Asterisk Needed: Symbol Would Define Lia Thomas’ Unfair Advantage at NCAA Championships
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See those symbols above? They’re known as asterisks, but you probably knew that. In mathematics, they can be used as a multiplication sign. They’re used when letters are omitted from an offensive word, typically a profanity. In the sports world, they’re used when a record or accomplishment requires a footnote.
The most-famous instance of asterisk use involved Major League Baseball’s single-season home run record, specifically the 1961 chase of Babe Ruth by fellow New York Yankee Roger Maris. In 1927, during a 154-game season, Ruth launched 60 home runs for a team considered one of the greatest in the sport’s history. Thirty-four years later, Maris broke the record with a 61-dinger campaign. However, Maris benefited from a 162-game season, and Commissioner Ford Frick ordered separate records be distinguished. Alas, the asterisk came into play.
Well, it might be time to break out that star-shaped symbol once again.
There’s a reason three asterisks adorn the top of this column. One each for the events the University of Pennsylvania’s Lia Thomas will contest at the upcoming NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. If the NCAA desired to conduct a fair championship competition, Thomas would not have received an invitation to Atlanta.
By now, the Thomas saga is a well-known tale. She formerly competed as a member of Penn’s men’s squad for three years, before transitioning to a woman during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of the 2021-22 season, Thomas started to compete for the Penn women’s team, having met the NCAA’s transgender-participation condition of one year of hormone-suppressant therapy. That requirement, which was based on outdated science, has since been changed. The NCAA initially indicated it would follow USA Swimming guidelines for transgender inclusion, but when the governing body for the sport in the United States announced stringent parameters, the NCAA balked.
Thomas is days away from racing against biological females, and the NCAA Championships will be defined by an uneven playing field. How can anything else be suggested? By undergoing male puberty, Thomas possesses several advantages over her competition. Body frame. Innate strength. Lung capacity. Larger hands and feet. Think these areas don’t provide an ample edge? Consider this statistic: Thomas was ranked in the mid-500s in the 200 freestyle when racing for the Penn men’s squad. She is now ranked No. 1 among women.
“The very simple answer is that I’m not a man,” Thomas told Sports Illustrated in an exclusive interview. “I’m a woman, so I belong on the women’s team. Trans people deserve that same respect every other athlete gets.”
And biological women deserve respect, too, and the assurance they will head into a race not already at a disadvantage. With Thomas on the blocks, that scenario is a farce. Based on her times and comparative rankings, Thomas’ male-puberty advantage has not been mitigated. Not even close. And if she wins an NCAA title, it will deny the runnerup of a title that should be a crowning moment in a career. Heck, if Thomas finishes fourth in a race, she is robbing the fifth-place finisher of her proper placement. At last month’s Ivy League Championships, where Thomas won three events, she denied the opposition of rightful conference titles.
By allowing Thomas to race in its championship competition, the NCAA has turned its back on biological females. It could have provided Thomas with an opportunity to exhibition or time trial, but to let her compete – with a scientifically proven advantage – on the biggest collegiate stage is an affront to the women who have trained for years, and do not benefit from male-puberty boosts.
Really, it shouldn’t be surprising that the NCAA has placed its support behind Thomas and opted to abandon the bulk of its competitors. The Ivy League and University of Pennsylvania did the same thing and took a bully approach toward anyone willing to challenge Thomas’ presence in a female sport. Never mind that the discussion focused on fairness. If someone dared to argue that Thomas did not belong in women’s competition, they were immediately labeled transphobic. Call it a thinly veiled plan of attack by the Ivy League and Penn to muzzle opposing voices, and an approach that has worked. Numerous Penn swimmers and their parents have argued against Thomas’ participation, but their complaints were made anonymously. Why? They were told there would be repercussions. They were told future employment could be affected. They feared being canceled.
“While I was (researching the situation), my daughter and the rest of the Ivy League were getting another kind of education, the kind no one should receive,” the parent of a Penn swimmer recently told Women’s Declaration International. “The Ivy League released their statement dripping with sexism. Mandatory meetings were called by schools with scripts read by coaches. The girls, already caught off guard, and intimidated but upset, were now silenced. They were manipulated, coerced and emotionally blackmailed. They were told their leagues and their schools had spoken and made their positions clear. They, as athletes, had made their decisions to be part of the school and the league and had to support it.”
The NCAA Championships should be a celebration of the past few months, and the work done by athletes to reach their sport’s year-end finale. Instead, the women’s meet is going to be a circus, with media from all corners present to document a storyline that should not have reached this point. Again, Lia Thomas could have been provided suitable alternatives to display her ability in the pool – but not at the expense of biological women.
Now, it’s too late.
Who knows what type of results Thomas will post in Atlanta? If she can muster performances similar to those she produced at the Zippy Invitational in early December, she will contend for NCAA championships. The bottom line is that her performances are not legitimate for someone competing in a women’s sport. They are supported by considerable testosterone production of the past, coupled with other physiological advantages.
When Thomas touches the wall at the NCAA Championships, she may claim victory and stand atop the awards podium. She might stand on the third or fourth step, too. As unlikely as it is, she might falter. Wherever she finishes, her name, for historical purposes, must be accompanied by an appropriate symbol, one that denotes a lack of fairness and disrespect for an entire sex.
