Despite being 43 and the oldest “woman” in the field, Laurel Hubbard has a big advantage over all the other competitors. She is a man. Or rather she was until eight years ago when she transitioned. So for 35 years unlike all the women in the contest, her training was not interrupted by periods and she was naturally stronger. Indeed she was a very strong man too, competing at the highest levels in men’s weightlifting.
Laurel says “I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders.” Whatever you say mate. I guess the woman from New Zealand not now going to the Olympics despite a lifetime of training because Laurel is stronger than her does not feel cheated. And when Laurel romps home at Tokyo to win gold, all the other women in the contest who have also trained for a lifetime will not feel robbed either.
Once again we return to the pyramid of victimhood which tears the liberal left apart. As a conservative, I can say that blokes are blokes and birds are birds and that allowing blokes to compete in women’s sports is a ludicrous joke. It makes a mockery of women’s sport. I say that I can say that, it is probably a hate crime to do so and, certainly, it is not the sort of thing you’d dare say on a University campus these days. But what I say is, I am afraid, just plain true.
But for the left, this is a tough one. At one point, women were quite high up the pyramid of victimhood. But now many of the battles fought by my mother’s generation and that of my wife have now been won. Heck, we are getting to the stage where even the Labour party might have a female leader one day. Talk about progress! Meanwhile, women sports folks are now very well paid, in some sports the same as men even if they play shorter games and pull in fewer spectators. So women can slip down the pyramid of victimhood. But trans folks are pretty much at the pinnacle of the pyramid right now so, for most on the left, their needs and desires must trump those who were born women.
You and I might say Hubbard’s forthcoming gold medal is bonkers and also obviously unfair but you can’t argue with the pyramid of victimhood. This is 2021.
