It’s Good to Be Unwoke – It facilitates clear thinking!

Every sport has its own governing body that defines the way that the sport operates; they come in various forms and have a variety of regulatory functions.  They establish eligibility, set schedules, determine rules, take disciplinary actions, etc.  Some organizations operate with wide range of sporting activities such as the International Olympic Committee, while others may govern only inter-collegiate or high school sports, i.e., the NCAA and the Colorado High School Activities Association respectively.

But in a new woke world, there is a new common denominator amongst all of them—transgenderism, and how do deal with it.  So, let’s begin with the fact that transgenderism is real, and wading into the debate about who should be able to compete and under what circumstances is tantamount to going down the proverbial rabbit hole.

Recently, in a SOP to the left, the NCAA changed its position on the matter focusing its attention on documenting sport-specific testosterone levels.  Now, debating the influence of testosterone levels vis-à-vis male/female skeletal structure vis-à-vis how & when male versus female musculature is developed vis-à-vis how and when competitive attitudes are formed in men versus women or boys versus girls is akin to the abortion and climate debates, i.e., these issues are complicated, and most people have already made up their minds and will always find “facts” that to support their respective belief systems.

In the absence of hard evidence and the glaring lack of peer reviewed studies much of the transgender argument has taken on political undertones.  And now we learn of “rapid onset gender dysphoria” (ROGD), which is drawing fierce criticism from transgender advocates, who call it antitransgender because it suggests that some cases of gender dysphoria may be “socially contagious.”

Well, guess what, social contagion is every bit as real as transgenderism.  The spread of behaviors and attitudes through existing social conventions aggregating from one member to another is as common as the air we breathe. Additionally, early analyses of social contagion suggest it’s the result of the heightened suggestibility of members and have likened the process to the spread of contagious diseases.

Recent studies also suggest that social contagion is frequently sustained, especially by young people, during relatively mundane interpersonal processes, which take the form of imitation, conformity, and mimicry, so, how should a caring, compassionate, and inclusive society handle this matter?

Well, here’s one possible solution: restrict ‘women’s sports’ to biological females but expand male sports to an “open category” where anyone, i.e., men, women, transgenders, and even little green men for that matter are eligible to compete.  If a man who believes he’s a woman wants to compete, let him/her do so in an open category where he/she can compete on an equal footing with other men who believe they are women.  We could take this a step further and apply the same rule to women who believe they are men.  If they’re biological females and have not taken any male hormones, they should have a choice, compete as a biological woman, or compete in the new “open category.”

If any of that proves to be too difficult for the individual to accept, there’s another solution – don’t compete – life isn’t fair.  I have always loved playing basketball, but at 5’7” (on a good day) I’ve never had the ability to dunk, so when I was in high school should the Illinois High School Association have lowered the basket to accommodate short guys like me?  I think not, but then I was born and raised long before the scourge of woke-ism—thank God

Quote of the day: “Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy.  Make it. Protect it.  Pass it on.”— Thurgood Marshall