Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Trans acceptance in basketball?

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Transgender-George-Washington-player-a-fascinati?urn=ncaab-282180
I don't try to be negative, but I just like to question the actual "progress" being made in moments like these. I guess it is a slow transition that must be made, but one has to ask whether the acceptance merely comes from the fact that, at this point, Kye Allums can be a man on the team as long as he still looks like a "woman". Once any physical transition takes place, he will no longer be able to play on the team. I find it extremely problematic that the individual is not really viewed as transgender, or of the opposite gender, until they physical represent that gender. I believe that the acceptance, or lack of acceptance, comes from how much of a threat the individual is to the game. Since Kye has no "biological advantage" over the women at this point, he is not a threat and can remain on the team. In contrast, one can examine the controversy over runner Caster Semenya in terms of the same argument. Because it is socially and historically accepted that men are stronger and better at sports, the possibility of someone on a women's team being a man, or intersex, is too threatening and must be proven to be a woman. We unfortunately live in an "I'll believe it when I see it" mentality and until we get out of that rut, we can't expect too much progress, least of which in the world of sports.

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