I was trolling the Internet recently (TMZ, naturally) and stumbled upon something that actually made me stop and think. A post-op transgendered woman (born male), named Fallon Fox, has recently won two fights against women in the Championship Fighting Alliance, a professional league of MMA fighters. Now, Fox wants to join the big leagues over at UFC, competing as a female fighter, obviously. But apparently that isn’t sitting too well with UFC or their supporters.
I don’t totally understand MMA or UFC, but I know there’s a lot of kicking and head butting and cages, and I think the only way to win a match is to make your opponent black out. (What I do know for sure is Ryan Gosling does MMA and have you seen those arms?) UFC is treading around the whole “Should a post-op transgendered woman be able to fight naturally born women?” question by saying Fox hasn’t proven herself enough as a fighter to earn the attention of UFC.
At the end of the post it reads: “Let her in the UFC? Yes? Or No?” And I thought: “DUH TMZ! Easy-peasy-lemmon-squeezy: YES!” Yet, for some odd reason, I questioned myself and thought, “Maybe it’s not that easy?” I mean, I suppose she was a man at some point…
Do not get me wrong: I believe in equality for transgendered people. I think you are whatever gender you identify as. So, why shouldn’t she be able to fight other girls? Unfortunately, not everyone thinks that way. So I was caught in this dilemma of: does her having been born a man give her some unfair advantage? All of a sudden, these ideas from when I was a kid came flooding into my head. I can remember having to run a mile for the Presidential Fitness Test in 6th grade. The girls had 8 minutes to finish it, but the boys had only 7. “Boys are faster,” my gym teacher told us. And I just believed him, probably nodded my head and went off running my slower mile.
And that ideal has kind of clouded my judgment for my whole life. It’s why for a long time I just accepted that no one wants to watch the WNBA or Women’s Professional Hockey. “They just aren’t fast, so the game is boring.” It’s why I don’t think any man should ever hit a woman. (To be clear: I don’t think anyone should be hitting anyone). And I realized, this one little headline on TMZ about a sport I’ve never even watched got me thinking about all these weird gender specific fitness ideals I think we’ve all lived with since before we can remember.
But then I thought of something else. High School Wrestling. I remember we had this one male wrestler who was smaller than most of the other male wrestlers and he used to wrestle girls because they fell into the same weight class. Of course there were those meathead losers laughing “Ha-ha you got beat by a girl!” But the sport considered it a fair-and-square match and that’s what mattered. Of all things to promote gender equality, I would never think High School Wrestling.
So why shouldn’t Fallon Fox be able to fight naturally-born women in UFC? Of course she would need to qualify first; earn her place in their coveted, caged ring. But, I don’t think being transgendered should hold her back. If the women she is fighting are fine with it, no one else should have a problem. So, let High School Wrestling teach us a lesson. I mean, how many other opportunities do you have to say that?
Featured Image via TMZ.com
If you have the Y chromosomes than you are a man., Deal with it. Trans men should fight trans men. This would be a proper match up. It is interesting FOX didn’t compete in anything until she cut her male anatomy off and bought some boobs. Fox’s body is a natural born male, geniticaly male by design, including more body mass than women and naturally more strength. Your being a woman and supporting a man beating up woman is disgusting and appears to be self loathing. You devalue real women.
High School wrestling doesn’t have a women’s division (mostly) so the only way females can compete is with males. The UFC has a separate division and as such the comparison to HS wrestling is not as relevant. That being said if she is just absolutely crushing the female fighters she shouldn’t be allowed to compete in their division.
My cousin is transgendered and I can tell you 100% she was supposed to be born a woman. She was born without an adams apple, or facial hair, only 5’8″ and hands and feet the same size as me. She always had a higher voice than men or boys around her and when she started her transition, her body adapted so fast- fast enough that she didn’t have to get breast implants, she grew C cups with only hormones helping her.. So I don’t think Fallon has an unfair advantage, if she truly is transgendered and has gone through the mandatory procedure she is taking a lot of hormones and probably works harder than other women to maintain a healthy and strong fighter physique. And if she’s allowed to mary a man, which she is- I think the question of whether or not she should be able to fight women is kind of a non question, obviously yes. And even asking the question is slightly anti-gender-equality.
Has Y chromosomes, still a guy.
Agreed, Richard Witt (at least the first half of your statement). It’s ludicrous that this is even an issue. Fox is/was a man and anyone that has more common sense than this generation’s I-don’t-want-to-hurt-anyone’s-feelings sense will tell you that Fox would clearly have an advantage over most any born-female. Also, the blogger’s “point” of “this one male wrestler” is laughable. Furthermore, what one does with one’s body is certainly the individual’s choice, but you guys(/girls/transgenders) want “fair-and-square,” start a petition for the T-UFC.
…..Trans-UFC, in case you couldn’t figure that out.
I really go back and forth with it. I think it is surely worth discussion. But ultimately, I would like to see someone do research on such a matter before making opinion. when did she start receiving estrogen, how long has she been female, maybe do tests to compare her strengths, and weaknesses, compared to men and women fighters. And not just her. I’m pretty sure there are other transsexual fighters. Men and women alike. There are so many variables. Weight class does help keep things from getting out of hand, at very least.
It should be noted that the two opponents she pummeled aren’t even that great. No wins. And this is no where near where she would need to be to get into the UFC. Dana learned that from the Kimbo fiasco.
Gender equality in sports is always a delicate subjects. I think it’s up to doctors and qualified people in that sport to decide whether Fallon Fox has an unfair advantage. Like Francis Henry said, she should be taking hormones regularly, maybe there should be a way to check that before she competes? That being said, I’m all for equality and LGBT rights. But I don’t think I have much insight.