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All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.
Great article describing a cheater.
He is not cheating.
Because.
For it to be cheating he has to break the rules.
The rules allow him to compete as a woman.
The problem is the rules are wrong.
There is no way a man should be allowed to compete in the championships against women. Is this really too complex for the iditos at the NCAA to understand?
You’re conflating gender and sex. She is a woman. She is not, however, a biological female, and should not be in female sports.
He’s not a woman, biologically or otherwise. He doesn’t have the first clue what it is like to be a woman. Gender is more than clothes and hair and what you claim to be.
Brava!
100%
You go from being ranked 500 and something as a man to number 1 as a woman; that’s so obvious it’s ridiculous. If this was abt Thomas’s right to compete and be included why didn’t Thomas continue as a man for one more year and transition after graduation…..maybe because that wouldn’t have gotten Thomas any attention or headlines.
Funny how every instance of average male athletes transitioning turns them into waaay above average female athletes.
(Think those track runners in ohio and that Olympic caliber weight lifter)
Why don’t u say what it is then?
Bruh, he was born a man. Raised a boy, then a man. “Why don’t u say what it is then?”
Why dont you go get some brains?
Maybe it was a rhetorical question
So what is a woman, then? Without using the word ‘woman’ in the definition, define it.
A person without a prostate. A biological female aka a Woman.
My neighbor has no prostate due to cancer. Is he now a woman?
Does he now have a uterus? Really. get real.
So if I had a hysterectomy would I no longer be a women? Since you know I would no longer have a uterus.
If my car had a flat tire and also wouldn’t start, would it no longer be a car?
LOL
If it started out that way, yes.
Agreed, all the original gear is still there
ROFLMAO, but, if you put road tractor tires on a pick up truck, does it become a road tractor??? Lolol
I don’t have a uterus and I’m still a woman. The point is she never had one. She had 20 years of testosterone. Which is in a completely different chromosome development. If you can’t separate that there are two sexes, how can anyone not see that she is competing in a chromosome category where she has a huge, and unfair advantage to the others.
You spelled HE wrong
If a natural female took testosterone for any amount of time, isn’t that against the so called rules? These institutions of higher learning have really shown their absurdity
He
STOP SAYING SHE! That’s the issue
Look up bimodal sex distribution.
You were born with lady parts.
The better comparison is chromosomes.
How about only x chromosomes?
At least Lia Thomas will never have to worry about fibroids or endometriosis and have to get one. Don’t you just love male privilege? Sarcasm/ON
Agreed. Want an idiot.
Why does she need one?
If he says he is, apparently
Your argument is ridiculous.
Nothing to do.
Yes!
Can you really not think your way through that?
Don’t be facetious. Does he have a Y chromosome?
You’re being ridiculous. Lia Should not be allowed to compete it’s very simple. He should’ve just finished his senior year and then transitioned over. He obviously did early so he could win easier and all those women that deserve to win are not going to because a man is swimming against them!.
Every person knows the difference between a man and a woman. The stupidity people go through to justify equality through inequality is ridiculous. If there isn’t an advantage, then why aren’t trans men fighting to compete with men? They stay on the women’s teams. So she needs to be in a female category to be “female” but the men need to be in the females category to feel “not fuller make yet???” Nope. It’s cause they can’t win there and step to the category where it’s easier to cheat.
You think you are funny talking about parts and pieces of the human anatomy, and all you have managed to do is show your ignorance. Your gender is based on GENETICS. You come here with either XX (female) or XY (male). Nothing, not even surgery can change your genetic makeup.
Yes.
To clairfy: A person’s SEX is based on their genetics (biology). A person’s GENDER (sex-role socialization) is also based on their sex (genetics/biology), in that gender is the product of a person’s sex-role socialization based on their sex. A person’s gender is always the same as their sex.
Sex-role socialization begins the moment a baby’s sex is announced in the birthing room: in the various ways that boy babies are treated differently than girl babies. This has been tracked in observation studies in birthing rooms. Even adults who said they believed boys and girls should be treated the same have been observed treating boys and girls differently in birthing rooms. Most of it is subconscious. We don’t realize how we ourselves have been socialized to treat boys and girls differently. It will probably take as many millenia for humans to become aware of and end all sex-role socialization (socialization based on the patriarchal belief that the two sexes ought to occupy different roles) as the number of millennia it has taken to create those sex-roles.
It is almost always the most accurate to use the word SEX, not GENDER.
I include this as many people are not clear on the difference between SEX and GENDER.
SEX refers to bioogy/genetics.
GENDER refers to sex-role socialization from birth onward, based on the baby’s sex.
I just want to make sure I’m understanding your argument. You are claiming that all male babies are just inherently drawn to trucks? It evolved naturally in male babies over, what, the millennia in which trucks and humans have coexisted?
And, frankly, making narrow-minded people uncomfortable so that an oppressed minority can live fully and happily and in their truth. . .worth it, IMO.
Yikes.
Lol, no, not all male babies are drawn to trucks. Children are *socialized* into sex roles. And that socialization is not exactly the same from culture to culture, era to era, household to household, or even boy to boy within a household. Nor will every boy respond the same way to similar socialization.
