Nowadays, more and more transgender women take part in sports competitions that raises questions as to the benefits they may have over traditional female athletes. Iinternational Olympic Committee (IOC) has ruled out that transgender women should be allowed to take part in the competitions provided that their level of testosterone has been below a certain limit for at least a year. While many people see this measure as politically correct and supportive for the LGBT community, others suppose it unfair towards female athletes. This paper hypothesizes that allowing transgender athletes born as men to compete against naturally born females significantly reduces the chances of the latter to win and undermines the principle of fair competitions proclaimed by IOC. The issues that support this statement are unequal muscular mass of men and women unchanged by transgender therapy; and unequal height and length of the body needed in game sports and jumping. Lastly, such characteristics as endurance and neurodynamic indicators may be seen as beneficial for transgender women.
The admittance of transgender athletes into sports competitions started in the early 2000s when the LGBT movement received support at many levels of the society. With the admittance of transgenders born as men into the highest sports leagues, concerns were voiced as to the fairness of such a decision as many factors exist that largely contribute to their success. These factors include unequal muscular mass and strength, unequal height and length of limbs, endurance, and neurodynamic indicators.
The muscular mass is seen as a decisive factor that largely contributes to the success in many sports; it is well known that muscular mass in men and women is different. First of all, muscular mass is determined by genetic algorithms that go unchanged which can later translate in advantage in powerlifting sports on the part of natural born men athletes. Thus, a transgender weightlifter from New Zealand, Laurel Hubbard, won silver in 2018 at a World Championship (Flores et al., 2020). For the title of vice-champion among women, 275 kg was enough for Laurel, while for men 300 kg did not guarantee any medals (Flores et al., 2020). It is worth noting that until the age of 42, Laurel did not achieve any success in sports in the male body (Flores et al., 2020). Secondly, men have an advantage in muscle strength; the measurements show that women have a double decrease in strength in the upper part of the body and more than a double in the lower part relative to men. This advantage may have allowed transgender weightlifter, born a man, Mary Gregory to renovate four world records among women in 2019. Previously the athlete did not show any result in the male body.
It is no secret that, as a rule, men are higher than women and have a longer body and limbs, the characteristics that can be beneficial for some kinds of sports. Height is essential in such team sports as baseball and volleyball allowing sportsmen to score more balls. A transgender sportsman Chloe Anderson, born as a man, shows how effective her game can be when she is higher than most of her team members (Wang, 2021). Long limbs are necessary in sports that involve running, jumping, or skating since they allow sportsmen to cover the same distances making fewer steps or efforts which may be crucial for the result. An example of a successful trans person born as a man in a women’s sports team is Quinn, a leading player of Canadian women’s football team. Quinn has become the first transgender Olympic champion of Tokyo and made a major contribution into the team’s victory (Richardson and Mark, 2020). Compared to other members of Quinn’s team, she has the highest speed and endurance due to her physique, height and length of legs and arms.
Finally, naturally born men and women have different endurance and neurodynamic indicators, the characteristics that do not change with the change of gender since they are determined by the structure of brain. It has been found that, by nature, men have a higher rate of reactions, while women demonstrate rigidity and neuroticism. The reactions play a vital role in sports where the speed of reactions may easily determine a succeeding victory or a failure. Thus, in those sports where reaction is vital, men are likely to gain a few millisecond advantages due to their quick reactions on a start. This places women competing against transgenders born as men in a disadvantaged position.
Endurance factors often determine the outcome of competitions since they allow to run long distances more effectively. It has been found out that endurance factors directly correlate with gender, men being more capable to endure while women seen as weaker and less resilient. Examples of successful transgenders such as footballer Quinn show that this factor may be decisive in game sports, giving naturally born men a certain advantage.
While there are no reasonable objections to transgender sportsmen born as women taking part in men’s competitions, the reverse situation may significantly diminish women’s ability to compete and achieve results. Indeed, by nature, the physic of sexes is different, and so are the abilities that go alongside it. Men outdo women in muscular mass and strength as well as in height and the length of the limbs. Moreover, men’s endurance and neurodynamic indicators show that men are much better equipped for sport in terms of grit and reaction. The examples of successful transgender sportsmen include Quinn, Chloe Anderson, and Mary Gregory who managed to succeed largely due to their male characteristics. In many respects, the division into men’s and women’s commands has been brought about by these differences that are now more and more ignored. The time has come for the society to ask ourselves whether we are ready to sacrifice women’s sports achievements for the sake of politically correct attitude to transgender sportsmen.
Works Cited
Flores, Andrew R., et al. “Public attitudes about transgender participation in sports: The roles of gender, gender identity conformity, and sports fandom.” Sex Roles vol. 83, no. 5, 2020, pp. 382-398.
Richardson, Andrew, and Mark A. Chen. “Comment on:“Sport and transgender people: a systematic review of the literature relating to sport participation and competitive sport policies”.” Sports Medicine vol. 50, no. 10, 2020, pp. 1857-1859.
Wang, Hanzhi. “Fairness for Transgender Athletes in Sports Competition.” 2021 International Conference on Public Relations and Social Sciences (ICPRSS 2021). Atlantis Press, 2021.