Thread by @MagsVisaggs, A thread.So, been thinking about the whole "sHoULd TRans WUmmen bEe allOWeD [...]

A thread.

So, been thinking about the whole "sHoULd TRans WUmmen bEe allOWeD to sPoRT" thing so, of course, my thoughts turned to Fictionmania, the TG fetish fiction website that is such a huge part of the transfemme experience of a certain age.

Wait, what?

One of the things I'm always fascinated about regarding that website is the extent to which *denial of agency* is a central feature: how to give the reader-insert what the reader wants without it involving a choice that they could be condemned for.

That means there's a lot of stories there about magic, about revenge plots, and of course -- of *course* -- feminizing nanobot plagues.

One story focused on that last trope is one I legit think about all the time: For A Girl.

https://www.fictionmania.tv/stories/readtextstory.html?storyID=327122833074264712

I've been thinking about that story for *seventeen goddamn years* because it is the rare instance of a fictionmania story that goes much, much deeper in its examination this stuff.

So, the rough plot synopsis from memory: a star high school cross-country runner gets infected during an ongoing plague of *sigh* feminizing nanobots and over the course of a few weeks is completely transformed. But she isn't happy about it.

Why? Because she was going to be the fastest goddamn person on earth, and now all she can be is the fastest *woman* on earth. She was so horrified at that qualifier: "she's really good for a girl!"

For her, reconciling herself to her transformed circumstances -- her transformed body, transformed brain, transformed potential -- revolves largely if not entirely around making peace with her limits.

I haven't read this story in over a decade, so forgive me if it's actually really shitty and messed-up, but the reason I've always thought of it so highly is because the transformation is absolutely, 100% secondary to the real point of the story.

It's SO RARE you find a story on FM that has something to actually say -- Smokin' In The Girl's Room by Amy Komori, most anything by Lyodor Tolstoyevski -- that they stick out.

The real point of the story isn't about physical transformation, although that is drawn out in detail, but about how you define and understand yourself in your circumstances, moving from external value to internal value.

The real meat is in the story's back half: when she's training for cross country again, pushing and pushing and pushing to get her time down. The way she explores the limits of her new form transforms into an exploration of its capabilities.

Which leads into this:

Stephanie's whole arc revolves around learning that pushing her body is pushing her body, regardless of its shape, and her endless pursuit of excellence.

So many FM stories revolve around humiliation and shame and being demeaned. This one is about pride and workmanship and acceptance and discovery and competition.

Again, I'm not endorsing a story I haven't read in a loooooooong time, but I still can't help but think about that difference.

If you've read this far waiting for me to tie it into the ongoing real-life debate, it's not going to happen. A story about nanobots isn't relevant to any actual situation in women's sports regarding trans women.

The physicality, the reality, the pulse of her blood through her muscles, her careful, precise breathing -- running is running. It's the same sport. And excellence is excellence.

I dunno. I just can't help but think about it every time I hear these debates, because training to be the best is so fucking hardcore and most people just never even try it. We're talking about one of the most marginal of human experiences as if they're world-ending crises.

I will never, ever be as fast as someone with longer legs. I will never, ever swim as fast as Michael Phelps. Some people have bodies built to excel. Some don't. But excellence is still excellence.

There is no conceivable reality where I'm half the gymnast as some of those tiny little things flying around like they're weightless. But none of that matters, because the body I have is the body I have.

I guess I just don't see what everyone is so upset about. Some people just...are better at stuff because how they're built combines with their training in these intense, superhuman ways.

Look at me, bringing it back around to relevance! Even I'm surprised!

Caster Semenya, Yao Ming, Michael Phelps; yes, they have natural advantages by virtue of their bodies. Why should anyone be held back just because they're *more likely* to win than anyone else?

For the record, no, I don't think trans women athletes have an insurmountable advantage over cis women athletes. In all things, it will depend on the sport in question as much as anything else.

If trans women are on average taller, I suspect that we on average have shorter legs and longer torsos. If we have longer reach, we also have a higher body mass that's harder to push -- and without the boost to muscle mass T offers.

I really do think everything reverts to the mean. And the lesson of For A Girl (which a reader to this thread has told me is, in fact, legit super messed-up in a couple ways) is that the point of training is to *beat* your limitations as best you can.

So yeah. Most trans women aren't athletes. Most of *them* won't train the way Simone Biles or Usain Bolt trains. Most of the ones that *do* will find themselves hitting hard limits they can't push past. The number of trans olympians dominating women's sports is exactly zero.

Remember when Martina Navratilova was the best of the best and Renee Richards was pretty good?

I'm just saying this shit isn't fucking critical.

Aaaaaand done.

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