After Atalanta

In a continuation of my last post in which I crib from GLAD lawyer Jennifer Levi's thoughtful social media posts, I offer here an explanation of why and how trans athletes became the target of the right. First, I keep seeing left of center posts/headlines/discourse that highlight how few trans girls/women are competing in sports. I don't love this framing. The underlying premise of inclusion and access does not have a tipping point.  Perhaps what it is meant to show is how the right is weaponizing this issue. This is both reasonable and true but not really very profound in its assessment. Look at some of the groups and people doing the work of banning trans athletes and you will also see agendas which are racist, and anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic, and anti-LGB as well.  If I have not already recommended Judith Butler's Who's Afraid of Gender? (though I am pretty sure I have), go read it. Some of what Butler says is what Levi echoed in a recent posting contemplating the...

 Oddly, sexism is giving me hope right now. Well, the recognition by folks that all this shit is based on sexist and racist idea that white women need protecting.  For example, the attack on trans women, which WILL expand to other folks in the queer alphabet. It is lumped in with the anti-woke agenda of the right. But do not overlook the decidedly sexist discourse. A rationale for removing transwomen from sex-segregated spaces (which is a project of erasure and violence) is that (white) women need protection from people believed to be men. This was excellently articulated by Jennifer Levi, a lawyer for GLAD, Gay and Lesbian Legal who is currently fighting the ban on transgender persons in the military and the removal of transwomen from women's prisons. In a commentary on the unfolding events caused by the cruelty of this administration, Levi cites Ruth Bader Ginsburg's argument in Reed v Reed (a Supreme Court decision which marked the first time the Equal Protection Clause was...

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has elected a new president, Kirsty Coventry. Coventry is the first woman to earn the position. While this appointment has generated celebration among those who see it as progress in an organization with a history of male leadership, it raises important questions about representation, policy direction, and the true meaning of progress. Why do people continue to peddle the idea that women in leadership equals progress. That gender essentialism--especially regarding women's "nature"--is still so prevalent despite soooo many examples to the contrary astounds me. But this is about Coventry so let's go there.  She is a former Olympian (not unlike past presidents). She swam in five Olympic Games and won seven medals. This makes her the most decorated African athlete. Coventry is from Zimbabwe and has served on various IOC committees and on the Zimbabwean Olympic Committee. She is the youngest person to serve as IOC president as well...

  This much belated post about the administration's reversal of Biden (out-the-door) era g uidance on distribution of NIL  monies is cross-posted at the T itle IX Blo g.  I feel a lot of anger...I feel, and not just anger because of a [military] ban, I feel anger and disappointment at large, just you know trans and non binary people have become public enemy one; and once you start taking away the rights of trans and non binary people, the rest of the chips begin to fall.               Sam Rodriguez, Petty Officer US Navy ( Today, Explained ; Vox Podcasts) This has clearly come to bear already and I would hope most of us are not surprised. Appalled, yes. Surprised, no. The Kennedy Cente r canceling the Gay Men's Chorus  performance is just one example of how public acceptance for violence against trans people. Denying women athletes equitable shares of NIL monies is another chip. This news is old by now. (Though t...

 My N of one today is yesterday's ECAC quarterfinal game between Cornell and Union. It was game 2 and a must-win for Union who lost Friday night to the Big Red.  That was a very testy meet-up with (near?) fights. Certainly the most physical-after-the-whistle game I had seen all year. (I missed previous Union/Cornell games earlier in the season but knew they had been close.) At Friday's game I thought the refs had let things escalate. Chances when they could have given matching roughing penalties they let go. I assume "warnings" were given but even if they were, there were no discernible follow-ups on those. One linesperson from the Friday night game was back on Saturday afternoon and the two new refs and one new lines person joined her; it was an all-women crew. (Friday night had been two women and two men who issued 3 penalties against Cornell and two against Union--much to the dismay of the crowd.) I assumed that whomever comprised the four-person team would have kn...

 [this is cross-posted with Title IX Blog where I will also post something about the announcement that NIL is not subject to Title IX] The NCAA's new policy banning transwomen from competing in women's sports arrived (seemingly) minutes after the administration issued its executive order banning transwomen and girls from participating in school-sponsored sports teams.  The NCAA did include verbiage though which is worth looking at.  This is the synopsis at the top of the press release:  Men's category open to all eligible student-athletes, women's category restricted to student-athletes assigned female at birth, schools directed to foster welcoming environments on all campuses. But it is not accurate.  The women's category--for competition purposes--is open to people students assigned female at birth who are not taking testosterone. What we see here is a different standard. Testosterone levels matter only for some people. Taking it knocks you out of the women's...

Things are bleak and despair is high. I hope folks are doing what they can to fight the fights they think are worth fighting and finding ways to care for themselves and others. I have compiled below videos, websites, fact sheets that I have found helpful in 1) learning more about what is going on from experts and folks on the ground and 2) getting some comfort from the work that is being done and 3) figuring how where to put my efforts and how.  This video from GLAD Law about what an executive order and is not. Following them on Instagram may be helpful as they are in the midst of many legal battles.  GLAD Law (not be confused with GLAAD which is also doing great work--see below) is fighting the trans military ban and GLAD lawyer Jennifer Levi reported that during the hearing in which GLAD asked for emergency relief from the military ban the judge asked pointed questions of the government including the rationality of a policy that says simply being transgender--while meeting...