Children are born into societies of male dominant, female subordinate roles. Even in households where the mother is considered to “wear the pants” in one way or another, or in all ways, each child is part of the larger society’s socialization. None of us grows up alone on a desert island or another planet, after all. We are all affected by the larger society’s forces and influences, social rewards and social disapproval, that shape our personalities.
As a result, while all boys are not socialized effectively to like trucks (nor should any boy be obliged to like trucks), boys are socialized into what might be considered a galaxy of stereotypically male interests, personality traits, and beliefs about themselves (ie. superior to females, leadership and higher earning self-perception, sense of entitlement, etc.) Or we could call it a “smorgasbord” of these traits. Not every boy will acquire them all.
Same with girls being socialized into a galaxy of traits.
I’m all for doing our best to slough off sex roles, but we are probably multiple millenia from being able to do so, entirely, because the socialization is do intense at this time, even in the most progressive, feminist of circles. The vast majority of it is still subconscious.
Does that make sense,?
No, he is not a woman for losing his prostate surgically. He was born with one, and was not born with female anatomy or genetics. Dont be ridiculous in your arguments.
A “woman”, AKA a female has an XY chromosome. Simple biology.
Actually a female has XX and a male has XY.
Not the same
Right. What I was trying to get JL to see is that you cannot define “woman” as a gender without using biological sex terms, which proves that sex and gender are one and the same, or are at least inextricably linked.
I’m not trying to argue that they are the same; quite the opposite in fact.
A person created in the image of God female, with the purpose of being the perfect companion for a man. A man is created to have a desire to cherish a woman (this sentense is not defining a woman) not compete against her.
Such an ignorant, archaic thought.
No it’s not ignorant it’s the TRUTH and it hurts
It is ignorant to ignore the obvious facts that “she” is a male with all the attributes and physiology. It is time to wake up and not be woke. I suggest there be a separate category for transgenders where the “she” males can compete against the “he” females.
I agree. Create a separate category for them. Allowing him to swim on the women’s team is a slap in the face to every woman competing. And get him out of the women’s locker room NOW!
Just say NO!
I agree.
Excellent idea!! Problem solved! A win-win for everyone!! Please pursue your idea because I think it’s the solution to this insanity.
Yes, apparently gays and atheists don’t exist.
And apparently, lesbains don’t exist,either.
This kind of thinking is not woke. It’s just dumb. I’m a proud progressive woman…and I realize that science and data shows us EXACTLY what biological advantages Lia has having been a man for over 20 years. Progressives have lost their minds with this one! Now my friends on this topic are the religious right? (Bless you, religious right, but you’re not usually “my people) and Progressives who have normally touted themselves as lovers of “truth and science” have ummmm…. abandoned all reason. I have no “people”. I appreciate that Conservatives are fighting for women’s rights (for once). We seem to be on the same side this time but for different reasons. Science shows us the difference between sexes having gone through their respective puberties.
Signed: progressive without a home.
This is exactly what I told my daughter. How can we liberals say we believe in science and yet not acknowledge the fact that a biological male possesses an advantage over biological females?
I know…I feel like I’m in crazy-land. And to the person who wanted us to define what it means to be a woman (like it’s some sort of trap), among other things it’s someone who grew up being called on less than boys in school (just read the countless studies) someone who was told to wear a shirt at age 4 even though girls at that age have no breasts…but girls are sexualized even at that tender age…it’s someone who, starting at around age 13-14, knew to not jog at night and walked to their car quickly after work or activities for fear of being raped….I could go on. A sex-change is all well and good but feeling like your a woman won’t ever replace the history of what it means to actually be one from birth. When you say you’re a woman…try not to honor your fellow sisters. Lia, recuse yourself because you understand that you have a biological advantage over your sisters and a psychological one as well by having been brought up a man in a man’s world and competed as a man…which has many advantages. The part of Lia that thinks it’s ok to compete against biological females is definitely the part of her that still holds that sense of male privilege.
Ageeed, and “he.”
Eeek typo correction: “when you say you’re a woman try *to* honor your fellow sisters.”
I’m Progressive but I haven’t “lost my mind”. They lost me on this one too!
Conservatives are liberals. Progressives are regressive now.
Adrienne, thank you. I, too, am a progressive without a home, amd agree with every word you wrote. Thank you for speaking up for many, many progressives who agree this gender identity nonsense is anti-science.
I am so feeling this right now. Who are my people anymore? I’m siding on the right with this issue but have lots of problems with the rest of their agenda…and the lefts too. Where to turn?
I am a proud liberal democrat and I totally agree with you! Lia has every right to call herself a woman, live her life as a women…. but she has no right to swim against biological women, period end of story. She needs to swim with the men! Or she can swim with the women under “exhibition only” rules, which means no points, no medals, NO breaking records, and no standing on the podium with her 6’4” frame towering over all the biological women! Follow the SCIENCE!
“He” has every right to be a woman?
You need to think about that….
Sounds like your getting smarter progressive.
Glad you’re seeing the light. I’d like to kindly remind you that it was Christian leaders who first fought for women’s right to higher education and their right to vote in the US. History is easily forgotten in the heat of current political debate. Blessings.
But you can’t actually be sure that the ignorance isn’t yours. You can’t deny how much we don’t know may never know.
