Conversation

Aella
@Aella_Girl
I'm a bit frustrated by how most reactions to this intentionally misgender her, which is super upsetting for a trans person to hear. It's possible to criticize admissions into women's sports, to point out trans and cis women aren't identical, without escalating the viritrol.
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Penn Swimming & Diving
@PennSwimDive
🥇🥈 Lia Thomas is the @IvyLeague champion in the 500 free. Her time of 4:37.32 is a new pool record. Catherine Buroker finishes in second. #FightOnPenn
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
I don't feel like I blame Lia too much, or at least I don't know enough to blame her. I could easily imagine she's surrounded by a culture which tells her, regularly and confidently, that she is no different from a cis woman, and which encouraged her heavily to compete.
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Mycology Slut
@JadeResurrected
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
Why remove her accountability? She’s an adult…she knows her body was shaped by male puberty and differs from her biological female teammates’, thus giving her a huge advantage. It isn’t anti-trans to admit that she has biological advantages and shouldn’t be competing w women.
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Bernd das Brot
@Dukestreetdaddy
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
Excuses. Lia knows exactly what is going on and all women that have lived all their lives with lower levels of testosterone are suffering. Yippee progress for the selfish person who can chose in 2 years to go back to being a man if they wish after affecting all these others.
autotunecaveman
@autotunecaveman
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
She shouldn't be misgendered but she's an athlete and athletes aren't stupid. They play to win. She knew she came into this with an (unfair) advantage and played anyways. I can't imagine being so willfully deluded to deny such differences but maybe you are right, I just doubt.
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FoxSakes
@FiveHoleFire
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
Lea is aware of the farce. Celebration and recognition. For Lea, both are accomplished, albeit obligatorily. Lea is aware that either she is cheating, or the structure of the rules are shaken. No different than Lance Armstrong, Bonds, or the Spanish paralympic basketball team.
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Amanda Askell
@AmandaAskell
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
It's weird that anyone would put the onus on individual athletes here. If you have explicit rules that it turns out allow for edge cases you don't like, it's on you to change the rules. It's not on individuals to figure out if they might be some kind of edge case you won't like.
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Erez Shinan
@erezsh
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
I don't know if I like the "surrounded by a culture" defense. It sounds too much like "I was following orders". It might be an explanation, but that doesn't mean it's an excuse.
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