I also said what I meant and stand by it. Not mythical but "almost mythical". That's a distinction as large as can possibly exist, between being and not being. I'm well aware that one of the worst dictatorships in history is responsible for the only known case of a normal genetic male competing as a woman in the Olympics -- and he lost. Hence, "almost mythical."

And I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm amplifying the discussion.

My point was that they are not going to test anyone who is identified as male, they are only going to test those identified as female. In other words, they are only going to test women and make them prove they are women. If they aren't doing it to the men, they should not be doing it at all. Regardless of the fact that no sensible person would expect a woman to try to compete as a man, if they are going to embarrass, assault and threaten women who have done nothing but live their lives and try to compete, then they MUST do it to men as well or they are making a mockery of the fairness they say they are trying to enforce.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

There is exactly one man, in a century of sports competitions, who masqueraded as a woman.

The rest were *all* women who had been born and socialised as women, some of whom had enlarged clitorises or other genetic anomalies.

Of this number, one has felt sufficiently hounded and ashamed that she tried to commit suicide.

Another was subjected to invasive hormone therapy to masculinise her, which succeeded to the extent that she transitioned and now lives as a man.

Exactly how is this not another form of misogyny and sexual abuse?

We most of us realise that essentially *every* woman in Olympic-level competition, or other international sports competition, is a freak of nature, and probably shouldn't be permitted to compete against normal women.

The same goes for the men, of course, so my vote would go for mandatory testing of everyone to ensure average abilities in everything, so that *no one* would have an unfair advantage.

Let's bring back the twelve minute mile, and the five foot high jump!

Let's put an end to all this invidious elitism is sports entirely!

In fact, with proper testing and selection, we could eliminate sex differences in performance straight away, if the average values were set such that anyone could meet them, and we could have robust grandmothers racing against wimpy young men and be able to lay even odds on any one of them, which would eliminate the need for humiliating gender testing at all, since all we'd need do is test for general incompetence.

With every amateur and professional athlete guaranteed to be no more fit than the average suburban housewife, every young man or woman could realistically dream of being a gold medal winner in the Olympics, or a professional Basketball player, if only they have the time to sit in front of the television for at least eight hours a day guzzling soft drinks and stuffing themselves with crisps and candy, and religiously avoid exercise, of course.

If intractable differences resisted selection, we could, as we do in horse races, simply pile on weight until performances evened up.

Hurrah for mediocrity!

Cheers,

Puddin'

P.S. In fact, to ensure that people don't try to cheat, we should eliminate everyone who pulls ahead in the competition entirely, and award the prizes to the three athletes who manage to perform at the exact average performance level, averaged over all participants.