True or false? Recently the first woman contestant won millions on Jeopardy? True – if name and clothes alone determine gender. False – if one considers the scientific information regarding DNA and the impact of the X and Y chromosomes on brain function and focus and physical strength. For the purposes of this column, the scientific classification of male and female will be followed. XX will refer to those identified at birth as “It’s a girl!” and XY will refer to those identified as “It’s a boy.”
That one chromosome affects so much of the body and its performance. Let’s skip the basic facts of reproduction and focus on how the rest of the body responds to having every single cell in the body carry either XX or XY chromosomes. Using the scientific labels, then the most recent big time Jeopardy winner is an XY person because said person is transgender. Play the cards, change the clothes, endure some surgical and medical adjustments, and still the advantages of that Y chromosome remain.
The winner had the XY person’s advantage of being a one-track minded person – able to focus intently on one situation at a time. Historically the XX person can multi-task with finesse whether in the workplace or at home. The XX people track others’ activities and locations while conversing or working on projects. Through the ages, the XY person grows stronger, faster muscles. Watch little kids running a race. In most of the races, the little XY folks will surge ahead and leave the XX tots behind. They may enjoy the same activities, but generally, the Y chromosome from birth programs the body with the stronger, faster muscles needed for that competitive edge in sports. That competitive difference also impacts mind games such as Jeopardy, chess and even Monopoly where significantly fewer XX persons excel.
Certainly, superficial things can be done to the body’s appearances to qualify it for a different label. With external adjustments in clothes and skin or even just a verbal declaration, the XY person can be declared an XX person today.
XY individuals, who typically measure taller and stronger than their XX teammates, lie to themselves and the judges when they insist on competing as XX persons. It does not matter how one feels, it only matters that each individual cell in the body continues to perform as XY or XX. Surgical blades cannot reach and adjust the continuously replicating myriad of cells in the human body.
Are we as a culture treating the XX sports competitors fairly by declaring all the differences between them and XY competitors in the same field as negligible? Regularly, the sports pages carry stories of XY persons who have donned a XX uniform and broken the XX sports records in such sports as track and swimming or weightlifting.
The future prospects for new records by XX persons do not look promising in competition with superficially changed XY persons. First, one must have an athletic mindset and an athletic body. DNA dictates the development of the body that will participate in the sport. XY persons have stronger bones, muscles, and ligaments. While there will always be exceptional XX players, it is not a level playing field with both XX and XY competing as equals. Let’s insist that individuals showing up for the women’s competitive sporting events present themselves with proof that they possess XX chromosomes. Let’s quit disappointing the high school and college XX competitors who have practiced long and hard in their sport by insisting including XY persons with superficial changes in appearance.
Admit the truth: DNA makes a difference from the gender reveal party through toddlerhood, elementary school and beyond.
Certainly, some XX individuals can physically succeed over a XY competitor. They are the exceptions to the rule, not the rule. Either adhere to the DNA truth for qualification or mix all the athletes together for every event and see how many XX persons succeed in making the team or setting new records.