“I didn’t put anything into the book that has not happened sometime, somewhere,” … Or wasn’t happening then and isn’t happening now. So you can call that feminist, if you like. I didn’t start from ideology, I started from what I was collecting and seeing.”
Allowing trans women to compete with biological women in sports is another way of making women invisible. When a girl trains intensively for high school sports, and is at the top of her game, it is incredibly unfair to lose the accolades and scholarships to an individual who had been a mediocre competitor as a male.
A trans woman takes hormones. Female hormones. So that means less testosterone is running around in there. So LESS male. A trans athlete has the same hormone balance as an AFAB athlete.
That is entirely false, and a quick google would tell you as much. Even at a “disadvantage” the testosterone levels far exceed that of a biological woman’s levels could ever reach—even if thar biological woman were taking testosterone. We don’t have to play pretend here, to respect how someone wants to live. There are many trans identified people who do not pretend there isn’t a biological reality acting on their bodies, even if they medicalize to counter it. Trans men aren’t claiming their testosterone levels are that of biological men in order to compete in the male sports category.
(I rarely do this, so my apologies to the author, whose post thread I’ve entered, I loved your article!).
Dr. Google, though often used by those seeking medical advice is somewhat suspect. The “diagnosis” always includes “cancer.”
What age is your hypothetical trans girl? When did she begin hormone replacement therapy? Was she provided puberty blockers?
I assume, and I apologize if I’m wrong, that you don’t disagree with little trans girls playing sports with little cis girls? You know, that age when most of the team is kicking dandelions, or picking them, and the other half is just headed toward the “action.” Afterwards, everyone gets juice and “mom” snacks.
I recall a time when girls “matured faster than boys.” I know this because my grade school used to line is up by height. Surely, in this age range, combined sports is harmless.
High school?
Again, when did your hypothetical trans girl start hormone replacement therapy? Did she take puberty blockers? If she was on puberty blockers and is now on hormones, she only went through one puberty, a female puberty.
The reason trans advocates argue for this therapeutically (it reduces dysphoria from going through a misaligned puberty with it’s permanent physical effects), is because estrogen will, at this age, alter the girls pelvis angle, widen her hips, redistribute fat deposits to where they go traditionally, change her hand shape, foot shape, bone density, muscle structure, height, skin, eye shape, hair growth. Honestly, I could go on and on. (Even at my age, it’s still doing this, just not as effectively).
Like me, she’d also be taking a testosterone blocker. It fills the receptors where testosterone bonds thereby significantly reducing testosterone levels.
When I began my hormone replacement, I was asked where I wanted my estrogen levels, “cis age appropriate levels or somewhere in between?”
I get my levels tested regularly. It’s part of my regular heath screenings so that I can maintain my desired level.
In any event, I recognize this is a valid and concerning issue for a lot of people, my community included.
I had the privilege of watching my children play sports and I know first hand the life lessons one can learn through participation in sports. I feel those benefits should be available to all children.
Most people, by now, know the statistic that of the 510,000 NCAA athletes, less than 10 are “transgender athletes.” Lesser known, is that of that “less than 10,” only 2 were trans girls.
Co-Ed sports between pre-pubescent kiddos is never an issue in my book. I learned an immense amount about how to be a human while on my t-ball team. That is an entirely different animal than women who have dedicated their lives to their sport, and are being outperformed in their categories simply because male sexed folks are being allowed to compete.
We spent quite a long time trying to make sports for women happen—because there is a massive difference between the amounts of testosterone produced in the female vs. male body. Even if the female body being compared is on testosterone. Even if the male body being compared is on estrogen.
As a female someone who lived as trans for a decade plus, and weight lifted seriously, my strength never rivaled that of my male counterparts, or even many male friends I had who were generally sedentary. They have hundreds of times more testosterone in their bodies, even when I was on testosterone and taking supporting herbs. Even when up against several trans women who assaulted me—who had been on estrogen for years and were sedentary.
I am 100000% for folks dressing however we choose—freedom of expression is freeing for us all. However, it is the case that biologically these differences exist, and we’re kidding ourselves when we say otherwise. It’s a hill it makes no sense to die on.
While Google in general may populate some wild things, there are medical studies that populate, and do illustrate this biological difference. Even those with DSDs fall into either male or female (which is why the condition is considered disordered). We are a two-sex species. We don’t need that to be redefined in order to question the ways we show up in the world, the gender norms we impose upon one another etc.
