After coming across a Business Insider article about a new documentary featuring LGBT Athletes, I took a look at the trailer for the film called Game Face.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHkx9evsC-M[/youtube]
One of the individual’s being documented in the film is an MMA fighter, and a transgendered woman. She talks about her struggle with being accepted as a woman because of what her sport entails; she was born with the male sex chromosomes, but she is fighting women. Many people see this as a dangerous disadvantage for women who were born with female chromosomes because biologically men are built differently than women. The MMA fighter asserts that because of the hormones she takes, she is no different than the women she is fighting against.
I thought this was a very interesting issue, and I find myself on the fence about it. I’d have to do more research about how much hormones alter someone biologically before taking a stance on this controversial circumstance. I want her to have the freedom to feel that she can express herself as a woman, but I do not know enough yet to feel comfortable with the idea of fighting against her in a ring, even if I knew anything about MMA fighting. It’s hard because, while I love playing soccer against boys, MMA is a sport where the objective is to throw punches and actually fight, so the potential degree of injury is a lot greater than that of other sports. I’m interested to see how everyone else feels about this.
This issue is a very sensitive subject and it is very difficult to hear people talk about not feeling comfortable in the their own skins. I think it takes a lot for a person to come out like this and it also very important for them to feel comfortable to do whatever they want in life.
I agree with you that this is a complicated issue. I also don’t feel educated enough in the biology department to fully understand the details of how hormones affect a person biologically. But, just off the top of my head, I think we’ve learned in this class that biology doesn’t determine how a person acts, it only influences it. Perhaps this fighter is right, and that the hormones she is taking put her on a fair playing field. Or perhaps she is wrong, and she has an advantage. Either way, I think this is an important discussion not only for people interested in gender, but for the medical and scientific community as well.
According to Merriam Webster, the term game face refers to “a look of intense determination on the face of a game player.” In layman’s terms, a mask worn to protect ones identity by intimidation.
This particular article strikes interest in me because, in Michiel Thomas’s Film “Game Face” we see the comparison between two opposite ends of the spectrum, a women whose gender identity does not coincide with her assigned sex as an MMA fighter and a homosexual male basketball player both dealing with the typical, human, 21st century response to their lifestyle, gender discrimination. Yet, these two shine light on fascinating aspects to their lifestyle. The woman, Fallon Fox, is viewed as too strong and masculine while the man, Terrance Clemens isn’t seen as weaker or more feminine but instead is praised for opening up his sexuality. Moreover, Terrance is dealing with fighting himself to be comfortable while Fallon is comfortable where she stands yet, is attacked by everyone around her.
The cliches of what a man is and what a woman is will be something that can never be predetermined biologically. A woman or a man, is what they chose to be. As a society we have built monuments of expectations, only to be taken down and rebuilt again.