Man Named 'Tiffany' Is Dominating Women's Pro Volleyball in Brazil

[TaraJo]

Wow. Come in here every few months and this is what greets me. I feel like I should say something.

Truth is, most of the athletic advantage that men have over women come from two places: height and muscle.

Men tend to have more muscles than women. However, that muscle comes from testosterone. Take testosterone out of that body and the muscle will go with it; it won't be an instant thing, the endocrine system is much more gradual like that. But the effect will be there. And I've known a few trans women who, after having surgery which removes her testies, actually have testosterone levels so low that doctors prescribe them with a testosterone cream just to even out their levels. So, yes, it's absolutely possible for trans women to have testosterone levels as low as, if not lower, than other women. Even pre-op, trans women tend to have testosterone levels much lower than men.... although, admittedly, it IS higher than for most other women (excluding women with PCOS, of course).

The second advantage is much stickier. Height is something that doesn't go away with hormones and it's actually the reason I've met more than a few trans women who are six feet tall (and often very self conscious about it). Height mostly comes from the effect testosterone has on long bone growth during puberty. If a trans woman starts testosterone blockers before she's gone too far into male puberty, her height should be comperable to other women. However, most of us don't have that advantage.

I suppose this brings up the problem at the heart of this: if trans women are specifically excluded from competing in athletics with other women and, yet don't have the muscle mass to compete with the men, where can trans women compete?