Personally I find this a far more nuanced discussion than so many want to have. Too many are quick to jump to judgment and vitriol—and it just isn’t necessary. We can humanize one another as we look at the truth. (Making a general statement. Not referencing specific responses, here.)
Samantha Paige: Thank you for that illuminating comment. It’s heartbreaking how trans people have been vilified to achieve political ends. I hope educating people can help.
I have been listening since I was little. I was there in 1989, 12.5 years old, when the Berlin Wall came down, and remember all too clearly what life was like for me as a child behind the Iron Curtain. I can tell you that East German women had way more rights than their West German sisters. That changed with the unification. And yes, history tends to repeat. When we don't listen...we will get to feel it to believe it. Tragically.
I was born in then- socialist Yugoslavia and, as a child, witnessed its destruction in the early 1990s. With it came the 'return to the traditional values'. And women born and raised in the previous system are still considered the most emancipated generation in this part of the world.
Imagine reading this in 1985, this book has haunted me. I was there when women got the right to bank accounts and credit. I was there when we got the right to abortion. The right to not be let go if you became pregnant. What’s unimaginable is it coming true.
Read this book in college and could see the parallels back then in 96. When more & more restrictive bills towards women started being presented in congress, I knew it was only a matter of time. During the Women's Marches that happened, this book got dragged through the mud as typical myopic bullsh*t despite it being based on things that have happened/were happening to women all over the globe. An alternative was suggested as a more accurate portrayal of what it would really look like. I read it, but still didn't feel it addressed the matter nearly as accurately as Handmaid's Tale did.
Then RvW was overturned & it became more relevant than ever. Now bills are being introduced here & there to strip us of all of our rights - testing the waters. P2025 outlined exactly what they have in mind for the future of women. Unfortunately, too many women are still asleep at the wheel & think it won't happen to them. I'm betting there's plenty of women from 1970s Middle East that wish they could go back in time & fight harder for their rights.
Are we going to learn from them or continue to have mis-placed faith in men?
Well, that’s depressing. I watched Heretic last night. Excellent movie. It poses the question about the role of religion in society. It’s a horror movie, but atypical with a smart script and great acting. Not overly bloody. Lots to think about later.
Thank you for this insightful analysis of the Handmaids Tale. Finally, it seems, we are taking heed. I hope it’s not too little, too late. Like you, one way I can take action is through writing. Your story has sparked an idea for this week’s Substack. 🙏
No one listens to women, in fiction or nonfiction. I’m reading Madeleine Albright’s Fascism: A Warning, published in 2019. No mistaking that this is real. But no one listens to women, not even brilliant ones.
I feel in love with Margaret Atwood's words when I first read Cat's eye in 1978. I've read & collected her books ever since. This is the first I've heard of her witch ancestor but makes total sense. Witches were just women that could "read" the future because they saw the signs before anyone else.
I found that series to be horrific and anti female in the extreme. No I didn’t watch it all so maybe the cruelty and deprivation went away at some point. I could not stomach it.
I wasn't familiar with the SAVe Act, not really. Makes me wonder, I'm single, but my birth certificate lists me as Jodi Sharane Doff while all my other id, passport, drivers license, ss card etc. lists me as Jodi Sh Doff. I imagine that could be used as grounds, maybe I'd win, in court, but the damage would still be done. I imagine if I were Margaret Atwood, I'd feel entitled to drink heavily and often at this point. If I were George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Harry Harrison or Ray Bradbury, well. They all told us, didn't they?
I was having this exact conversation with a friend the other day! I’ve taught this text at A Level and she had watched the series and asked how did the writer ever come up with this idea? It is startling to know that she picked everything from somewhere in history. That’s what makes it such an important text. It has just the same eerie and frightening echo of reality that 1984 has.
Question, how does the SAVE act make it so married women can't vote? The SAVE act requires proof of U. S. Citizenship, and removal of ILLEGAL immigrants from all voters list. It says nothing about name on birth certificate matching ID. Also, married women aren't required to change their last name when they get married, so just because you're married doesn't mean your name changes.
I’ve saved this quote from her for years.
“I didn’t put anything into the book that has not happened sometime, somewhere,” … Or wasn’t happening then and isn’t happening now. So you can call that feminist, if you like. I didn’t start from ideology, I started from what I was collecting and seeing.”
Yeah, that's a really good one.
