I am certainly not as well versed in the history of sports as I likely should be, but I would have never believed that “nude parades” existed. The idea that men would walk around judging women’s bodies just to ensure that they are in fact women seems ludicrous. This also places into my mind the question of how many times did this practices get way out of hand? The integration of women into sport seems to have incorporated practices put into place with I assume a false premise of being what is in protection of women.  Barnes goes on to write about several women who are judged for not being “women enough” or for having bodies that produced too much testosterone. These athletes being judged for something that they are biologically unable to change and then instead of altering the rules to incorporate an wholistic version of gender they are forced to take medications that alter hormone levels. This also brings to question what long term side effects do they endure by taking this medication in order to compete?

Gendering of sport has never been a constraint on my involvement. I think that this is perhaps because I have not been as intrenched in sport as some people. I have participated and been encouraged into sports throughout my life that are seen as more male dominated such as rugby and hockey, and while the crowds looked very different between our games versus the boys it was never something that I took note in. I think this is because I grew up as that being the normal and never knew people who choose to fight that misconception, nor did I do that myself. I can see how others who were more successful in athleticism than I could have felt that constraint.

The responses within the padlet seem confirm a common assumption about gender coding and sports. The polls in all but one or two seem to be quite similar in ratings. The sports that are more widely televised or publically promoted regardless of who can play them are seen as male dominated and those that play into feminine roles such as cheerleading or gymnastics are voted as female. It was interesting to see that neutral sports only truly dominated within surfing, tennis, and swimming.

I have to agree that sports are not completely fair. I would in fact also argue that there isn’t anything in life that is completely fair either. The saying “life isn’t fair” is there for a reason. There are several factors that effect fairness in terms of sport including financial and access to resources, biological, and social. We have already looked at various biological advantages and how they can help some athletes to excel in their specific sport. The access to resources can also push athletes into higher categories, more time spent within a sport especially at a younger age can certainly make a dramatic difference. The last thing that I got thinking about is a social aspect. In this way I think of for example that the small town mentality can have an impact. I can see the push for children to play hockey especially in the communities that I have lived within. This mentality that, well they must learn to skate, and certainly they can play other sports but hockey must be one of them. This can lead to internal turmoil for the child and the parents and limit time spent on something that they are more passionate about and excel at. 

I can also see how many people have written about the fact that sports tend to rely on a third party in terms of a ref or judges. There is also a degree of unfairness as it is difficult for humans to make choices without any emotion at all. There is also a degree of error that humans have in general leading to things such as missed calls ect. 

Robins speaks about how people have taken a stance that aligns with their views on trans people that has nothing to do with sport or anything else. This view is then portrayed in a way to make it seem as though they fight for women’s right in sports to avoid seeming as though they are not out and right accosting people for being trans in and of itself. They have instead in someways found a scapegoat to be able to voice their negative views with a righteous platform. I think that Robins is also trying to bring to light how little people think or research for themselves and how easily it is to take a hateful stance on something they know nothing about.