Transgender Bodybuilder, Competes As A Woman

I don't really know about the world of female bodybuilding and competitions, but just looking at the video, I'd say the transgender person would have a definite advantage over the woman in the video. Maybe weight classes would take care of some of that? But there are lean, mean military dudes who are 100% muscle and usable strength that, while not as bulky as the transgender person, I'd have to think they might have an advantage over a woman in a similar weight class if they were sans some male anatomy but still taking male hormones and bulking agents. Is it reasonable to think this? Based on the video, it sounded like the answer may have been as simple as following the olympic guidelines, but I can't imagine what kind of additional surgeries they were referring to to get transgender people down to where they're equal with a woman in their weight class.
 
I respect the right of people to have their own opinion, but I don't have to respect the opinions themselves. I am with you when you have talked about how you grew up with religion and your take on it matches my own. But I never knew you thought this way about a group of people who were born with one set of body characteristics who aren't necessarily of that gender.

I suggest you look up and google David Reimer. and Dr. John Money. Then come back and tell me physical characteristics is ALL that makes you male or female. Ill wait.
 
See this would be my problem. A male going to a female class has a lot of advantages over the 'natural-born' women. A female going to a male class has disadvantages. For me, it's not a matter of being bigoted against transgender people. If that is what they need to make them happy and are prepared to go through the surgery etc, that is their issue. For me it would be whether or not they should be allowed to compete against people of the gender they have chosen to change to and how fair that would be. Sometimes you have to accept that there should be limits on the amount of leeway given to certain minorities because of the impact it would have on the majority. If we accept that because of anatomical differences, an untrained male is capable of lifting more than an untrained female and building more muscle more quickly, then you have to ask how much of an unfair advantage that gives them even after surgery and hormone therapy.
 
Maybe a different angle is what effect would that have on transgender women who want to go into male bodybuilding? Does anyone know what the skeletal advantages of males vs. females are when it comes to leverage and weight bearing? Even with surgeries, and whatnot, the skeleton remains intact.
 
If your objection is based on the potential advantages a transgender athlete may have, then that's fair comment and it's not bigotry. To be opposed because you think they're freaks, is not a reasonable argument.

The IAAF recently implemented a set of guidelines that consider the androgen levels of athletes to determine if they can compete in the female class. Would it not be unreasonable for a transgender athlete to need to be measured against this standard also, since it doesn't explicitly take gender into account.

Of course, you may have problems with female athletes who have been juicing messing up their hormone levels and suddenly not being classed as women for competitive purposes. Whether you think that is a good/bad thing is up to you.
 
Hummmmm, what's wrong with letting a few things slide, if it makes for being able to keep the conversation pleasant?

I am wondering if you are not being "bigoter" than the bigots here Holyheadjch...


Osu!
 
I think that is the problem. I doubt much research has been done other than regarding the basic physiological changes due to hormone therapy. There are plenty of studies that show that there are anatomical differences between males and females, but how these are influenced by gender reassignment is a different matter. There will always be structural differences that hormones can't change, e.g. a transgender male to female will still have the hip joint angle issue that potentially allows men to kick a ball further.
 
I think a simple solution would be to give them their own division. There could be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Hybrids subdivisions if that's how they want to identify themselves.
 
I wouldn't object to that. I suppose the problem would be how many people would actually be competing in these categories? Would it be worth competitions running them etc?
 
It's interesting to consider. I suppose there might be some who'd be encouraged by it, and those who'd be offended by it. But if they didn't have to undergo additional surgeries and could compete with people with comparable anatomical and biological strengths and weaknesses, and not be looked upon badly by non-transgender competitors, maybe it'd work? It seems like it might open the door to building more of a community within the division than if they had to face what they'd likely face in regular divisions.
 
Agreed. You'll always get some folk who don't want to compromise and want everyone else to bend over backward for them, even when the outcome might have an inherent unfairness.

I'm just not sure, in the case of sport, that full integration of male to female transgender athletes (or female to male) would be fair, particularly at high levels of competition where it can be very small differences that separate the winners from the losers. I'm willing to stand corrected should research show otherwise!
 
I have to agree with you. I know that women are encouraged to take additional calcium at certain stages of their lives. That would have to affect the skeletal structure in a way a transgender man wouldn't have to deal with. No way that's a small difference.
 
I agree. In addition, I'd like this user to do a little thought experiment and consider that he himself could have been a transgender person. It's only luck that he was not.
 
I googled rules for transgender athletes. For the Olympics anyway the rule full change procedure and 2 years of hormonal therapy before they can compete as their chosen gender.

I don't know how well that works at evening out physical differences. I think Fu Bag's solution would probably be the best idea.
 
Wondering now, where do you draw the line regards gender differences in sport? If a woman is fully physically female but has some endocrine issue which makes her hyper-secrete testosterone should she still be allowed in the female division? What about men with similar issues? Should a man with abnormally high testosterone be made to go up a weight class (if applicable) to even things out??
 
I hope I'll never be guilty of doing anything as heinous as overlooking hate speech in order to avoid social awkwardness.
 
The IAAF have said that if a woman is within the male androgen range and doesn't have an androgen resistance, then she gains a competitive advantage and will not be allowed to compete.
 
Having worked with all these different people i am quite use to them and yet i still come to the conclusion that most of them are very mixed up in the head, does that sound like a better way of saying what i meant?

Oh yeah and i still say that the body builder is not a girl, i would say more of an attention seeker.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top