The Boston Herald had a piece yesterday about “The “horror” of a field hockey player being struck in the face by a shot from a male on the opposing team has one local superintendent calling on the MIAA to revisit its guidelines that allow boys to play a girls’ sport.”
Even pathetic girly men possess physical advantages that can or will result in significant injuries to female players. To boil it all down, it’s just not fair to the girls. Women of all ages, who – if they balk, resist, or protest – can expect significant institutional backlash. It’s almost as if no one wants girls to enjoy the advantages of athletics.
Or, perhaps, they all like the idea of recruiting men into their sport who get off on harming women. Or maybe they just get off sharing a locker room with them. There are plenty of transwomen who are attracted to women. And as creepy as that is, absent any sort of advance or assault, the real risk is on the field, the mat, or in the arena.
The North American Grappling Association (NAGA) said it has revised its rules after female athletes backed out of competitions — after being “terrified” and “scared” following competitions against transgender athletes at recent events, the New York Post reported.
The new rules from the organization state that trans-identifying men can only compete against biological men, the outlet noted. NAGA said “male-to-female transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty are excluded from competing in the female division at NAGHA events. Transgender females must compete in the men’s division.”
“We hope that the simplicity of this revised policy will help to avoid any future occurrences where transgender females enter women’s divisions,” the policy added. “If NAGA staff is informed that a transgender female is in a women’s division, they will be given the choice to go to the man’s division or given a refund.”
The old rule did not require any more information than men or women, but men could seriously injure women. It appears as if the ladies, surprised to find themselves facing a biological male, left the building. They refused to compete. That’s not good for business. And while associations like NAGA can handle or manage rules, girls in school sports continue to find themselves facing post-pubescent male competitors with all their biological advantages.
While there are a few girls who might be able to keep up or survive the encounter, most will not, and the cultural insistence that this is not the case is going to drive girls and women away from sport and risk serious injury for those who dare to try.
How this is not universally viewed as a reason to immediately remove everyone who supports it from their jobs, appointments, or elected offices continues to baffle me.
