There’s a reason why most sports are divided into men’s and women’s categories. Men are inherently stronger, faster, and larger than women. However, changing politics have seen transgender women — biological men who identify and sometimes transitioned into being women — entering women’s sporting events.
Women Athletes Not Happy
Martina Navratilova is a women’s tennis champ, a feminist, and a staunch advocate for women empowerment. Also, she is not happy regarding trans women in sports. Tennis is a sport where the differences between men and women are clearly seen. Laser radar guns clearly mark the speeds of someone serves and returns those serves.
Though women empowerment advocates would often cite outliers like Serena Williams and Sabine Lisicki when it comes to tennis serve speeds, Serena Williams herself admitted that she would have no chance against men seeded at the top 200. Marked differences between men and women are more apparent in events primarily involving strength.
Weightlifting records of men and women clearly show a disparity in power. At 39 years old, a transgender woman broke numerous women’s national records. The event was met with outcry from both athletes and the public in general, but trans advocates still maintain that trans women have no advantages over women.
Competition, Outliers, and Transgender Athletes
Not every man is stronger than every woman. The strongest women might probably best men with below average to average strengths, but this is not always the case. A study showed that untrained men still had more upper body and lower body strength than trained women of the same build.
Trans advocates would often reason that not all trans women flourish in women’s sports. A trans women cyclist who won gold in a cycling world championship event pointed out that her competitors often beat her in previous events. It should be pointed out that the transgender cyclist was never competitive in men’s games when she was still a man. However, when she transitioned, it enabled her to compete in the highest levels as a woman.
Not every transgender woman will be faster and stronger than women, especially the women at the very top of the spectrum, but it is a mistake to deny that they don’t have advantages. Any active NBA player will be a LeBron James in the women’s leagues, maybe even more. There are differences between men and women, and transitioning won’t eliminate those differences instantly.
The End of Women’s Sports
With enough top-tier trans athletes entering women’s sports, the division will eventually be dominated with biological males who have transitioned into becoming women. While this future might not be soon in coming, it is quite inevitable if no answer to the situation presents itself. Strength records will be broken, and speed records will not stand. Biological women will no longer be the highlight as stronger, and faster trans women will take the spotlight.
Women’s divisions were specially created to give women an avenue to compete, away from the stronger, faster, and bigger men. When biological men start competing with women, it not only hurts women athletes; the whole division suffers as well.
