It's probably a sign of the weird times we're in that a piece like this should be necessary. But, I might note, despite a major political upheaval last November, the matter of human sexes - and yes, sex is the correct word; as the saying goes, words have gender, people have sex - this is still, for some reason, a contentious issue. When I was very young, the idea that men were men and women were women was not only broadly accepted but nearly universally so. That in no way implies women were weaker or less resilient. Of all people, I know that; the three women who have been and are most important to me in my life include:
- My grandmother, a 4'10", 95-pound Iowa farm wife who raised six kids during the Depression, sent two sons off to World War 2, and who would cut a switch and give any of her hulking, tough grandsons a right good thrashing if she thought we had it coming.
- My mother, also a rather petite Iowa farm wife, was a great pistol shot and able to toss 100-pound hay bales around - and kill a rattlesnake if it happened across her path.
- My wife of 33 years, an Army veteran, Bronze Star recipient, possessor of more physical and emotional courage than anyone I've ever known.
Even so, men and women, boys and girls, are different. The transgender-agenda people can shriek about that all they like, but facts are facts. And clearly, this is still an issue; the Senate only recently failed to pass a bill, amazingly, to keep men out of women's sports. And people continue to subject themselves to harmful, life-altering medical treatments in the name of being transgender."
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So, let's look at these differences from the standpoint of biology, one of the sciences. Full disclosure: The biologist testifying here is me: Bachelor's degree in Biology, emphasis in behavior and field zoology, University of Northern Iowa, Class of '87. I haven't worked in the field for some time but maintain a keen interest--and I do, as the saying goes, keep current.
First, sex is not "chosen," nor is it determined at birth. Humans are mammals. Placental mammals, like us, are sexually bipolar. Sex is determined genetically at conception. In the case of humans, this is determined by the last set of chromosomes in our genome, which take the form of an X or a Y chromosome. At conception, a new embryo receives one copy of each of the 46 chromosomes from each parent. Twenty-two of the 23 pairs are autosomes, containing non-sex-determining information; the 23rd pair are the sex chromosomes. If an embryo receives two X chromosomes, the child will be a girl. If the embryo receives an X and a Y, the child will be a boy.
These are facts.
There are sexual abnormalities, normally involving polyploidy (extra copies) of the sex chromosomes, and they can result in sexual ambiguities. These include Klinefelter Syndrome, which results from an XXY polyploidy; trisomy X, which results from an XXX polyploidy, and a few others. These conditions are quite rare and can be debilitating. In sex determination, human genetics leans strongly towards the "Y>1" rule, in which any genome with a Y chromosome is overtly male, although there can be complications.
These are also facts.
Boys and girls develop differently, even before puberty. A PubMed-published study on prepubescent boys and girls from 2012 states in part:
The physical fitness assessment employed sets of aerobic fitness, strength, flexibility, speed, agility, and balance. The boys presented higher values in all selected tests, except tests of balance and flexibility, in which girls scored better. Gender differences in the physical fitness were greatest in the explosive strength of upper (p ≤ 0.01, η(p)(2) = 0.09) and lower limbs (p ≤ 0.01, η(p)(2) = 0.08), although with a medium-size effect of gender, and smaller in the abdominal (p > 0.05, η(p)(2) = 0.007) and upper limbs (p > 0.05, η(p)(2) = 0.003) muscular endurance, and trunk extensor strength and flexibility (p > 0.05, η(p)(2) = 0.001). The endomorphic (p ≤ 0.01, η(p)(2) = 0.26) in the girls, and the ectomorphic (p ≤ 0.01, η(p)(2) = 0.31) and mesomorphic (p ≤ 0.01, η(p)(2) = 0.26) in the boys, had the high-sized effect on the physical fitness. The physical activity in the girls, and the endomorphic and body fat in the boys, did not have a significant effect.
That's a lot of science talk, but the summary is that the boys scored higher in all physical aspects, including aerobic fitness, strength, speed, and agility. The girls did better in balance and flexibility. This is, again, before puberty.
These are also facts.
PubMed also released a 2023 statement on the differences between men and women in sports:
Biological sex is a primary determinant of athletic performance because of fundamental sex differences in anatomy and physiology dictated by sex chromosomes and sex hormones. Adult men are typically stronger, more powerful, and faster than women of similar age and training status. Thus, for athletic events and sports relying on endurance, muscle strength, speed, and power, males typically outperform females by 10%-30% depending on the requirements of the event.
These are also facts.
A 2022 Brazilian study informs us that "transgender women" - men - do not lose these advantages, even after hormone treatments:
The researchers found that, although the transgender women had about the same testosterone levels as the cisgender women, they had about 40% greater skeletal muscle mass. Moreover, they were about 19% stronger and had 20% greater cardiopulmonary capacity. Interestingly, transgender women’s athletic markers generally fell right in the middle between cisgender men and women.
In other words, as I've been saying and writing for years, the practice of allowing "transgender women" to compete in women's sports is, always has been, and always will be, hideously unfair.
Look, from a social standpoint, I'm very much of the opinion that I don't really care what people do so long as they leave me alone. Someone, an adult, can claim to identify as a man, a woman, a head of lettuce, or the Oort Cloud, for all I care, as long as I'm not bothered and not required or expected to tap-dance around their delusions. However, administering life-changing and debilitating "transgender" therapies to children who are unable to give informed consent, or allowing men and boys to compete on women's and girls' sports teams should be - must be - where we draw a line.
The zeitgeist does appear to be slowly changing. The "transgender" social contagion is showing some signs of fading. But it ain't over until the fat trans-lady sings, and while she may be warming up in the wings, the show isn't over yet. Bookmark this piece and the studies referenced, and you'll have a handy trove of actual science to draw upon, should you ever find yourself arguing this issue.