No, it isn’t. People just want to rewrite facts. If he wants to be a woman society allows that. But he did this at THIS point. Ever think why now? So he can win easier. Pathetic. And those of you who pressure everyone to think your way are why the NCAA and other governing bodies are saying those of us who know it’s unfair have to shut up because it’s transphobic?! What a twisted, unfair way to help someone get his way so he can win.
Someone who is born with female reproductive organs is a Women or female. She they them may want to change and society has said now that is a choice however we all know it is not really possible so this is a lie we are propagating. I am a man, I can’t change myself into a woman or a cat or a bird or a plane. It’s so basic it’s hard to fathom needing explanation.
Some people feel ( so they say) like they are more feminine or masculine, I don’t know.
I feel sorry for them. I respect their choice however biological men cannot FAIRLY compete against biological females.
We see as a male swimmer he was less than average.
Even a below average male was able to become number one after transitioning. I have no issues besides knowing full well of the biological FACTS yet still chose fantasy over reality
Hahaha! Surprise, surprise. The true definition of the “Left Behind”.
Mary, WHO/WHAT are YOU?
Doug Broman, I agree with most of what you wrote, except that there are a huge number of people who do not agree that a man can be socially accepted as a woman, whatever that means.
There are huge numbers of people who have been forced into silence on this issue, out of fear of being canceled and permanently losing their livelihoods.
This trans bullying of people into silence is allowing the bullies to get every law and policy changed that they want.
Part of the gender cult’s stated political playbook is to get laws changed by stealth: specifically, to do everything possible without the media’s knowledge, to avoid public outcry. Such as via Biden’s authoritarian executive orders on gender identity his first day in office. (And yes, i voted for Biden knowing Biden would do this to women, only because the alternative candidate was even more authoritarian and unthinkable. Although what Biden did to women with his executive orders was far worse than we expected.)
My hope, and that of others who stand for women’s rights, is that we are approaching the eventual point where a majority of society reach “peak trans” and will dismantle this nonsense.
How? How do we dismantle this nonsense … which will require compelling our “leaders” to dismantle this nonsense … when you are still willing — and even feel compelled — to vote for a party that tells you up front they will do this?
If the Democrats believe they can do this and you will still vote for them (because the alternative is “unthinkable” to you), then you have no power or leverage to dismantle anything.
This is a problem that cuts both ways, and has made many of us politically homeless. If the Republican believe I don’t have autonomy over my own body, how do I make the Democrats take me seriously by telling them I won’t vote for Democrats if they dismantle women’s rights? If the Democrats now believe I am not entitled to same-sex protections in locker rooms, sports, and prison, how do I make the Republicans take me seriously when I tell them abortion rights are important to me?
I don’t know why everyone is having such a hard time defining what is male, what is female, what is a woman, what is a man? This is elementary.
Girl = female human (born with xx chromosomes)
Boy = male human (born with xy chromosomes)
Woman = female human of adult age (born with xx chromosomes)
Man = make human of adult age (born with xy chromosomes)
An overwhelming majority of the time the baby’s genitals, present at birth, will indicate what sex chromosomes the baby has, and therefore indicate the baby’s sex.
Gender is just stereotypes regarding one’s sex, i.e. It has no scientific basis. Why are people making biological changes to themselves based off of their gender dysphoria? And then trying to force all of society to also adopt this dysphoria thinking?
He can be male, grow his hair long, wear makeup, dresses, whatever… There have been men who’ve done this forever. However those things don’t make him female, or a woman. Being a woman is not a state of mind, it is a biological reality.
Also transphobia is not a thing. Acknowledging reality is not being ‘transphobic’. No one is afraid of transgender people, nor hating them.
120 word essay to say a lot of dumb dumb things. But that’s okay because it’s okay for us to hate you, too, although we don’t because we follow God’s wishes.
??♂️That was dumb to say when it comes to “God’s wishes” he had Adam and Eve not only that he wished for FAIRNESS this MAN is bullying these real LADIES to a certain extent. CHAPPELLE….warned us so it’s easier to say until your daughter have to race against a MAN and brag about defeating a female… Man please
She thinks it says Adam and Steve not Adam and Eve.
??
Actually 182 words and please tell me where to reference tolerance of homosexuality and/or transgender in the bible? Please enlighten me as to the reference or references to “transgender” in the bible. No ones hating this swimmer. The left loves to label free thinkers as racist or homophobic when they lack proof or science to back up their views. This article and the whole discussion revolves around fairness of competition not hate.
Colleen is 100% correct you fool.
All sides of thus argument aside, you’re just a shifty person.
Ok, Nunya, no personal attacks, please. Attack the issues, not the person.
Men are now unfairly being allowed into women’s sports because everyone who speaks up is being bullied into silence by personal attacks (“bigot,” “transphobe,” “hater.”)
We need to all learn to demand that we all need to stick to the issues and leave out personal attacks. Especially when we’re tempted to go there.
Not really. XY humans without Ts receptors become female in form. Your scientific understanding is too basic.
Genetic outliers are not a factor in the fundamental categorization.
This is quite basic so if my understanding is basic then that fits.
I am clearly not speaking of intersex people or anyone with abnormalities regarding their sex chromosomes. I am talking about what is normal, not atypical.
“Gender is just a stereotype.” Such a stupid comment. Smh.
I guess you didn’t read the article.
