I really don't understand how a trans woman has the advantage over a Cis woman in snooker. What next? Chess? Poker?
Former World No 1 Maria Catalano, cousin of reigning snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, insists Hunter's involvement in women's matches is unfair,
She says
'There is a reason they started a women's tour. Reanne Evans is the best woman player I have ever seen and even she can't crack it against the men.'
Catalano added that she may even be forced to pull out from competing in the game herself.
She said: 'It is just not fair, biological women are being shut down by being told that it is only a hate thing. And it isn't.'
'I don't believe that women can compete against men on a level playing field in sport. We are wired differently, we think differently. And I do believe 100 per cent there is an advantage there even in snooker after transition."
What the hell happened to women saying "We can do anything that men can do, probably better.? It all goes out of the window when a trans woman wins anything. They scream UNFAIR!
Jamie Hunter, 25, of Widnes, Cheshire, is the first transwoman to win a ranking tournament on the women's circuit with a 4-1 score against Rebecca Kenna in Seattle.
What she says rings true in many arguments about trans women in sport.
Hunter said 'They weren't bothered when I was making up the numbers, but now I'm challenging it's changed.'
As usual, you can compete, but don't you dare win anything.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11167231/Female-sno...
Comments
I've never understood this argument in any sport.
And the attitude of the complaint (as you've listed it here) isn't just defeatist: it's misogynistic. Proclaiming women can't compete against men shows an attitude that women are innately inferior to men, and that's always a horrible attitude to take.
Yeah, women have different strengths and weaknesses than men on average, but when you're getting into the extremes of professional sports, you're never talking about averages: you're talking about the one percent extremes of what people can or will do, and quite frankly, when you get to that kind of extreme end of a bell curve, the meaning of what it says beyond "this is possible" breaks down entirely.
And a lot of those differences are offset to a middle-ground by transition. For MtF, muscle mass lowers. One's mental acuity and strengths -- what differences there are based on hormonal activity -- shift. Etc. The same for FtM: harder muscle mass, etc. In neither case are the results a matter of inherently better or worse (outside one's individual preferences,) but a balancing act.
The concept of gendered sports exists as a way to gatekeep folks, specifically women, out of being able to explore how well they really COULD do against men if given a fair chance, and I think there's just as good an argument that could be made that they HURT women's equality and rights as much as they help them.
Just like with most things, an argument like this SOUNDS like it has legs, because people repeat it so much they start to convince everyone else it's true. But all it takes is one woman stepping up and proving it wrong for it to be forever invalid.
Instead of getting angry about transfolk and trying to enforce stereotypes based on sex or gender, I'd rather see folks strive more to just be the best selves they can.
Melanie E.
Snooker?
As you said, I'm really curious what the reasoning is for the apparent inability for women to compete against men in snooker?
Quote from article "There is a reason they started a women's tour. Reanne Evans is the best woman player I have ever seen and even she can't crack it against the men."
I'm not sure what I'm missing, is it just a lack of women interested so a much smaller of pool of players to compete? Or are they saying there is some biological reason men are better at it? Cause to me it doesn't seem like any of the natural advantages men have would impact a sport like snooker.
I read another article on
I read another article on this story. It went into the physical strength needed to really smack the cue ball when breaking in pool. I really think this is nonsense. Snooker rarely involves knocking the balls all over the table.
The problem is there are so few sports where women outperform men, it will always happen if a cis women loses. I think if there were as many women who played snooker as men, things would be more even.
Another report Maria Catalano said Jamie couldn't make it in the male circuit. Jamie says she never tried. She only played professionally after her transition.
This fits in with this ridiculous idea that someone would change gender to win money at a sporting event. If Jamie had a beard and was 100% male, just saying they identified as female, they may have an argument.
Leeanna
Yea my thoughts were that
Yea my thoughts were that maybe it's just a lack of interest/etc that results in less competition, less push to improve. Cause I really don't see a physical reason. Another commenter suggested the idea of males being better at spacial stuff but that's kinda sus in my mind.
She was snookered…!
One of the gender based differences often cited is spatial discrimination. Males (on average) are better at visualizing spatial relationships. (So better at Tetris….) Presumably then better able to identify possible shots in snooker. The questions then are: 1) how does being trans affect this? And: 2) does this mean cis female snooker pros are more male ? (Actually tongue in cheek with number 2.)
BAK 0.25tspgirl
And yet Tetris is widely considered a gender neutral game.
The Game Boy sold as well with suburban moms and grandparents as it did with kids, largely thanks to the power of the pack-in game Tetris.
*shrug*
The problem with averages is that half the population tends to exceed them: otherwise, they wouldn't be averages.
Melanie E.
Guess...
Guess if trans-woman can't compete against women, because of the XY.
Then an XX trans-man, should be allowed in said competition.?!
Peace tmf
That goes back to the
That goes back to the argument about testosterone. I believe they did check Jamie's hormone levels and they were within the limits.
Leeanna
Competition
I was a fairly good tennis player. Yet I was beaten by women many times.
I was a fairly good long-distance runner. Yet I was beaten by women many times.
What is the big deal?
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Sore loser
I've trotted out my POV about this for a long time now: People will somehow find irrational complaints about transwomen anytime they win ANYTHING.
'Somehow they cheated, those FREAKS' is the refrain seemingly everywhere.
That is why I object to irrational restrictions on competition be it physical or not because it just focuses irrational prejudices on us, preventing us from living our best life.