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Writer's pictureGary Moller

Gender Politics in Sport: The Absence of Common Sense

Updated: Mar 23

(Updated 28 June 2022)


I've written several articles about the political assault on what it is to be a woman, especially as it applies to women's sports at all levels from puberty. Unfortunately, since my last articles on this topic, things have heated up and gone from bad to worse: Now, even US Supreme Court judges do not know what a woman is - God help us all!



While this video parody below is amusing, it contains an ominous message about just how far things are going in the wrong direction, including in sport:



What is a woman?


Relax one evening and watch this documentary which is causing quite a stir, so, "What is a Woman?"



We cannot ignore our genetics without getting into trouble. Men and women are different, physically and biologically: The physique and biochemistry of the male are purposed to do the heavy lifting, bring home the bacon and fight to the death to protect their tribe, whereas the physical structure and hormonal biochemistry of a woman are designed to bear children and to nurture. While there are many similarities in physique and cross-over in how men and women interact in society, the simple fact is this: The average man has a significant physical strength advantage over the average woman. This is why we send young men to the front lines of battle while the women stay behind and keep the home fires burning. A tribe that allows its women to die by pitting them against male warriors is a tribe that is doomed to extinction. Sure, things are different these days but if we think of sport as a type of warfare, there are very few sports where a woman can safely and fairly compete against a man.


handball

We can't have people who are not biological women competing against women in sports, even if there was a transition from male to female, because many physical advantages remain permanently. There are safety concerns as well as the loss of opportunity for biological women who lose to non-biological women, such as the loss of opportunity to stand on the podium, represent their school, their club, province and country, win a medal, break a record, gain educational scholarships and so on. So the potential losses of opportunity for biological women are enormous, as are the risks of suffering serious physical harm, especially in contact sports.


MMA fighters


My sister, Lorraine, has always been an advocate for women's sports. On this issue she wrote:


"Has the cosmic joker just gone full-time? He must be laughing his head off!"How can someone want to be something that they can't define what it is? If you can't say what a woman is, then how can you know if you've made it to being a woman? The question is oxymoronic because a man simply cannot be a woman. It's a biological impossibility. To push this trans agenda onto sports (and I am convinced this is a top-down driven agenda and does originate from a genuine grassroots trans-athlete movement) is not only a trespass against women and girls but also an insult to humanity. Any male who lauds it over women by tying his hair in a ponytail and calling himself Susan as he blasts by them to snatch the prizes destroys the ethos of sport and displays the worst kind of misogyny. It's a sad indictment on our society that this has ever been allowed to happen."


New Zealand's leaders of women's sports have failed to stick up for biological women's rights to participate in a fair and safe environment at every level of sports. In my opinion, they have acted with cowardice and ignorance, responding with statements such as, "We need more research"! Do we need more research? Give us all a break!


Let me help with their research because I have spent a lifetime studying women, including growing up with three strong sisters and raising two kick-arse daughters:


A woman is a mature human being with the XX chromosome:


  • X – Roughly 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 5,000 people

  • XX – Female.

  • XXY – Roughly 1 in 500 to 1 in 1,000 people

  • XY – Male.

  • XYY – Roughly 1 out of 1,000 people.


She has a vagina, uterus and ovaries, and from puberty, she is capable of bearing a child.


On the other hand, a male has the XY chromosome, is born with a penis and testicles and cannot bear a child.


Can we be any clearer about the difference between a man and a woman?



In conclusion:


Let's exercise common sense and keep women's sports exclusively for biological women. If anyone else wants to identify as a woman, be it a biological male or a variation such as the XYY chromosome, that's perfectly fine by me and most other people, but if they want to compete in sports, let this be in the men's category. Actually, why don't we redefine men's sport as being open for all, including biological women, if they so desire, but in doing so, we retain an exclusive category for women - a category that is inviolable?



More reading:



A friend wrote me this, and I think it is relevant to what is going on in society and how we see ourselves as human beings - even our genders are being manipulated for the advantage of others who have questionable motives:


"Gary, This is a very long video, but it's well worth spending the time watching.


It explains how modern marketing, PR, and governments evolved in the 20th century to manipulate the masses using the psychology of Jung and Freud and how they play to the primal instincts of humans. The nazis were well versed in this and perfected it. They knew what they were doing. But it's been carried on further by modern governments more subtly. Unfortunately, a lot of people have been turned into sheep by the crowd mentality":



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12 Comments


bigjimbo
Aug 19, 2022

Hey Gary - Myra just sent me a link to your blog so in reading back-stories I just felt the urge to respond to the comments made on this thread. Firstly, I wrote this over a year ago on FB...

