this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2024
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I could see this working better than the current system and would undermine bigots argument about an unfair advantage. Though there are people that think being transgender gives people an advantage in chess somehow.
Women (and trans women) naturally carry a higher body fat percentage than men (Incl trans men) a "male" athlete can more safely and more easily carry a lower body fat % and therefore more muscle per kilo. So the weight classes wouldnt be able to be 1:1 if you wanted a level playing field.
There is still the inherent biological advantage in being born male and going through male puberty and developing a male muscular/skeletal system before transitioning. Very difficult to rule around every nuance of this though.
This is exactly right and what many people fail to understand. In studies, even after 3+ years of hormone therapy, trans-women still have significantly more muscle tissue than CIS women.
And that's without looking at cardiovascular differences, or even as subtle as glycogen storage.
I mean, the average person is obeese these days...
Transitioning is a huge dedication to making their appearance fit with their identity, it just seems common sense for them to take more pride in their new appearance
Testosterone is literally a PED.
Its why trans women can compete at a decent level, they'll still rarely be at the absolute top of their sport.
They have to have their testosterone and other hormones monitored and held to average levels. That will always put them at a disadvantage at elite levels versus women who don't have the same requirement.
Which is completely solved by access to puberty blockers before transitioning.
I did see some article claim that hip to knee ratio didn't translate to athletic performance, and it was so ridiculous I even downloaded the linked PDF that said it was a study, and it was just a pamphlet repeating the exact same claim with no further source.
I mean, there's a clear correlation already with women's sports already. Lots of runners peak early and have worse times by graduating highschool. But it's literally physics. Wider hips just means less efficient running.
Your last sentence made me search up women's chess... and it exists! That sound like a bold assumption or assertion that women are dumber in chess... Like what? I don't know why chess has to be gender divided. Maybe it exist to increase representation of women in it but the idea seems stupid. Maybe they have to split it for trans too if its already divided for cis women.
https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-the-gender-imbalance-in-top-level-chess-150637
It sounds so but the gap is still too large to say it. The "stereotype threat" shown here should not really affect every one of theese female players. For most other feilds, women can easily take upto 30-40% participation