Reality of Biology in Sports
Since Joe Biden has assumed the presidency, he has enacted various laws regarding a wide range of topics. One law that has been put into effect is the protection of members in the LGBTQ+ community. It is good that the LGBTQ+ community now has the protection they deserve, but certain aspects of this newly-founded law strike some interesting questions. Items in this executive order such as equal access to healthcare are greatly needed and less controversial, while areas such as sports participation of the LGBTQ+ community are heavily debated. Ultimately, this sports controversy comes down to two essential points: inclusion and fairness.
It is not the first time that this controversy has been debated. On one side of the debate, many are arguing that since one identifies as a girl, this person should be able to participate in women’s sports. This is regardless of the fact that this person was born a male. A common argument that you will see on this side of the spectrum is that since this person identifies as a girl, you have no right to say that this individual should not have a right on the women’s team. The opposite side of the argument brings up methods such as testosterone suppression to reason that even though this person was biologically a male, they still have the same advantages on the playing field. Nevertheless, the reality of biology states differently.
In sports, size and muscle recovery among many other factors contribute to make a great athlete. Male athletes naturally have advantages like these which causes them to generally do better in sports. For example, the fastest man on Earth ran a 100 meter dash in 9.58 seconds while the fastest woman ran the same distance in 10.49 seconds which is most definitely fast, but slower compared to the fastest male. There are numerous reasons why this difference stands. Reasons such as the length of one’s limbs (also known as height), to essential factors such as shoulder girdle allow for things such as upper body strength and speed. Muscle mass, skeletal structure, larger lungs, larger hearts and a greater number of red blood cells are something a naturally born female cannot attain. Even if a naturally born man gets testosterone suppression, they will still have a greater advantage than many females, greatly impacting the playing field. Because of the many transgender athletes, some women have complained about a possibly unfair advantage in the sporting field. Some of these female athletes feel that due to transgender athletes, their scholarship and achievement opportunities are being greatly diminished.
A female athlete by the name of Selena Soule, as well as other competitors like her, feel that their chances have been lessened. In an interview, she said, “We all know the outcome of the race before it even starts; it’s demoralizing. I fully support and am happy for these athletes for being true to themselves. They should have the right to express themselves in school, but athletics have always had extra rules to keep the competition fair.” Women’s sports were created for women to have a playing field that would be suited to their level. Allowing biological men to participate in these activities no longer means that it is women’s sports. Transgender athletes in all sorts of sports ranging from wrestling to track and field have consistently been emerging victorious. It is not fair for those athletes who put their heart and soul into training but are unable to compete with the biological advantages of others.
Donna • Nov 10, 2021 at 10:19 am
I think this is more of a gray area than just dividing sports based on gender assigned at birth. Here are some things to consider:
Transmasculine people exist. They may take testosterone, which causes increase in muscle mass, as part of their transition. Using the same logic in the article, it wouldn’t be fair to make them play in the girls/women’s division.
Bone structure, muscle mass, and size of cardiovascular organs are largely dictated by the type of puberty someone goes through (testosterone-dominant or estrogen-dominant). Sure, there would be a difference in a cis woman and in a trans woman who started HRT later in life, but if a trans woman started puberty blockers at an appropriate time in their teens and then had feminizing HRT to have an estrogen-dominant puberty, the difference would be marginal.
There are other differences in physiology beyond sex/gender that exist in sports. Some people are born to have an advantageous body type or structure for a certain sport. Michael Phelps produces less lactic acid that the average athlete, making recovery easier, and he has big hands and feet, which are helpful in displacing more water during swimming. There are also average differences that exist between different races/ethnicity. For example, I noticed while watching the 2020 Olympic basketball that the Mongolian athletes were significantly shorter than the US athletes; people of East Asian descent tend to be shorter than people of European descent. To no surprise, the US team seemed to have an easier time scoring and blocking as tall stature is a natural advantage in basketball. However, these advantages are considered “fair” and a normal part of sports.
I think the approach for inclusion of trans athletes should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis for each athlete based on physiological evaluation and what sport they are playing rather than a blanket ban or making them all play in the division according to their gender assigned at birth.