Would it be okay for a trans – either way – to compete in an Olympic event? If they are legally classified as that sex, what would stop them from ‘forgetting’ to take their hormones?? If she did fight in UFC as a transgender then her opponent (male) would have an unfair advantage due to the female hormones. I’m all for equal rights but said person would always have an unfair advantage/disadvantage. Also, if she wants to be legally classified as a woman and have female rights, then surely she should lose her male privileges!? Also you need to do a little bit more research – headbutts are illegal in MMA.
I’m all for equal rights but when it comes to fair competition this is out of bounds.
I kind of agree with Angelica D’Cruz. I don’t know much about physical stuff, (compared to a doctor at least), but they say that even a pound could make a difference in a fight (and pretty much any other sport). When watching swim competitions, I notice that most girl that turn out to be the winners are the ones that probably are taking some hormones (and therefore are becoming a man, it’s pretty visible). Back to the cage, it wouldn’t be fair. I mean, they want the fights to be as much as physical balanced as they can, throwing that away, it would become a huge mess.
Having said all that, I believe that some female fighters end up taking some hormones as well, and they are probably very much alike to this transgendered woman, therefore having almost no physical difference between them.
But in the end, I think it’s up to the one fighting her. If her opponent agrees, why not?! They sometimes make lighter fighter fight heavier ones anyways.
…when you get to the professional level, it could make a difference. Regardless of gender equality, men and women’s bodies ARE built differently. The reason ladies are given longer to compete in a mile run is because boys possibly can run it faster – that’s why the world record is held by a man – and the current women’s record for fastest mile: men haven’t held a record slower than that since 1915 – almost a hundred years ago. And while there are many women who can beat men (I don’t know a single man, personally, who can come close to the women’s mile record) in their chosen physical field, when you start pitting the best against the best – that’s where it can really make a difference.
That said, maybe let her compete, and if someone she is fighting has a problem with it, Fallon should forfeit the match? Because considering the competitive streak of the ladies that go into this kind of sport, I don’t see too many of them backing down from the challenge…
I agree with your points. I believe transgender men should fight transgender men, this is a proper match up.
Personal Opinion: I’m no expert on this sport either, but I being a pre-op transwoman, I can see the conflict. I mean, I have noticed that things are a bit different for me when it comes to molding my body. After all males have an inclined natural ability to retain muscle mass, while women don’t, but at the same time, it becomes harder for a transwoman to lose fat because of the estrogen in her developing body. Now the for the fact of more or less testosterone in Fallon Fox’s Body will come into question, but most transwoman do take testosterone blockers and many op to castrate themselves in order to completely stop the production of T (Testosterone) all together. Now no one transwoman can completely rid their of all the T that resides in their body, that is evident in the simple fact that it requires much more surgery to create the feminine image that most of us seek. Yet, in the end, I would say that Fallon Fox is likely to have approximately the same if not less T in her body then a natural born woman. Next looking at male and female anatomy, though men are considered able to handle more strain on their bodies, women are considered a great deal more flexible. I suppose that being able to handle more time in a submission maneuver vs a body more suited to escaping said maneuver balances things out but again I’m not an expert and I could be wrong. Yet in the end this comes down to her gender identity. I feel that I was born in the wrong body and I am not to blame for the mistake of the fates, but I am doing everything to correct it. It is the same for Ms. Fallon Fox, she has corrected the mistake and now wishes to continue with her life, why stop her?
If Fox doesn’t want to fight men than she should fight other trans men, that would be the proper match up. If you have the Y chromosomes than your are man.
I saw this article of TMZ as well. Let’s set aside all the emotion and rah-rah-rah that comes so easily, and get to the brass tacks. Biologically, this person is male. Male chromosomes, male genetics, male physiology. The fact that they are choosing to socially identify themselves as female is irrelevant. They will have a larger skeletal structure, larger muscle definition and a higher capability of impact force. I found it telling that this person wishes to enter the UFC and fight women. Personally, I think this person has some deep seeded rage issues towards women and just wants an outlet for the rage that will be seen as socially acceptable. This person has no business in the women’s division, whatever they choose to call themselves. If they want into the UFC so badly, let them fight the guys.
You are spot on.
Well, I think biology says the humans males are usually a tad stronger on the physical point. But with 7 billion individuals, that slight difference disappeared a long time ago.
I’ve seen a lot of girls a lot bigger and stronger than me so I don’t really think Ms. Fox would have any advantage, as I believe the people (and not only the women but also the men) that choose that sport are more than aware that they may have to compete against a huge opponent and are okay with being knock-out by that same someone.
So she may have been born male, but there’s a fair chance she’ll face a stronger-than-her opponent who’ll be born female.
NOT. Trans men are men despite what they have done to their bodies and how they chose to live there life. This means their bone structure, body mass, strength, longer thicker bones, tendons, all make them a natural physical male.
Well put, I totally agree.
As long as the girls she fights are in her same weight class I guess it would be okay right? Idk, sometimes ill see people in the same weight class and one will look all big and muscular and the other one wont. I don’t know much about the sport, ill have to ask someone who does if they think her natural born male body would be an unfair advantage.
Personal opinion: I would have to disagree with allowing her a chance to fight in the UFC. Her anatomy regardless of it being post-op is still that of a man. She’s still got more testosterone in her than is usual for a natural born female. Of course all women have a varied amount of testosterone, and all men have a varied amount of estrogen. For post-op transsexuals, they have higher levels of those hormones, in this case Fallon Fox would have more testosterone than estrogen (even with hormone therapy) which is unbalanced and unfair.