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We Need to Talk about ‘Laurel the Lifter’

Anne


On Mother’s Day, it occurred to me that a biological man cannot recall the memory of morning sickness because he has never experienced it. He cannot know the nausea of pregnancy or the terror and love of squeezing a live human infant from his body.

The labour of childbirth should be enough to state a case that biological sex is real and a biological man is not a biological adult human female.

‘Laurel-the-lifter’ cannot be imagined to have experienced pregnancy or childbirth because surely, unless I’m mistaken, Laurel does not have the same reproductive capacity as a biological woman. What Laurel can do is take hormones and do whatever being a woman means to Laurel in his universe.

All biological men can live as they please, love as they please, dress as they please, as free citizens.

But the objective truth of womanhood cannot equal a man’s subjective truth. A man is not a woman just because of ‘how he feels’.

On Mother’s Day, I thought it was apt that we tighten our grip on women’s rights and stare down the problem of ‘Laurel-the-lifter’. If we don’t, and Laurel marches forth into women’s weightlifting at the Olympics, trans-women will gain more authority, and a precedent will be set that will affect the sex-based rights of women in the future.

If we don’t tighten our grip on women’s rights and stare down the problem of ‘Laurel-the-lifter’ trans-women will gain more authority, and a precedent will be set that will affect the sex-based rights of women in the future.

It is not wrong to oppose the erosion of women’s rights. And yet it is so hard.

The woke progressive MADHOUSE demands that we care for strangers more than we care for ourselves. We’re expected to shoulder the burden of Laurel’s hurt feelings, care more about trans-women than women and thus let them colonise women-only institutions and spaces.

If abnormal caring was not enough, the over-caring MADHOUSE also have the backup plan of hate speech laws to safeguard ‘feelings’. It doesn’t matter how many facts are presented, how reasoned an argument is; the feelings of even a small few must trump democracy, and debate must be shut down by the law if necessary.

This ruthless, contemptuous modus operandi punishes people for saying reasonable things, and in the context of trans-women, forces unbearable compromises upon women.

It’s getting harder to say what is in our heart. Nevertheless. We must. Say. What. Is. In. Our. Heart.

I’ll start by saying, Laurel’s feelings are emotional blackmail and are not society’s responsibility. People suffer worse things than hurt feelings and not getting into the Olympics.

I’ll also make a wild guess that ‘Laurel the lifter’ has a band of pleaders on standby to make sure Laurel gets what Laurel wants so that there are no hurt feelings for Laurel.

I’d also guess that female weightlifters are finding it very hard to advocate for their needs and feelings, and to ensure fairness in their game.

What has ‘Laurel the lifter’ done to help these women?

Has ‘Laurel the lifter’ done anything to show goodwill towards female weightlifters? Has he made steps to start a ‘trans’ weightlifting competition, a movement that would be functional and achieve something of value for ‘trans’ people?

After all, caring is so important these days.

Or has it just been a long cold turkey sandwich of Laurel weighing in, and to hell with everyone else?

If this is only about Laurel’s needs and Laurel’s only intention is to sabotage women’s weightlifting should the Olympics go ahead, we really should pray to our gods, whoever they may be, that they don’t.

What ‘Laurel the lifter’ does in a private capacity as a citizen is not the issue.

The issue is fairness.

It’s also an issue of taxpayer money supporting a highly controversial weightlifter and possible forthcoming commentary that could paint New Zealand sport as being morally bankrupt.

These are public issues.

Let’s repeat, because we have to: it is not a crime to speak up for fairness and to protect women’s rights. Or ask, what sort of future do we want for our daughters?

The way things are heading, the religion of ‘inclusion’ will enforce a gradual abandonment of girls’ and women’s rights. And so we must repeat the facts until the IOC listens to them.

Male puberty lays down bigger muscle and bone density, muscle memory and strength. You only need to look at ‘Laurel the lifter’ to know that Laurel is not an apple amongst apples.

Female competitors deserve the assurance that their competition will be fair. If ‘Laurel the lifter’s’ inclusion is endorsed, we have proof that respect for them is abysmal.

Whatever happened to fair play, integrity and sportsmanship, the competitive standards that we should demand?

On Mother’s Day, I reflected on how all women’s accolades are achieved while dealing with many routine inconveniences involving blood, scans, cramps, speculums, sweat, surgery, contraception, miscarriage and childbirth.

Thus in my heart I wonder how deep are the ‘woman feelings’ of ‘Laurel the lifter’?

You see, women are endowed with the brittle edges of love. What a woman will do to protect her child is written in the stars. How women attach and identify with each other is buried deep in their DNA.

Women are programmed to support each other, to work together with common interests as they pave the way for their daughters. Does ‘Laurel the lifter’ experience the same concern that a biological woman can feel for another woman in distress, even a woman unknown to her?

Thanks to our brave womanly forebears who fought hard for their institutions, women of today should have dominion over their sex-based healthcare, roles in governance, quotas, private spaces, sport and scholarships.

Does ‘Laurel the lifter’ have sensitivity and awareness when it comes to the hardship and pain in women’s history?

Or is Laurel a one dimensional opportunist blessed with enablers who value winning above fair play, and who think they have the right to decide what a woman actually is?

These are the people who shut the door tighter on women.

And significantly the door on men remains untarnished and open. No New Zealand sportsman, no All Black, Black Cap, rower, runner or cyclist, will ever have to face an opposition that they know, in their heart, they have zero chance of beating.

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