Amen! Well said! BRAVO!!!
I wish very girl women would refuse to swim in this national competition If this deeply disturbed person who is parading as a women set one toe in the pool.
I have a question ? So if I’m born hermaphrodite, both sex male and female what I’m a mistake of our lord a man a woman an animal a car what I’m I ,we’re I go ,where do I belong or not belong I’m I a woman even do I have the choice to be a male who decides that what decides that maybe the fact that even do we are born with both sexes we feel like one I identify as one I look like one so I decide sex on birth certificate not decided we are real we are part of humanity we are born this way so now send me to hell for be born this way . But the woman I am is what a transgender feels and is .unfortunately not all could be explained or accepted.
A person who can get pregnant and have children, a woman who menstruates and breastfeed. How complicated is it to understand?
Incredibly more complicated than that. But a simple intellect struggles to grasp more complicated issues, conditions, variances and nuances of biological systems. Another person sadly left behind.
We are not ” left” behind. We are where we are supposed to be mentally, spiritually and physically. It is you who have gone off the track into make believe and mad we don’t want to play.
Mary, you have an attitude problem. It seems you are not too fond of men. We all need to discover who we are meant to be, and part of that identity is defined by what sex we are born with. As women we have certain qualities such as being nurturing. We are attracted to babies and young children, even when we are older. There is nothing wrong or sextant….sexist about this. We were born this way. A He cannto. Cannot become nor will ever be a woman,, Bruce Jenner included.. He is not a She, simple as that. Its a fact of life. Jacque.trr
Exactly! They’re simply men playing “dress up”, period. Men “pretending” to be women. Men who will NEVER be women.
Not as far behind as your social skills.
Mary, no one is “left behind” here except those who are arguing this man is any kind of woman.
William (“Lia”) has never claimed he has a Disorder of Sexual Development (formerly known as an “intersex” condition).
He knows he’s male, and the rest of us do, too.
It does get complicated when you consider that dome women do have genetic issues that nullify those things.
He’s a man.
What is a Man without using the word Man in the Definition? When you are dug up in 100, 200 years your Bones, Your DNA will tell what you were XX or XY …even if you underwent a transition.
A person born without a medical anomaly that has 23 matching pairs of chromosomes. That’s about as clear of a definition as you can get
An adult biological female, which he is not.
Apparently, one can just declare they are a woman. No sex change operation necessary
A female if natural selection.
Every time mankind interferes with what is “NATURAL” enough to entirely change the status quo, From that time forward what has changed will be forever known as “UN-NATURAL…
A “womb-man”.
A human with a womb!
BCE définition (Before Chromosome Era)…….
A person without a Y.
A female with proper DNA that allows her to be feminine and to reproduce the species of human life, it is sickening it really is sickening and so unfair, but this is a statement of this country shut up if you don’t like it cuz I control your future, the history of women just being hated not to mention women of other races cuz this is all white folks. so we see it really is something else to this ,some Neanderthal kind of caveman mentality were women truly have no value, an asterisk is definitely called for.
Two x chromosomes.
Definition of a female? 2 X chromosomes! Check Lia and I guarantee you he has an X and a Y!
Yes, and he has never claimed otherwise. He’s never claimed he has an intersex condition.
He knows he’s male, and the rest of us know it, too. And we know he knows it.
He is just enjoying helping his bros to colonize female-only sports and spaces.
These are the most woman-hating type of men, because they want to attack all the progress women have made toward legal, political, economic, and social equality.
An individual who has not gone through male puberty and has never had the XY chromosome. Is that a good definition for you?
2 X chromosomes
A person who is treated as a weak, stupid object whose needs and ambitions are less important than half the people around them.
So yes, by that definition, Lia is not behaving as a woman would.
I have no idea why any man would ever want to experience life as we do. I can only chalk it up to privilege and ignorance.
A FEMALE, Born with the possibility of carrying a child. Having ovaries a uterus and the acutriments necessary for procreation. How’s that?
You put it perfectly.
he is not a woman. he is a man you vegetable
Gender and sex are the same thing, only the weirdos try to change the definition out of convenience
He is, in fact a MAN. the world is not required to enable someone’s delusions or mental illness.
Please stop the nonsense. Just stop. We’re becoming the most foolish generation in history, and will be (deservedly) mocked for it by later generations. Notwithstanding how enlightened contemporary scholars and gender theorists claim to be, there are 2 genders. There are males and there are females. We need to stop our lying by claiming gender is separate from sex. Among other things, this nonsense heavily discriminates against actual females, robbing them off their hard work.
One exception: a hermaphrodite.
That is an outdated term. The current term is people with Dosorders of Sexual Development. And even they technically have been determined to have a sex, either male or female, even they don’t have xx or xy, oftentimes.
I’ll give you partial credit:)
In his mind he might be a woman but that’s it. End of discussion
It iu s not a She!!!
Gender equals sex. It’s a distinction without a difference.
She is not a woman, she identifies as a woman. Woman describes her sex, identifying as a woman is a reflection of her gender identity. Two completely different things.
HE IS NOT A WOMAN, HE IS A MAN TRANS TO WOMAN.
He’s a man who has, in reality, transitioned to…a man. 😀
Lia, if you’re reading this: sorry, not sorry.
