unofan
Well-known member
I'm not saying the feelings are invalid or bigoted. I'm saying that the feelings don't matter. White people *feel* oppressed when their privilege is revoked. That feeling is real and understandable and I don't think it automatically means that they hate [minority of choice]. The fact that a change in the order of things (revocation of privilege) makes them feel bad is no reason to halt said change. I empathize with those 4th place finishers, but their "right" to feel the glory of 3rd place doesn't trump someone else's right to participate.
Except in the case of sports, it's not like the women's division is the privileged class, so comparing this situation to white privilege is missing the point. It's more like segregated baseball back in the day, and the women's division is the equivalent of the Negro Leagues in this analogy. The Negro Leagues ultimately integrated after Jackie Robinson had already signed with the Dodgers, but I can't imagine the players were all that thrilled about giving up a spot for a white guy.
And I understand transwomen aren't coming from a position of privilege in terms of overall society, but in the specific and narrow context of physical attributes as related to sporting competitions, they absolutely are thanks to their Y chromosome.
Edit: I'm with dx that the governing bodies for each sport should decide the rules. I can pick out extreme situations on each side where I think the answer should be clear cut, but I have no idea where the line in between should be.
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