Research Paper
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, transgender means: of, relating to, or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person’s sex at birth (“Transgender”). People who are transgender have multiple problems in society that they face everyday, particularly those who are athletes. There is controversy over which gender these athletes should compete as. Transgender athletes should be able to compete as the gender to which they identify because there are now new guidelines for these athletes, there is no unfair advantage, and many of the misconceptions about transgender athletes competing are myths.
There have recently …show more content…
It is much harder and complicated to determine then one might think due to what meets the eye. It seems like a male that has transitioned to a female would definitely have a physical advantage right? Well, that’s not as true as you might think.The dilemma begins here, the “female” sex hormone oestrogen is generally found in higher levels in women, (Niesen), which is thought to be expected. So it wouldn’t seem any more peculiar that men tend to have higher levels of androgens, such as testosterone (Niesen). But here when the tricky part comes in, both oestrogens and androgens are found in both men and women. So making any cutoff point, such as trans women requiring a consistent testosterone level below 10nmol/L-the level set by the IOC, is pretty arbitrary, and ultimately useless, as said by Peter Niesen (Niesen). There are many more variations of sex chromosomes than simply XX and XY, including XXY, XXXY, XXXXY, XXYY, XXXYY. And chromosomes themselves also don’t have a direct impact on the body’s physical characteristics- they only do so when combined with certain hormones. This definitely throws a curveball to most theories. Given these conditions, the IOC has not considered being transgender an unfair advantage. This is important to note because this organization used to consider drinking too …show more content…
One of the most popular myths is that athletes that used to be male and are now female, are stronger and will have a competitive advantage. According to medical experts, the assumption a transgender woman has an advantage over natural born females in competition is not supported by evidence (Tannehill). In fact, up to 25% of circulating testosterone in females comes from their ovaries, transgender women who have had the gender reassignment surgery typically have less testosterone than their counterparts (Tannehill). Dr. Eric Villain, a medical geneticist and the director of the Institute for Society and Genetics at U.C.L.A., says hormone replacement therapy adjusts bone density, muscle mass, and negates many advantages transgender athletes supposedly have (Molloy). This idea is very hard to grasp because it makes sense that a transgender would have some type of competitive advantage, being that they used to be a male, but the medical evidence and research simply does not support the opposing issue on this topic. Also, it seems that in professional sports if there was a competitive advantage, you would see transgender athletes dominating in the top levels of their sports, but that is not happening
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, transgender means: of, relating to, or being a person who identifies with or expresses a gender identity with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person’s sex at birth (“Transgender”). People who are transgender have multiple problems in society that they face everyday, particularly those who are athletes. There is controversy over which gender these athletes should compete as. Transgender athletes should be able to compete as the gender to which they identify because there are now new guidelines for these athletes, there is no unfair advantage, and many of the misconceptions about transgender athletes competing are myths.
There have recently …show more content…
It is much harder and complicated to determine then one might think due to what meets the eye. It seems like a male that has transitioned to a female would definitely have a physical advantage right? Well, that’s not as true as you might think.The dilemma begins here, the “female” sex hormone oestrogen is generally found in higher levels in women, (Niesen), which is thought to be expected. So it wouldn’t seem any more peculiar that men tend to have higher levels of androgens, such as testosterone (Niesen). But here when the tricky part comes in, both oestrogens and androgens are found in both men and women. So making any cutoff point, such as trans women requiring a consistent testosterone level below 10nmol/L-the level set by the IOC, is pretty arbitrary, and ultimately useless, as said by Peter Niesen (Niesen). There are many more variations of sex chromosomes than simply XX and XY, including XXY, XXXY, XXXXY, XXYY, XXXYY. And chromosomes themselves also don’t have a direct impact on the body’s physical characteristics- they only do so when combined with certain hormones. This definitely throws a curveball to most theories. Given these conditions, the IOC has not considered being transgender an unfair advantage. This is important to note because this organization used to consider drinking too …show more content…
One of the most popular myths is that athletes that used to be male and are now female, are stronger and will have a competitive advantage. According to medical experts, the assumption a transgender woman has an advantage over natural born females in competition is not supported by evidence (Tannehill). In fact, up to 25% of circulating testosterone in females comes from their ovaries, transgender women who have had the gender reassignment surgery typically have less testosterone than their counterparts (Tannehill). Dr. Eric Villain, a medical geneticist and the director of the Institute for Society and Genetics at U.C.L.A., says hormone replacement therapy adjusts bone density, muscle mass, and negates many advantages transgender athletes supposedly have (Molloy). This idea is very hard to grasp because it makes sense that a transgender would have some type of competitive advantage, being that they used to be a male, but the medical evidence and research simply does not support the opposing issue on this topic. Also, it seems that in professional sports if there was a competitive advantage, you would see transgender athletes dominating in the top levels of their sports, but that is not happening