While the topic of gender has become a hot debate today in society, many people have doubts on whether or not transgender people should be allowed to play professional sports. More specifically, in the Olympics where recent changes in ruling have created various opinions on the topic. While there is great evidence for both sides of the argument, there is a physical advantage for transgender people in sports. There are both genetic structure advantages and hormone benefits that transgender athletes have over born athletes of their gender. The current rules in place were incorrectly made and has changed the Olympics future for the worse.
The Olympics have been around since the late 19th century and have alternated between winter and summer games every two years. Constant changes have been made over the years resulting in better competition and sometimes worse. One of the most recent and biggest changes has to do with the athletes participating in the games and the rules for who is able to participate. Michelle Castillo’s article, “Why Transgender Athletes Should be Allowed to Compete as the Gender of Their Choice”, discusses the previous ruling for transgender athletes in the Olympics and what they were required to do in order to compete. She states, “...the International Olympic Committee in 2004 allowed transgender athletes to compete in the gender they transitioned to. The athletes are required to complete surgical reassignment surgery and undergo at least two years of
Research produced from studies into biological effects of gender has been used in real life application. Until 1991 it was ruled that people with XX chromosomes had to compete in female events within the Olympics, and people with XY chromosomes had to compete in male events, but research into gender development changed the rules and now it genetic sex no longer determines entry into the Olympic; proving that research into this field has been most valuable for real life
Therefore, the country’s legislators felt that America was better than that and decided to form a law that would reflect the gender diversity of the American people. This led to the Title IX which aimed at abolishing discrimination based on sex in the system of education in America. Formation of the Act saw some girls participating in athletes grow from 16,000 in 1970 to 200,000 in 2012 (Brake 2). The participation in health, socioeconomic activities were some of the gains realized with the enactment of the statute. These benefits derived from the acts are well documented to serve as an example to the many regarding the few whose stories are told. It is hard to watch women Olympics without hearing commentators mentioning the successes of Title IX and the positive impact it has brought to American women and the entire world. Even though this law was formed to give women more power in participatory athletics, women coaches are yet to get a grip on athletics.
“It’s frustrating, but that’s just the way it is now,” Kate Hall said after losing to an opponent. Hall had just been stripped of her two-year reign as state champion to a transgender female (male-to-female) athlete in a high school track competition. Transgender women should not be allowed to compete with biological females. Every time a trans female makes the team a biological female is stripped of their chance to be on the team and every time a transgender female athlete places in an event another female loses the opportunity to achieve their goal of success. Recently, many transgender athletes have been competing alongside the gender with which they identify themselves, instead of competing with their biological equals. The differences in male and female physiology are the reasons why men and women compete in separate events in sports. If it is unfair for men to compete against women then how is it fair for men who identify as women to take on biological females.
The world of athletics has been built around a binary view of gender. The distinction between genders is obvious: there is women’s sport and there is men’s sport. However, in reality, gender biology is not black and white – there is a multitude of ways to be human. The separation of men’s and women’s sport leads to a large population of athletes getting stuck in the middle. There is a growing social acceptance of transgender and intersex individuals in society, however, when it comes to sport these individuals are often left isolated on an island of controversy. The majority of this controversy surrounds the debate of whether or not transgender and intersex females should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. Society does not have a
However, just like the 2016 Rio Games of the XXXI Olympiad, none of the openly Transgender athletes, will be competing in the Winter Olympic Games held in Pyeongchang, this time. It’s a shame, since, there are many very talented Transgenders around the world, who would be great contenders. Unfortunately, it’s taking a risk, for any of the LGBTQ athletes to compete or even attend the Olympic Games. Because of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ
A weakness to Skyes’ article would be the fact that our society is very judgemental. Sports organizations fear the classification process of transsexual and transgender athletes into mainstream sporting events. Although most people will say they are for the equality of others, in reality many people in our society do not approve of transsexual and transgender people. These non-binary athletes may never be fully accepted into mainstream sports if sporting organizations continue to fret about anxieties these
Through the movies viewed in this course this semester, we saw women who were able to play against men and still keep their femininity. Nothing is lost when playing sports not traditionally meant for a particular race or gender. Society must become more understanding when it comes to the sports different types of people play and hinder from stereotyping anyone when they participate and perform well in that sport.
According to Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in [the] Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” Because of the establishment of this international document, much progression toward the equality of rights for all with inherited and acquired traits has been achieved over time. In particular, gender equality has made a great deal of headway since the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. Even though this may be the case, there is no doubt that female athletes are far from considered equal as compared to male athletes in modern sports. In today’s sports society, women athletes are still discriminated against based on lower salaries, less media coverage, and lack of opportunity.
When individuals, male or female, decide to enter a non-traditional sport for his/ her gender, there will inevitably be benefits and costs. Because sports themselves are divided along gender and race lines, one would expect that individuals who intend to play a sport deemed by culture and by society as counterintuitive are bound to be criticized and alienated because of their choices. Difference automatically threatens conventions, traditions, and expectations, and hence, it threatens the individuals who belong to that traditional sphere. Because sports are affected as much by funding as they are by issues of diversity and accessibility, the following questions address those issues: which group of people
The gender verification has become a major controversy for women’s sports. The International of Olympic Committee (IOC) has made gender verification essential to female sports fearing that male would be a fraudulent to participate in a female sport. However, the purpose of the verification method is to create a fair competitive sports game for female athletes. Gender verifications can be considered a good method to sustain the integrity of sport, but the procedure of examining the athletes have to be done differently. The IOC requirements are to determine and verify the aspects of genetic and characteristic of the female athletes. Gender verification has not only become problematic but it has harmed the reputation of those who are not male origin that are accused of being male.
The inclusion of queers in professional sports will help break the idea that they cannot persevere in mainstream sports. " these social scripts act to prepare a division of gay and straight; all youth, regardless of
Transgendered people in America have made many great strides since the 1990s. They have encountered violence, lack of health care, and the loss of homes, jobs, family and friends. There have been many phases of the struggle of being transgendered in America over the years. The current phase we must be in now is equal rights. There are many variations of discrimination against the transgendered community. In our society we simply do not like what we do not understand. It is easier to discriminate than to try and understand. We are all created different and we should appreciate our differences. The change must come by addressing the views of the public. There is much justification in the unequal rights of transgendered peoples. The Human
Race, gender, history and sexual orientation play major roles in women's participation in sport. Through out the history of women in sport, opportunity has increased. Many athletes and coaches are presented with the issue of sexual orientation throughout their sporting career. Regardless of sexual orientation, all female athletes are affected by heterosexism. One's racial or ethnicity background greatly shapes the experience they may have in sport. This essay explores the many issues women in sport face today.
Whether someone is a male, a female, or transgender, sports is something they all have a chance to participate in. Most individuals involved in sports are grouped into teams. Together as a team they score points to win their games. In most cases males will play on an all boys team, and females will participate on an all girls team. For those who are transgender it depends on how they choose to identify themselves.
The adverse topic of women in sports stems from society's disregard to viewing women as persons. Women were, and in other parts of the world continue to be viewed as property of men and have no significant role in society. Being allowed into the Olympics was a step in the right direction for women across the world, but it was meager attempt equality. Women were still restricted by what events they were allowed to compete in, how they were trained and coached and even limited as to what they could wear. A woman’s femininity played a large role in the way they were perceived by society; weak. Women were seen as incommensurate to men and it was something that has taken us centuries to reverse. Today, women are given the rights we should have