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Emma Hilton

@FondOfBeetles

Jun 2

https://twitter.com/bigdaddybunce/status/1928704857336168626

Let’s address what many consider an uncomfortable topic.

Here, Bunce argues that Khelif was “condemned on her looks”.

That’s not true.

https://twitter.com/bigdaddybunce/status/1928704857336168626

People argued that Khelif appears to be male.

They may not have always been as polite as Bunce’s sensitivities required, but this is not “condemning” someone “on their looks”.

It’s noting that Khelif looks male/masculinised/(a man, if you prefer), and raising urgent alarms about what that means in boxing.

Sportswomen are no strangers to being called “men”. It’s an ugly, misogynistic way to attack gender-nonconforming women.

Tall women, lesbian women, women with short hair and no makeup.

Read 16 tweets

Emma Hilton

@FondOfBeetles

May 31

I don't think this is The Solution, but I'm generally in favour of weighing up proposals, so let's look at this one.

California high school sports have proposed to protect girls and accommodate trans-identified boys as follows:

If a male athlete gets a medal, the displaced female athlete also gets her medal.

Some thoughts to follow, chewing the fat for open discussion...

An example of finish places and medals under this scheme might look like this:

1st William-now-Lia 🥇
2nd Helen 🥇
3rd Sarah 🥈
4th Catherine 🥉

So on the face of it, the top three girls get their rightful medals. Presumably this is how CIF say they are protecting those girls.

That is, to rephrase the original proposal:

The top three girls are medalled in order, and any boy that is good enough to finish in this female competitive window gets a place-matched medal.

This rephrasing shows the flaws.

Read 10 tweets

Emma Hilton

@FondOfBeetles

Apr 25

This is a computer-generated series, transitioning between "hyper male" and "hyper female".

Where does your perception of the sex of the person shift?
Which face is the most ambiguous?

If you reply, please include your sex (the actual one).

OK, in the paper, the data was:

Faces 1-3: 100>97% scored "male"
Faces 5-7: 94>100% scored "female"
Face 4 was the transition face, with 68% scoring it "male".

FTR, I didn't hesitate on 4/male then 5/female.

Next set: same series, now skinned 🤣

I won't ask for responses. It is probably obvious that people were less able to detect any sharp transition from male>female, from face-on bone structure.

Note to archeologists: this doesn't mean you can't tell a male from female face, so stop pretending you can't.

Read 7 tweets

Emma Hilton

@FondOfBeetles

Apr 4

This is the menstrual cycle.

Trans-identified males do not have one.

This is the uterus, from which we bleed.

Trans-identified males do not have one.

During a period, prostaglandins trigger uterine contractions, causing cramps.

Trans-identified males do not have them.

Read 8 tweets

Emma Hilton

@FondOfBeetles

Mar 27

People with 5ARD are male, not female

In defence of Semenya et al, many argue:
1. athletes with 5ARD are female;
2. features associated with 5ARD are normal female variation;
3. these athletes should be included in female sports.

The first claim is incoherent.

To understand 5ARD, let's look at healthy reproductive development.

Both male and female development are well-understood.

Male development
1. Y chromosome carrying functional SRY that directs testes development
2. testes produce hormones, notably testosterone (T)
3. T first drives male internal genitalia development
4. T>DHT conversion drives male external genital development

Read 20 tweets

Emma Hilton

@FondOfBeetles

Mar 26

“Sex screening in athletes is racist!”

Why? Really struggling with this.

In our recent paper (cited by World Athletics @sebcoe) calling for the reintroduction of sex screening in the female category, we make it very clear that this type of screening must be:

1. Cohort-wide | performed in all athletes wishing to enter the female category, regardless of skin colour, religion, nationality etc.

2. Early | to protect privacy and dignity, and avoid athletes being front-page news.

With these parameters in mind, the sex screen itself cannot be considered “racist”.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.11…

Citing historic ethical issues won’t wash. We all acknowledge these. Early, cohort-wide screening will avoid the failures of the past.

So the cry of “racism” must be aimed elsewhere, presumably anchored on the premise that previous targeted screening (which is precisely what I and others advocate against) brought multiple black athletes and very few white athletes to our front pages.

Now, let’s grant that and think about what that means.

The charge against me and others is that we are “policing sex” in a way that excludes black women (when measured against “white femininity”).

My friends, I am here to tell you that I - an adult human female with white skin - am precisely the same quality and amount of female as any adult human female with black skin.

Black women aren’t female by some weird voodoo. They are women in precisely the same way as white women are women.

In fact, it starts to look a bit racist on your part to suggest that black women aren’t women in the same way as white women are women.

Ironic, huh?

Read 8 tweets

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