It is so hard to see the writing literally on the wall, point it out to everyone, and watch them all go about their day as if everything were normal.
Thank you for pointing. I am listening.
Thank you Anni, I appreciate that
Allowing trans women to compete with biological women in sports is another way of making women invisible. When a girl trains intensively for high school sports, and is at the top of her game, it is incredibly unfair to lose the accolades and scholarships to an individual who had been a mediocre competitor as a male.
A trans woman takes hormones. Female hormones. So that means less testosterone is running around in there. So LESS male. A trans athlete has the same hormone balance as an AFAB athlete.
That is entirely false, and a quick google would tell you as much. Even at a “disadvantage” the testosterone levels far exceed that of a biological woman’s levels could ever reach—even if thar biological woman were taking testosterone. We don’t have to play pretend here, to respect how someone wants to live. There are many trans identified people who do not pretend there isn’t a biological reality acting on their bodies, even if they medicalize to counter it. Trans men aren’t claiming their testosterone levels are that of biological men in order to compete in the male sports category.
Umm, actually…
(I rarely do this, so my apologies to the author, whose post thread I’ve entered, I loved your article!).
Dr. Google, though often used by those seeking medical advice is somewhat suspect. The “diagnosis” always includes “cancer.”
What age is your hypothetical trans girl? When did she begin hormone replacement therapy? Was she provided puberty blockers?
I assume, and I apologize if I’m wrong, that you don’t disagree with little trans girls playing sports with little cis girls? You know, that age when most of the team is kicking dandelions, or picking them, and the other half is just headed toward the “action.” Afterwards, everyone gets juice and “mom” snacks.
I recall a time when girls “matured faster than boys.” I know this because my grade school used to line is up by height. Surely, in this age range, combined sports is harmless.
High school?
Again, when did your hypothetical trans girl start hormone replacement therapy? Did she take puberty blockers? If she was on puberty blockers and is now on hormones, she only went through one puberty, a female puberty.
The reason trans advocates argue for this therapeutically (it reduces dysphoria from going through a misaligned puberty with it’s permanent physical effects), is because estrogen will, at this age, alter the girls pelvis angle, widen her hips, redistribute fat deposits to where they go traditionally, change her hand shape, foot shape, bone density, muscle structure, height, skin, eye shape, hair growth. Honestly, I could go on and on. (Even at my age, it’s still doing this, just not as effectively).
Like me, she’d also be taking a testosterone blocker. It fills the receptors where testosterone bonds thereby significantly reducing testosterone levels.
When I began my hormone replacement, I was asked where I wanted my estrogen levels, “cis age appropriate levels or somewhere in between?”
I get my levels tested regularly. It’s part of my regular heath screenings so that I can maintain my desired level.
In any event, I recognize this is a valid and concerning issue for a lot of people, my community included.
I had the privilege of watching my children play sports and I know first hand the life lessons one can learn through participation in sports. I feel those benefits should be available to all children.
Most people, by now, know the statistic that of the 510,000 NCAA athletes, less than 10 are “transgender athletes.” Lesser known, is that of that “less than 10,” only 2 were trans girls.
Co-Ed sports between pre-pubescent kiddos is never an issue in my book. I learned an immense amount about how to be a human while on my t-ball team. That is an entirely different animal than women who have dedicated their lives to their sport, and are being outperformed in their categories simply because male sexed folks are being allowed to compete.
We spent quite a long time trying to make sports for women happen—because there is a massive difference between the amounts of testosterone produced in the female vs. male body. Even if the female body being compared is on testosterone. Even if the male body being compared is on estrogen.
As a female someone who lived as trans for a decade plus, and weight lifted seriously, my strength never rivaled that of my male counterparts, or even many male friends I had who were generally sedentary. They have hundreds of times more testosterone in their bodies, even when I was on testosterone and taking supporting herbs. Even when up against several trans women who assaulted me—who had been on estrogen for years and were sedentary.
I am 100000% for folks dressing however we choose—freedom of expression is freeing for us all. However, it is the case that biologically these differences exist, and we’re kidding ourselves when we say otherwise. It’s a hill it makes no sense to die on.
While Google in general may populate some wild things, there are medical studies that populate, and do illustrate this biological difference. Even those with DSDs fall into either male or female (which is why the condition is considered disordered). We are a two-sex species. We don’t need that to be redefined in order to question the ways we show up in the world, the gender norms we impose upon one another etc.
