If Y Chromosomes Don’t Matter, Cancel Women’s Sports and Make New Categories
Should sports be segregated by sex, by gender, or not at all?
Note: I devoutly hope this will be my only post on sex and gender.
I’ve always believed in live and let live. The freedom to do as you wish, so long as you hurt no one else, is the heart of the American Dream that has yet to become the American Reality — the Declaration of Independence insists the pursuit of happiness is one of the greatest human rights, and Emma Lazarus’s poem on the Statue of Liberty welcomes all who yearn to breathe free.
And I’ve always admired female athletes. Ask me to name male Olympians, and the only one I can think of just now is Mark Spitz, but ask me to name female Olympians, and I’ll offer Mary Lou Retton, Olga Korbut, Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Nadia Comăneci… Because our society has always expected less from female athletes, I admire them more.
Historically, sports were divided by sex because people thought men’s biology ensured the tallest, strongest, and fastest people would be male. That’s still the way to bet: the tallest person alive is Sultan Kösen, the fastest is Usain Bolt, and the strongest is Zydrunas Savickas. There are, of course, sports where women outperform men, but in those sports…
