CF
6.1K posts
@SkullScience
Environmental Scientist, PhD. All views my own and not of my associated institutions or employer.
The once-great British Journal of Sports Medicine continues to scrape the very bottom of the junk science barrel in the quest to supports its narrative that males should be allowed to compete in female sports. In the latest issue of the @BJSM_BMJ, a group of researchers from Brazil, have made great effort to twist data to suit their narrative. In a mastery of statistical jumbo-jumbo they reckon that there are 52 studies that support allowing men in women’s sports. We’re not buying it. The only thing this article proves is the old adage that there are lies, damned lies and statistics. ❌ Of the 52 studies reviewed only three were randomised controlled trials (the gold standard of scientific research). ❌ Only 16 studies included an assessment of physical activity - fairly important in a study of athletic ability. ❌ Two of the studies (one by Dr Joanna Harper and one by Dr Blair Hamilton) have previously been comprehensively debunked. Harper and Hamilton are males who say they’re women so you could say they have skin in the game. Harper’s notorious study asked nine male runners if they ran slower after taking oestrogen. Funnily enough all the men said oestrogen had slowed them down and this was the data used to justify the IOC including males in female sports. Hamilton’s study compared young fit female athletes with older, fat, men and lo and behold found the men were slower than the women… ❌ The review included studies of women taking testosterone (a performance enhancing drug) and found to no one’s surprise that they bulked up and sports performance improved. We don’t know how this latest ‘science’ review got through the peer-review process but it should have been spiked the moment it landed on the editor’s desk. It’s business as usual for WRN as we continue to campaign for fair, safe, sport for all females from grassroots to elite level.
