The article How U.S. Politicians Are Using Moral Panics to Sideline Trans Athletes was published on June 23, 2022, by two authors, Anna Baeth and Anna Goorevich. The article examines how media coverage and the actions of politicians (predominantly white cisgender men) affect perceptions of transgender athletes. Baeth and Goorevich argue that transgender people participating in sporting events or competitions are part of the spectacle rather than highlighting their social visibility. The authors believe this is because about 92% of publications about transgender people in sports are covered from a theoretical perspective (Baeth and Goorevich). Athletes do not get individual coverage of their games or accomplishments because politicians use a moral panic to push them out of sports. Transgender people come under pressure from a society that inadvertently succumbs to propaganda from conservatives.
Moral panic is a condition experienced by people who receive statements about threats to their dignity and rights. Cisgender white male politicians use this to their advantage by claiming that transgender athletes, specifically trans women, are taking seats away from “biological women” (Baeth and Goorevich). Consequently, the visibility of transgender people is decreasing, and more conservative people are opposing their participation in sporting events. Moral panic negatively affects statistics about transgender people in sports because they are perceived as a threat rather than a real person. Furthermore, Baeth and Goorevich point out that politicians work against gender equality in sports because they eliminate opportunities for all athletes to have an equal chance. Baeth and Goorevich conclude that anti-trans sentiment is a direct consequence of the moral panic stirred up in the media, which leads to increased conservatism in the overall political and social climate in the United States.
Works Cited
Baeth, Anna, and Goorevich, Anna. “How U.S. Politicians are Using Moral Panics to Sideline Trans Athletes”. The Society Pages, Web.