No, he is not a woman. I love being in the water and sometimes feel I should have been born a dolphin, spending all my time in the beautiful ocean, but I was born a female human. Just because there are times I’ve felt I should have been born a dolphin doesn’t actually make me a dolphin, just as this man isn’t a woman just because he feels he should have been born one.
I 100% agree ! Anytime mankind interferes with what is “NATURAL” enough to completely change the status quo, from that point will always be known as “UN-NATURAL”!
The NCAA has never before allowed absolutely anything unnatural to give the athletes a unfair advantage and it’s not ok to start now…
Rearranging body parts makes not the opposite sex !
Not only is it unnatural but it’s also against every religion that I’ve ever heard of… When females start dominating men in their divisions I could change my mind but until that happens I will always feel that it is unfair…
Nope, he is a man
No way, this will always be a man inside in strength.
Strip the skin away and you’re going to find a man, even with skin I see a man and that’s without knowing about this person’s chosen identity. Bone density, organ size, brain composition, even D.N.A tests will come back as male for this person. I’ll trust in science, not feelings.
No! He is a man and always will be. Gender is sex.
Please allow me to clarify the differences and commonalities between sex and gender.
And please note I’m glad we agree “Lia” doesn’t belong in female sports.
William (“Lia”) is actually not a woman in any sense. That’s because woman is the word referring to those of us with female biology. How someone thinks or feels about their sex or gender is irrelevant. Its their biology and genetics that matter.
Sex refers to the biological differences between males and females.
Gender refers to the product(s) or effects of sex-role socialization on a person from birth, onward. Those effects are both social and physical (e.g. if a girl is socialized to be less physically active, the effects are social in origin, but physical in consequence. Or if she’s socialized to carry a purse, it affects her spinal muscles and alignment over time.)
We don’t socialize ourselves. We are socialized by other people. Most of that socialization occurs well before age 5. 80% of the neuropathways in our brains are laid down by age 5. We still have some neuroplasticity, but it is more challenging to change what’s already been laid down.
A person’s gender is always the same as her or his sex. Thats because sex-role socialization has been well documented to begin in the birthing room, even by adults who say they believe in treating girls and boys the same. That socialization by the adults is subconscious on their parts.
Unfortunately, it will probably take as many millenia for anyone, or society, to become aware of all of our sex-role socialization, and to end it, as the number of millenia it has taken so far to develop (mostly subconscious) sexist role beliefs and practices.
Say she dies and is buried and found a thousand years later by archaeologists. All that is found are bones. By those bones they determine that what they found want a women but a man based on the pelvis not being the pelvis of a women but a man’s pelvis. They then do a test to see what chromosomes they find. Instead of two x chromosomes they find 1 x and 1 Y chromosomes. Again confirming that the remains are that of a male and not a female.
A mechanic can change the body of a Corvet to look like a VW bug but underneath the metal it still has the engine of a Corvet. Just because she changed the physical appearence of her body doesn’t mean she changed who she really is and that’s the issue. She chose to look like a girl but she still has most of the internal strength of a man and that is unfair to biological women, which is not and never will be no matter how much she methods saying “I’m a women now”.
What is the difference between a woman and a female?
He is definitely not a woman
” You’re conflating gender and sex. She is a woman. She is not, however, a biological female, and should not be in female sports.”
Sorry ‘she’ is not a woman: an adult female human being. Just like a heifer is an adult female cow or a bi!ch is an adult female dog. All of these definitions have two words in common: adult /female. But why is the definition of a woman the only one expanded to include males ( trans women)? Therefore, Lia is NOT a woman.
Pretending is NOT being!
YES
From TX Will Thomas aka Lia Thomas.. The lungs capacity of a man. The legs structures of a man. The brain structure of a man. The chromosomes of a man.
Was Will a weak swimmer against men.
Thank you for a very brave stand against this nonsense. It’s absurd that we even need to discuss this. It’s wrong. 100%. This doesn’t mean anyone wishes Lia ill. Quite the opposite. But pretending she isn’t advantaged biologically is simply ridiculous. We can’t allow this to stand unchallenged. Frankly it’s misogyny on parade. Enough already. Women have worked too hard for an even playing field over the years to now have it taken away in this manner.
Not a “she”
Yes, she is. She’s a woman (gender). She’s not female (sex), and I agree that she shouldn’t be in female sports.
“Female” is a generic term which describes any living organism, animal or plant, which has the capacity to produce large gametes. We give names to females of most animal species. Human females like myself are no exception, and we use the words woman/women to describe ourselves as we have for millenia. A woman is not some sort of subjective, immaterial “identity” that floats in our heads and hearts like a soul. Lia Thomas is not a female, not a woman. He is a man, one with no respect for women.
he is not a woman. he is a man you vegetable
“Yes, she is. She’s a woman (gender). She’s not female (sex), and I agree that she shouldn’t be in female sports.”
The woman means an adult female human being just like a heifer is an adult female cow and a sow is an adult female pig. What words do these definitions have in common? The words, female and adult. However, why is it the definition of a woman has been expanded to include males/men?
Lia is not a woman she is a transgender woman: an adult male human being who socially ids & lives as a woman.
He’s a he. He lives like a man pretending and falsely claiming to be a woman. He’s a female impersonator. And colonizer of female sports and spaces.
