I had never even heard anything about this situation about Renee Richards prior to this past Tuesday in class. I actually had never even heard of Renee Richards which really surprises me because I always watch all the controversial topics on ESPN and Sports Center, so that I can know what is going on within sports. I find it interesting that something along these lines has not received much recent publicity.
I really do not know what would make a person want to have a sex change, but regardless that is what happened with Richard Raskind. He had the desire to have a sex change. Prior to the sex change, Raskind was a quality tennis player. He trained as a male and did not have the sex change until he turned 41 years old. When he had the sex change, he changed his name to Renee Richards. The situation at hand is the fact that she then decided to participate against women in professional tournaments.
Is it really fair that she was able to participate against other women after being able to train as a man until she was 41 years old? I personally do not think that it is okay. I think that she should have immediately been kicked out of the tour because it is simply an unfair advantage. What is the difference between being a woman that trained as a man for 20 plus years or taking steroids to become bigger, faster, and stronger? There really is not much of a difference. Each one gives the individual an advantage that is really unfair to the competitors. She was able to hit the ball harder than the other women and move quicker.
Another point that I thought of, was that if she thought that it was okay to compete as a woman that changed from a man against normal women, then why did she not tell anyone? It seems a little questionable and like she really wanted to hide the fact. If she would have came out and told everyone prior to wanting to compete, then I think it would be fine if the WTA said it was okay. However, she decided to hide her secret and wait until a reporter found out about her situation and tell the public.
What do you think is okay for this situation? Is it fair for her or the rest of the field regardless of the decision that is made? I think it is a tough situation that she put upon herself and needs to face the consequences.
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In my opinion, I think it was okay for Renee/Richard to compete as a woman in tennis. It is comparable to the rules for the Olympics where individuals are allowed to compete 2 years after their sex change. I realize that she had an advantage here because she did have opportunities to train and practice when the other women did not. Also, unlike the Olympic rule, she did not wait 2 years to compete. However, she had every right to play the game. You also mention that you thought it seemed like she was hiding it so she could play. I don't think this was the case. It's not like Richard/Renee planned out her sex change so that she could play tennis. She said that in the interview we saw during class. She didn't get the sex change so that she could play as a woman. She got it because thats who she felt she was. Also, I don't think she wanted everyone to know that she had the operation. She didn't tell anyone because she wanted to start over and be a new person. The reporter outed her and that's exactly what she didn't want. She also stated in her interview that if she could go back and change anything, she wouldn't have played tennis.
ReplyDeleteWhile it seems as thought she trained as man for so long and then played as a women there is one thing that I think makes that irrelevant. When you go through a sex change your body goes through various hormonal and physical changes. When this happened I think that playing a sport would be like playing in an entirely different body. Renee no longer had muscle mass or the natural strength and agility of a man because her body was literally changed into a woman. I think as long as athletes wait long enough for all changes to occur, it would be fine to compete after a sex change.
ReplyDeleteThere are some great points in your posts on this topic. First of all, Clayton made a comment that was really astute, when he wrote: "What is the difference between being a woman that trained as a man for 20 plus years or taking steroids to become bigger, faster, and stronger?" I never really thought about it that way. Courtney said that the hormones did make a difference in reversing her advantages, and yet, there had never been a 41 year old woman who could compete against women so much younger and actually beat them. So there was significant carryover from her height and size, that did not go away after having sex reassignement surgery--perhaps that is part of the reason why the new requirement is for athletes to wait 2 years to compete as their new sex.
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