• Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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    3 months ago

    but it is enough to make it unfair for a woman to compete against somebody who went through puberty as a male.

    We have no idea if that is true about Khelif.

    I swear. More people need to know about Swyer Syndrome.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XY_gonadal_dysgenesis

    Khelif may not have even known she had a Y chromosome until that test. She may have just thought she had very “masculine” features for a woman.

    • kemsat@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      It’s irrelevant whether she knew or not. Once it is known, she needs to be moved to a different league/class.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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        3 months ago

        So even though she might have been born with a vagina, one that essentially works like any biologically female vagina, you think she should be forced to fight men because she has a Y chromosome?

        Are there any other times where people should be genetically tested and given something different to do if it turns out they have Swyer Syndrome?

        • kemsat@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Yes. Also, I don’t care about her vagina. That’s not the point. The point is that having a Y chromosome likely means her body has experienced heightened testosterone her whole life, which makes her much more physically capable than a normal woman whose body would not have experienced heightened testosterone levels. That basically means it’s unsafe for her more normal competitors to get in the ring against her, same as it would be to put her up against Hafthor Björnsson.

          All Olympic athletes should be genetically tested for these things, so they can compete in the right class/heat/category.

          • 1ostA5tro6yne
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            3 months ago

            you do know why the presence of a Y chromosome is typically correlated with higher testosterone levels, right?

            there is a protein called SRY whose presence causes the gonads develop as testes (which produce tetosterone).

            In individuals with Swyer’s syndrome, however, the SRY protein is absent, and so the gonads develop as nonfunctioning ovaries.

            Ergo, the claim that a person with Swyer’s syndrome “experience[s] heightened testosterone” is false, because people with swyer’s syndrome have ovaries, not testicles. In fact they are typically prescribed similar hormone therapy to trans women, because left untreated they would have hormone levels comparable to prepubescent children, not “elevated levels of testosterone”.

            Please at least take the two seconds to google what you’re even talking about before using it as a fig leaf for your own misogyny and transphobia, thanks.