No, he is a he.
My 3 year old thinks that he is a dinosaur and would love to be a velociraptor when he grows up. He will never be a dinosaur.
Under the same logic that you proclaim that he is a she, please explain how my 3 year old will be a dinosaur if he so chooses.
Weirdo
Very well said, thank you
Nicely said.
Well said
I think we need to look no further than the champion of transgender and an Olympic Champion….Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner. He/she says its an unfair advantage to put Lia or any other transitioning boy/man in a pool competitively against other girls/women. He’s way over qualified to comment on this where the rest of us arent. END OF SUBJECT
“Misogyny on parade.” Well said. Thank you.
Thomas should not be allowed to swim against the women, period. Biologically, Thomas is 100% male and still has the “private parts” to prove it. Letting Thomas swim against the hard working, 100% female swimmers is a slap in the face to all the female competitors. I have nothing against trans people, but this is ridiculous and I’m being kind.
Make him cut his “stuff” off and see how much he wants to be a female, I am thinking he will reconsider.
Revolting.
Despicable.
Lia Thomas is an intact heterosexual male. As his female team-mates can attest.
Actually she has not transitioned. she still has intact male parts.
With respect to all, I am a father of a Harvard past graduate competitive female swimmer. I am very proud of my daughter. I am a biologist, a biological determinist and socially super liberal. I would find an easy solution for Lia. I am not claiming these ideas my own, I am just summarizing what I am reading in this very elegant, intellectual and diverse discussion:
1) Lia is a woman, because she feels like a woman, I agree, let us respect her
2) I agree with John Lohn, let her swim, but count the results in a different category, 3rd gender or trans-gender
3) I agree with Billy, well, cutting the whole package off still would not make her a real/biological woman but at least she can prove that she is not a real man.
This is insane. Lia is not a woman because he feels like a woman. He is a man, period. These people need real help, not encouragement. Something like 40% of trans commit suicide. There’s been no change in that following transition either. However, he can do whatever he wants. The left likes to force people to agree with their insanity but completely ignore others opinions.
Also, respect is earned, not just given out because someone feels something. I see very little respect towards people that disagree with this nonsense.
Exactly. If Lia woke up tomorrow and decided he was a dog, he’d be carted off to Bellevue.
If I felt like a giraffe would you, a “biologist” support me in my delusion? Maybe, because, me feeling like a giraffe probably won’t hurt anyone except myself.
But Lia Thomas, “feeling like a woman” and society’s mad rush to enforce his belief, has negatively affected the lives of every American female competitive swimmer, so it’s not harmless.
Lia Thomas cannot prove he’s a woman. Why should we all not only take his word that he’s a woman, but also help him, and men like him with these feelings, damage the lives of actual women ?
We are changing the rules governing swimming because this man claims to feel like a woman. Why?
What other group gets to change the rules of sports?
Yes! I often use my 3yo in that he tells everyone hes a dinosaur. He varies in his desire to be a velociraptor or a t-rex, but dinosaur none the less.
So, when he’s 18 and believes and insists that other people treat him as a dinosaur, there’s going to be a forced mental evaluation done- in some states they call it Baker Acting…
so what’s the difference with THomas?
You seem like someone who could articulate a definition of “woman” without using the term “woman” in the definition, or without using circular logic such as, “identifying as what a woman means to them personally”.
This seems like a reasonable standard in order to maintain the position you seem to have. Do you agree?
I don’t agree with your 2nd point, if he is allowed to compete, he will then be taking a spot on the team that should go to an actual female.
It won’t prove he is not a male. It would prove he had surgery…
He probably has already had that done, ignormanious.
No. He has not
Not according to his teammates.
Nope, try again Mary.
Thomas has only socially transitioned. This means no surgeries. Thomas grew out the hair and wears female clothes thats it.
And also, Thomas likes women. Thomas has stated that. Thomas has stated that Thomas is attracted to women.
Thomas is attracted to women and still has all of the parts that Thomas was born with.
Thomas has all of the parts original to birth and is in a women’s locker room for which Thomas admits that Thomas finds attractive.
What happens to male parts when they like what they see?
And what were the women told? DEAL WITH IT OR WE”LL RUIN YOUR LIFE.
Sounds fair.
I’m guessing he’ll decline.
There are so many dedicated athletes that are being denied what they earned after years of hard work, including:
The one woman did not swim on Penn’s Ivy League Championship team because Lia was allowed to compete on the women’s team.
The woman or women that did not swim on Penn’s A relays at the Ivy League Championships because Lia did instead
The woman that was not invited to NCAA Division I Championships because Lia was invited instead
The one and six women that will not swim in finals or consolation finals at the NCAA Women’s Championships if Lia places in the top 16 in the prelims of the 100, 200 or 500.
PERFECTLY SAID!!!
Nicely said. The NCAA is not doing right by Majority and only the Few
*
What ?!
Thank you. Too few people are willing to point out, in public, what we can all see with our eyes. NCAA women’s swimming is a farce; that Thomas can claim to be a women, just like the others, is nonsensical. Thomas is male and always will be male. Female swimming has been corrupted and the powers that be are lost in a delusional fog. Clean this mess up, NCAA.