"OK, what's on my mind? Transgender Sports. AM Show had a poll a day or so back. 97% of NZ responder's were AGAINST a law which would allow Transgender Women to compete equally against, for the want of a proper series of words, Truly Genetic Women. In my mind, there is NOT a one law fits all. Not allowing Transgender Children to compete together or against each other is a 'step too far', I believe. That is taking it even…


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Gary Moller
Gary Moller
Aug 21, 2022
Replying to

Bi Jim, Lorraine will be interviewed about this women's issue shortly. I'll post it on this blog, so keep an eye out for it. I appreciated your support.

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mariansutherland
Jul 01, 2022

Hmm...fascinating to catch up on the comments here Gary. This is definitely a topic that is not simply black and white, but throws up a lot of grey areas ...some of which pacaraw has pointed out. There are always exceptions, and educating ourselves on the biological factors , as well as psychological factors involved, brings understanding and compassion towards our fellow humans who don't fit neatly into preconceived " boxes."

# Kellie-Jay Keen / Posie Parker in the UK of Standing For Women UK has done a lot of work in bringing awareness to the dangers of the woke ideology being taken to the extreme and imposed on everyone, without fair debate, including in the realm of sports.

I greatly…


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Gary Moller
Gary Moller
Jul 01, 2022
Replying to

Marian, yes, compassion and understanding are required and that goes both ways. I really feel for the women who must quietly stand below And not say a word, while opportunities are lost.


I watched the video by the biologist referred to by Paul and found it interesting and informative, but I feel it does not really get us any further forward and he finishes with some pretty harsh statements, basically telling the unqualified to butt out. I disagree: the best authorities on these matters are mature civilians who possess commonsense, especially so the parents of children who may be choosing to transition. The tragedy is the parents usually feel disempowered and devalued with little or no say in what happens…


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Gary Moller
Gary Moller
Jun 29, 2022

Hi Paul and others; I appreciate your comments and I'm learning a lot. I'll mull things over and make a few edits to make the article less confronting. My feelings still are that we must have a category in sports that is sacrosanct for women and women alone, beginning with the XX chromosome, for sure.


People, if you have not watched the documentary linked in the article, "What is a woman?, please do and tell us what you think about it.


I've had phone calls and emails expressing support but a lot of people do not want to comment publicly, so I thank everyone who has taken the time to comment on this forum - thank you!


I see from…


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Lorraine Moller
Jun 28, 2022

Thank you pacaraw for the sharing the excellent Youtube video from biologist Forrest Valkai. Yes, you are right, it is a complex issue when we dive in, and has, I imagine, been a headache for sports administrators with the few anomalies that have been presented. We used to be sex-tested to compete in IAAF events in the womens category using a chromosome test and for the time I was competing it seemed to work just fine. I was officially a card carrying female back then 😊.

Caster Semenya has been a particularly complex case, and with her the issue of gender and defining of sex seemed to suddenly usher in the new era of questioning all our definitions of what…


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pacaraw
pacaraw
Jun 29, 2022
Replying to

Thanks, Lorraine.

Yep, it is really complex, and provides (not just) sports administrators with a whole bunch of headaches. Being a brother to 4 sisters, and father of 3 daughters, I have real empathy for the difficulties faced by (especially) growing girls and women trying to find safe spaces to practice their sport, hobbies, and just be themselves free from initmidation and misogyny. As coach to 3 transgender people, I feel the same for them, perhaps even greater. I do understand the fear of losing all that has been fought so hard for in the last 100+ years for the emancipation of women, and the struggle for their own self expression.

All that aside, I don't think appeals to 'common…

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pacaraw
pacaraw
Jun 28, 2022

To quote H L Mencken "For every complex problem, there's a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong."

And your description of what makes up a man and a woman Gary, is simple, neat, and wrong.


Caster Semenya has a vagina, part of a uterus, testicles, and is XY. She doesn't have a penis, can't produce sperm, and has had no gender reassignment surgery or intervention to reach this position. She is this way because of different hormonal balances to many other people. She is by no means alone in this. She confounds your definition of male or female.


My friend Russell has won a good number of marathons and ultra marathons. He has a penis, but no testicles and…


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