 The same day as the president signed the executive order banning transwomen in school-sponsored sports (which WILL have more widespread effects--i.e., recreational sports for youth and adults), the NCAA issued its own change on transwomen in collegiate sports which, for the purpose of "consistency" will also prohibit transwomen from competing in women's NCAA sports.  [I wrote about the effects the EO will have on Title IX compliance which is something that NCAA purports to care about, at Title IX Blog .] I would have been surprised (in a good way), if they had not. They give in to outside pressure regularly (with positive and negatives effects). But this policy is another example of their failure to protect athletes. [Lack of penalties for schools that shield predatory coaches and doctors as well as athletes who commit sexual assault; their exploitation of Black men who help them make their billions every March; their laughable adherence to an ahistorical definition of ...

One post on the a dministration's executive order banning transwomen and girls from women's sports does not seem sufficient. I have so many things to say. I will do a separate post on the NCAA on the path it chose in issuing its own ban; and then probably another one on the all the contradictions contained in the ban; and then another about this bullshit discourse on the protection of women (the photo of the bill signing with a group of young white girls surrounding a sexual predator is gag-worthy); and the mess that is trying to categorize things as sex or gender.  Here though I muddle through some initial (though not new) thoughts.  I am on sabbatical this semester trying to complete a project on the influences of feminist ideologies of the 1970s (US context) on women's sports. And being (re)immersed in this literature has been somewhat surreal given the current discourse. Gender as a concept was not in circulation in the 70s but arguments over the role of culture, biolo...

 I started this post on the plane ride back from a conference in CA in November. Conferences always gave me a spurt of writing energy. But the end of the fall 2024 semester got in the way of its completion and transcription (it was easier to pull out a notebook rather than my laptop on the plane). It is still relevant and so... I have been wondering if the (University of) Iowa women's basketball t-shirt (and sweatshirt) I wore last year now after the end of that 2023-24 run to the final four and the subsequent 2024 WNBA season. Last year, an observer might have wondered if I was a bandwagon fan, i.e., experiencing the Caitlin Clark effect. I am an Iowa alum (PhD 2013). with a complicated relationship to Iowa athletics (see the myriad of Title IX issues, racism within programs, incompetent and violent coaching, etc.) And though I have watched women's college basketball for some time, it's mostly because I want to support women's sports. I understand very little about str...

 Movie reviews seem like good ways to keep the commitment to regular blogging going so... [also, I have been doing more over at Title IX Blog about what is going to happen to the regulations in 2025.] Two caveats for this one: I am not a trained movie critic or film expert. I am not a boxing expert or fan and really only pay attention to women's boxing when there are various controversies. Though given the number of controversies and how boxing is and is not included in conversations about women's sports and women athletes, I have a solid understanding of the sociocultural aspects of the sport (but less of one about individuals who have shaped the sport).  I do of course know who Claressa Shields is, which is who The Fire Inside is about.  I did not know about this movie until last month when I saw a preview at my independent theater (shout out to independent movie houses!!). I listen to several podcasts about movies and no one mentioned this film. So when I saw the pre...

 I posted on the Title IX Blog my 2025 intention to blog more; a goal that will be facilitated by shorter (pithier?) posts. I have let go of trying to make deeply profound and impactful posts all the time--since that actually prevented me from posting most of the time--and will shift to more frequent posts that are comments and observations.  That intention applies to After Atalanta as well, so here goes. In this moment of downtime I have been trying to get through all the tabs of things I absolutely must read before my computer decides to automatically restart itself.  I did not absolutely need to read about the Stop Campus Hazing Act which requires changes that incidents of hazing be included Clery Act-mandated reporting. (It's possible I already thought this was happening in fact.) But when reading about it, I did get to thinking about standards of risk and reasonableness.  A thorough definition of hazing was provided, including this second part that the offend...

All the rhetoric about trans and intersex athletes affects the way ciswomen in general but, in this situation, cis women athletes, are being discussed--and criticized. This is not new nor is it a revelation. Activists and scholars have been trying to make people aware of this for years. But it was on display at this year's US Open, when one of the vocal proponents of banning trans women in sports, made comments about a cis woman playing like a man.  I missed Chris Evert's on-air comments about Karolina Muchova because I have made a concerted effort to watch the women's matches on ESPN3 where Mary Carillo has been doing actual good commentary. When I have had to listen to Evert (yes, I know mute is an option), it is just painful. In general, I don't see what her appeal is. The majority of her comments are guesses at what the players are thinking. But her comments this year (and likely in the past--there is some rich discourse analysis to be done I suspect) have been espe...

 cross-posted at the Title IX Blog -------------------------------------------------- Well The Boston Globe published the news  (paywalled*) behind former women's ice hockey coach Katey Stone's press conference two hours before the conference The surprise factor was gone by the time I tracked down the clips. The two pieces of the press conference (Stone's lawyer's remarks and Stone's remarks) can be found at Hockey New s. Some former players spoke as well but I have not seen those clips yet.  There is plenty to say about this lawsuit and press conference.  First, looking back at my predictions, I should have placed more emphasis on retribution than on moving forward with "apologies." Most of today was digging in to "truths." There were no apologies. There was some very interesting running around the allegations though. More on that below.  It was very clear that Stone is irate that she was not allowed to speak back in 2023 when everything went do...