Personally I find this a far more nuanced discussion than so many want to have. Too many are quick to jump to judgment and vitriol—and it just isn’t necessary. We can humanize one another as we look at the truth. (Making a general statement. Not referencing specific responses, here.)
Samantha Paige: Thank you for that illuminating comment. It’s heartbreaking how trans people have been vilified to achieve political ends. I hope educating people can help.
The number of cases where this has happened are in the single digits.
I have been listening since I was little. I was there in 1989, 12.5 years old, when the Berlin Wall came down, and remember all too clearly what life was like for me as a child behind the Iron Curtain. I can tell you that East German women had way more rights than their West German sisters. That changed with the unification. And yes, history tends to repeat. When we don't listen...we will get to feel it to believe it. Tragically.
I was born in then- socialist Yugoslavia and, as a child, witnessed its destruction in the early 1990s. With it came the 'return to the traditional values'. And women born and raised in the previous system are still considered the most emancipated generation in this part of the world.
Yes, they are.
It is nice to connect. Greetings from Belgium.
Imagine reading this in 1985, this book has haunted me. I was there when women got the right to bank accounts and credit. I was there when we got the right to abortion. The right to not be let go if you became pregnant. What’s unimaginable is it coming true.
Read this book in college and could see the parallels back then in 96. When more & more restrictive bills towards women started being presented in congress, I knew it was only a matter of time. During the Women's Marches that happened, this book got dragged through the mud as typical myopic bullsh*t despite it being based on things that have happened/were happening to women all over the globe. An alternative was suggested as a more accurate portrayal of what it would really look like. I read it, but still didn't feel it addressed the matter nearly as accurately as Handmaid's Tale did.
Then RvW was overturned & it became more relevant than ever. Now bills are being introduced here & there to strip us of all of our rights - testing the waters. P2025 outlined exactly what they have in mind for the future of women. Unfortunately, too many women are still asleep at the wheel & think it won't happen to them. I'm betting there's plenty of women from 1970s Middle East that wish they could go back in time & fight harder for their rights.
Are we going to learn from them or continue to have mis-placed faith in men?
Well, that’s depressing. I watched Heretic last night. Excellent movie. It poses the question about the role of religion in society. It’s a horror movie, but atypical with a smart script and great acting. Not overly bloody. Lots to think about later.
Thank you for this insightful analysis of the Handmaids Tale. Finally, it seems, we are taking heed. I hope it’s not too little, too late. Like you, one way I can take action is through writing. Your story has sparked an idea for this week’s Substack. 🙏
Indeed. Some things have happened.😂
I have read the book twice, just recently. It’s certainly worth a reread! She deserves a Nobel Prize!
No one listens to women, in fiction or nonfiction. I’m reading Madeleine Albright’s Fascism: A Warning, published in 2019. No mistaking that this is real. But no one listens to women, not even brilliant ones.
I feel in love with Margaret Atwood's words when I first read Cat's eye in 1978. I've read & collected her books ever since. This is the first I've heard of her witch ancestor but makes total sense. Witches were just women that could "read" the future because they saw the signs before anyone else.
Thanks for such an awesome article!
I found that series to be horrific and anti female in the extreme. No I didn’t watch it all so maybe the cruelty and deprivation went away at some point. I could not stomach it.
I wasn't familiar with the SAVe Act, not really. Makes me wonder, I'm single, but my birth certificate lists me as Jodi Sharane Doff while all my other id, passport, drivers license, ss card etc. lists me as Jodi Sh Doff. I imagine that could be used as grounds, maybe I'd win, in court, but the damage would still be done. I imagine if I were Margaret Atwood, I'd feel entitled to drink heavily and often at this point. If I were George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Harry Harrison or Ray Bradbury, well. They all told us, didn't they?
I was having this exact conversation with a friend the other day! I’ve taught this text at A Level and she had watched the series and asked how did the writer ever come up with this idea? It is startling to know that she picked everything from somewhere in history. That’s what makes it such an important text. It has just the same eerie and frightening echo of reality that 1984 has.
Question, how does the SAVE act make it so married women can't vote? The SAVE act requires proof of U. S. Citizenship, and removal of ILLEGAL immigrants from all voters list. It says nothing about name on birth certificate matching ID. Also, married women aren't required to change their last name when they get married, so just because you're married doesn't mean your name changes.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8281