No other way to describe this the NCAA, Penn and the Ivy League should be ashamed of themselves. An asterisk is to much credit Lia’s results should be wiped from the books.
Before long, women will only describe trans women while biological women will simply be known as “birthing people that can menstruate”
JK rowling proves that we can not be able to lay claim to menstration without being called transphobic
They already call us Cis woman… Like wtf. I’m a woman, that’s it. No letters or words need to go before woman
I’m a 67 y/o heterosexual original woman, I agree with you. What is Cis woman? Our designation doesn’t need any new label, we have not changed.
CIS = Correct In Society! That’ll stop the labels…
The ACLU already told the mother of one of the swimmers that they would never “defend a cis woman against a woman”. Transwomen on social media regularly post such statements like “I love all women, except cis women” or “cis women have been replaced by the newer and better model”.
If he was going to prison he would go to a male prison….
Sadly, that’s not the case.
“Sadly, that’s not the case.”
It’s true Lia would be placed in a prison for women. They are doing it already in the states of CA and WA.
Where he would be Real popular.
any normal person would think that but because he identifies as a woman they would let him go to a woman’s prison. it’s already happened with other men who pretend to be women
Sadly, that is no longer true in a growing number of states, where a some trans-identified males, including many sex offenders, have been housed in women’s prisons since early 2021. This includes California and Washington state. The media has largely ignored this.
Yes, Eddard. The ACLU has stated it is working to eliminate all references to “sex” in law. Only “gender” will be left, and “gender identity,” which refer to sex-role socialization (legally), or sex stereotypes.
A 3rd category needs to be added to all athletic sporting events when any medical/chemical/surgical enhancement or modification has been made, such as in drag racing/ and unlimited power boat racing where there is stock and modified and would be completely gender nuetral.
Or maybe stick with the with science and nature 2 option plan ! This all started with PC . Now look at where that’s gotten us . How does this individual competitor male, female, or otherwise possibly feel this is fair to their female teammates and competitor’s . I certainly don’t know but it sure seems to me someone is feeding this young vulnerable person with their own agenda .
Would not want to be standing in the shoes of the parents and dr. frankenstein perpetrators of this travesty against humanity and nature on Judgement Day.
Some people can only win if they cheat, bend the rules, bully others, and lie.
I agree with this.
selfish and petty he is!
It is fine to have the opinion that Lia should not swim as a woman. That is not transphobic. Saying she is a man is transphobic. And putting out as fact the idea that Penn somehow silenced those that were against Lia swimming as a woman without any actual evidence of such “silencing” is irresponsible.
You don’t know it yet, but the more time you spend on this topic, even trying to get everyone to shut up and be nice, the more likely you are to see the truth of the matter. It happens to everyone one. The more you think about it, the more angry you feel. It makes no sense to defend this person, when the truth is right before your eyes.
Lia is one of the most selfish athletes out there. All of these articles where he says he just want to compete as his true self, and that he is a real woman. Calling himself the Jackie Robinson of trans. No respect for real women and what they have gone through. This is a travesty and it should not be allowed to happen. You can dress up how you like, date who you like, marry who you like. But it doesn’t change your biology. Lia is a cheater, it’s that simple.
He actually called himself the Jackie Robinson of trans?
What a loser.
He’s the Rachel Dolezal of trans.
Check out SheWon.org They list who would have won what if a male was not competing.
Gender identity and biological sex are not to be regarded as one in the same. They are two distinctly different issues. Lia’s gender identity doesn’t give her a right to compete against biological females.
Agrred. And him.
*Agreed.
The article, while pointing out all the advantages Lia enjoys because of puberty, refers to Lia as she and her. I’m sorry! Lia has male genitalia and went through puberty as a male and in my opinion, Lia is a biological male. Making her a him. Depressing his testosterone still leaves him at a higher level than allowed by most of the sports federations. Even if he went through the transformation surgery, he still has those other factors at play but it would show sincerity on his part.
I have no problem with people choosing whatever gender they wish. My problem is with them choosing to compete in sports against biological females with this unfair advantage they have. How about trans competing against trans?
I feel like him identifying as a her, is the best way he can win in swimming and possibly get scholarships. He wasn’t good in the men’s division… Just a thought
The same thoughts crossed my mind! Look how easy it was for her too. She comes out and says “I identify as a woman,” puts on female clothing, gets 1 year hormone suppressants and bam! Swims on the female team and takes the U.S. by storm breakings records left and right!
Him.
I read that Thomas’s brother swam for Penn prior to Thomas arriving. Apparently, Thomas’s brother was quite the swimmer, record-breaking in the men’s category.
Given that we have yet to see Thomas’s brother or parents make any public statements about their loving acceptance of Thomas, I feel like there is some family known mental health issues and possibly, Thomas has been in his brother’s shadow his entire life.
Taking hormones didn’t make Lia shorter, change bone structure , lung capacity. Wearing makeup doesn’t make a woman.
The Ivy League should be ashamed of themselves. Reasonable questions and dissent are now shouted down as “transphobia,” no discussion necessary. Thomas shreiked the exact same thing in Sports Illustrated – “dare to question me?? Your a transphobe!” They are like little screechy children who plug their ears with their fingers, shut their eyes and shout “La La La” as loud as they can so they don’t have to listen to anyone else. The whole thing would be hilarious if it wasn’t.