Oh hey--here's the post I never finished about former Harvard women's ice hockey coach Katey Stone. I had basically abandoned it as irrelevant/old news.  But Stone has made it relevant! Thanks, Katey.  The former coach is set to make an announcement and tell her side of the story (it seems?) tomorrow! (So I better get this done today!) She will be accompanied by her lawyer and three former players from different eras of her tenure at Harvard.  I really have no idea what she will say so I am just going to throw out some predictions (I've been listening to a lot of podcasts about the Emmys so I am in that mode). she will largely deny the allegations against her (more on those below) and sue Harvard for wrongful termination (or something like that since she technically retired) she will use the presence of the three former players to bolster those claims she will "apologize" to those who misconstrued her behavior as racist or her coaching style as violent and abusiv...

In the lead up to Wimbledon, I read several pieces and saw even more headlines about the change in the all-white clothing rule to allow players in the women's draw to wear darker shorts/tennis underwear. (Does anyone wear those anymore? Wishing I had kept some of mine now.) There were no bones made about the fact that this change was to ease players' anxiety about playing while on their periods.  Point1: This change was subject to a vote because it is considered a rule change to the dress code. A vote. In 2023 that helps ease the anxiety of menstruating players.  Point 1a: This is not a new issue. Most of the stories mention that some soccer teams are eliminating white shorts from their kits as well this summer. This discussion has also emerged in regard to long-distance athletes (cyclists, runners, triathletes) who are not as bound by dress codes/team uniforms but affected by the nature of their sports which often do not allow for a bathroom break to change a tampon or pad or...

 I have many thoughts on the news that the Harvard women's ice hockey team was a space of abuse, intimidation, humiliation, bullying, and general badness. I am having trouble organizing them and figuring out where to begin. There is so very much to say. My organizational strategy is to create multiple posts. This first one is about my interest in this particular case and a little bit on Katey Stone, the Harvard head coach who unapologetically created this toxic culture and women as ice hockey coaches more generally.  There is a lot to say about every revelation of dysfunctional and destructive team cultures. They exist far more widely than most people likely believe--at all levels of sports, and they are all multi-faceted (i.e., emotional and physical abuse, racism, other forms of discrimination and violence). This one for me, though, was especially provoking because I did my master's thesis on coaches in DI women's ice hockey in the early 2000s. I interviewed players from...

 Most semesters I start off my ethics course with an article about the connection between sports and character building. It inspires debate, requires an assessment of data, and sets the tone for the course in which I am asking my students to check their preconceptions in order to effectively engage in a process of moral reasoning.  We discuss definitions of character and how those definitions are often shifted or ignored when considering actions and decisions that happen in the context of sports. While many students will start to see that sports are not automatic character builders, that mere participation does not make someone a better person, they will take exception to the idea that unethical things done "in the heat of battle" does not make one unethical or speak badly of sport itself. In other words, the drive to win sometimes makes people do unethical things, but that's kind of just the nature of sports.  But doesn't an ethical person, by virtue of being ethical...

 Last weekend, BYU fans directed racial slurs against several Black women on the Duke volleyball team. It seems that Rachel Richardson experienced the brunt of it including a threat from a white man in which she was told to "watch her back" on her way to the bus. She is the athlete who has spoken up about the violence.  BYU responded late and poorly, but this was an all-around failure by all coaches and officials.  It has been pointed out t hat BYU's response reflects their ignorance. Others have thrown up their hands in a "it's BYU--what do you expect?" kind of way.  ALL institutions should already be doing this work. That Heather Olmstead, BYU coach, said that after talking to Richardson (and others) that she now "understand(s) areas where we can do better" is offensive. Stop asking Black people to educate you about racism. AND ALSO how do you not understand that yelling racial slurs is a problem? This is not an area to be worked on--this is an ...

 Mariah Burton Nelson and Donna Lopiano, long-time women's sports advocates, have found "a fair and inclusive solution" to the "problem" of trans athletes--specifically trans women (because trans men are apparently inherently disadvantaged despite all that testosterone, the very substance that a mere blink of an eye ago everyone said meant everything in terms of advantage).  They (presumably with their more visible/vocal and polarizing colleagues Nancy Hogshead-Makar and Martina Navratilova) have created the Women's Sports Umbrella. The umbrella, they claim, allows for anyone identifying as female to have a "team" experience. But if an athlete was assigned male at birth and transitioned after the age of 12, that person cannot compete alongside women. Well unless it is an individual sport in which case fine but the scores/times do not get included with the "real women's" scores, they get put into the trans category. (But rugby and othe...