round that it becomes a problem.

paddyann Fri 16-Aug-19 11:33:57

You're a bit obsessed by transgender people FarNorth maybe you should seek help.

Things change all the time ,no sense in getting your knickers in a twist about it .Mixed teams are quite common in my area where schools have only 14 or 16 pupils in a class .My GD 's class has only two girls so no mixed teams ...no games .

quizqueen Fri 16-Aug-19 11:27:10

In sports where strength can give an advantage, then men and women should complete separately, whatever they choose to call themselves. I don't see many trans women begging to complete against men, funnily enough. Other sports such as horse jumping, where there is no real advantage, have always been mixed.

FarNorth Fri 16-Aug-19 11:10:45

MiniMoon it was not a mixed team.
2 team members, claimed to be girls, were clearly male-bodied youths.

It is happening in the UK also, in the name of trans inclusion.

janipat Fri 16-Aug-19 10:28:09

I think the point being made here is that they are not supposed to be mixed teams but girl teams. Of course mixed teams playing each other would be fair. It's allowing boys who identify as girls but are genetically male to compete in all girl teams that is being objected to. A boy who has gone through, or is going through, puberty will have the advantages that higher testosterone levels bring. I don't pretend to have the answers but conceivably someone could field a team composed entirely of boys who identify as girls. Not many all genetically girls teams could compete against that.

Sparklefizz Fri 16-Aug-19 10:23:10

I watched Martina Navratilova's documentary on the science behind transgender and women's sports. It is very informative. Here is a link:
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/48777660

Minniemoo Fri 16-Aug-19 10:13:55

The sport issue is interesting. Ended up discussing this whilst watching Wimbledon.

Federer, amazing as he is, is getting older. He can't continue at the top of the game for much longer. Even though I can't see him stopping any time soon.

But he could go on to identify as female and carry on at the top of the game for a good 20 years.

So how are we supposed to manage this? There was a female reporter who ended up in hot water due to her opinion about it being unfair to women.

Yet another problem.

We really should be able to say that men, in general, are physically stronger than women, (not all!) and it shouldn't be 'wrong' to say this.

MiniMoon Fri 16-Aug-19 10:06:54

Why not field a mixed team? They were obviously not infringing the rules, otherwise they would not have been allowed to compete.
This was in the USA, are the rules for mixed teams different there?

RosieLeah Fri 16-Aug-19 10:02:11

It's not a problem when they are younger but, as they get older, boys have the advantage so it's unfair to pit them against each other. The exception would be rounders, where physical strength is not required.

We're getting to the stage now where gender equality is being taken to extremes. The genders may be equal, but they are not the same. The fact remains that men and women are different physically, and that must be taken into account.

Davidhs Fri 16-Aug-19 09:49:09

I was watching a local village football match and one team had 2 women players, nobody was making any issue about it. As for mixed games, as long as neither side is gaining any advantage I dont see a problem for younger children.
With older kids, there are girls who can compete with the boys, although the school girls hockey team or football team would want them so it doesn’t really work.
I did play in a mixed hockey match years ago, and it was payback time.

FarNorth Fri 16-Aug-19 08:23:10

savewomenssports.com/sws-updates/f/emilys-story?fbclid=IwAR3HKg8xPpfFmYjStEQkDsufmnLKfe1oSbD9egcSz5jLzkivHeoFPtOESp4

FarNorth Fri 16-Aug-19 08:22:29

We were very upset that their team clearly had two boys. There was almost a fight on the sidelines between the parents of our two teams. The goalie made a save and one of our dads said, “Great save by a boy!”. The parents of the other team yelled at him, “You’re insensitive. That’s a girl and her name is Betty”.

https://savewomenssports.com/sws-updates/f/emilys-story?fbclid=IwAR3HKg8xPpfFmYjStEQkDsufmnLKfe1oSbD9egcSz5jLzkivHeoFPtOESp4