When A Man Becomes A Woman

He’s Still A Man

Are you confused by all the controversy about biological men playing in women’s sports? Do you think a biological male takes on the physiology of a female when he takes “gender altering” drugs or has his wiener cut off? If you do, consider the following.

Gender is not “assigned” at birth. It is established well before a baby is born. When tests are administered before birth, to determine the gender of the yet-to-be-born child, the determining factor is whether a penis is found. If it is, the fetus is determined to be a male. If no penis is found, the fetus is determined to be female, or the test is declared inconclusive because the position of the fetus kept the area in question out of view.

Genitalia is merely an external indication of a person’s gender. Persons with a penis also have a prostate gland and XY chromosomes. Females are persons born with ovaries, no penis, no prostate and XX chromosomes. In addition to these characteristics, males typically have larger bones, attain a greater height and have more musculature than females.

According to a 2004 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) press release the average weight for men in 2002 (the latest date for this information on the CDC web site) was 191 pounds, while the average weight for women was 164 pounds. The press release also notes the average height for a 15-year-old boy was 68.4 inches while 15-year-old girls averaged a height of 63.8 inches. Exceptions obviously exist, but on average males weigh 27 pounds more than females and are 4.7 inches taller.

Athlete height and weight may fall well outside the average or may be reflective of it, depending on the sport. Obviously, basketball players tend to be taller than the average height for their respective genders, while marathon runners tend to weigh less than the average. Individual sports dictate the ideal physiology of the athletes competing in them and in some sports, weight classes exist because it is impossible for a competitor who is well below average height and weight to be competitive with an opponent who is well above average in height and weight.

Consider Olympic boxing. Eight weight classes exist for men, ranging from Flyweight (114 pounds) to Super heavyweight (more than 200 pounds). Women’s boxing classes range from Flyweight (112) to Middleweight (165 pounds). Why do you suppose women’s weight classes stop at Middleweight yet men’s weight classes extend to over 200 pounds? Could it be that men are larger and heavier than women? Could it be that few if any female boxers weigh more than 165 pounds? Could it be that men are physically and biologically different than women?

And because the weight limitations for Middleweight classes for women are below or are similar, if not the same, to those for men, why are there separate categories for men and women? Applying a bit of logic (as opposed to emotion) it would seem that physical characteristics, specifically strength and reach, are sufficiently different to give biological males an advantage over females of the same weight.

That holds true even if a biological male claims to be a female. Changing one’s gender does not change one’s physiology. Consider the case of swimmer Lia Thomas. He was born a male and claiming to be a female did not change the fact that he is 6ft-1in tall. In comparison, former competitive swimmer and now an activist working to eliminate biological males from women’s sports, Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas, is 5ft-9in tall. The difference in height is of far less consequence than the difference in reach and strength.

Logically, it would seem that anyone claiming to be a female while sporting male genitalia is a fraud. (According to Gaines, Thomas had his male genitalia on full display while changing in the women’s locker room.) But even after male genitalia is removed, physiology does not change. If Thomas had undergone surgery to remove his “man parts” he would still be 6ft-1in tall and would still have the same reach and strength as when he was a fully equipped male.

The justification for gender transition is that the person wishing to undergo it believes they were born in the wrong body. That person’s belief isn’t the issue, nor is their right to believe they are of a different gender than the one in evidence at their birth. But it is impossible to change the gender of a body. If you were born a male, you will always be a male and if you were born a female, you will always be a female.

Anything else is just a belief.

Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.