irisonthecliffside

[irisonthecliffside]

Athenais by John William Godward (1908)

[irisonthecliffside]

Trans women in sports: recent research summary

The conscious exclusion of male athletes from female sports has enabled the production of elite level of female athletes rather than male. To suppose that male advantage in sports could be removed would require extraordinary evidence. There is currently no substantial scientific evidence that this male biological advantage can be removed.

Testosterone suppression as a way to fairly include trans women in female sports has been highly contested and largely discredited. Over the past two decades there have been over a dozen published research papers for a total of some 800 participants which investigated the effect of testosterone suppression on muscle mass, and in some instances muscle strength, in transgender women. Below is a summary of the most recent research from 2020-2022: Summary: 

Wiik et al., 2020:  There was minimal loss of muscle mass or strength in transgender women following 12 months of testosterone suppression, and some subjects gained strength. After treatment transgender women remained 48% stronger, with 35% larger quadriceps mass compared with the control population of females.

Roberts et al., 2020 found that transgender women still retain a competitive advantage 2 years after hormone treatment. Transwomen still had a 9% faster mean run speed after the 1 year period of testosterone suppression that is recommended by World Athletics for inclusion in women’s events.

Hilton and Lundberg, 2021 conclude: “Superior anthropometric, muscle mass and strength parameters achieved by males at puberty, and underpinning a considerable portion of the male performance advantage over females, are not removed by the current regimen of testosterone suppression permitting participation of transgender women in female sports categories. Rather, it appears that the male performance advantage remains substantial.”

Harper et al., 2021 found: “Hormone therapy decreases strength, LBM [lean body mass] and muscle area, yet values remain above that observed in cisgender women, even after 36 months. These findings suggest that strength may be well preserved in transwomen during the first 3 years of hormone therapy.” Heather et al., 2022 provides a critical review, reporting: “The existing data suggests that lowering testosterone to less than 10 nmol/L for 12 months decreases muscle mass but not to biological female levels and despite the decrease in mass, muscle strength can be maintained, especially if concurrently exercising. Estrogen therapy does not affect most of the anatomical structures in the biological male that provide a physiological benefit. Hemoglobin levels are lowered by estrogen therapy, and consequently, maximum aerobic effort may be lower, but this parameter will only be manifested if testosterone levels are suppressed to levels within the biological female range and maintained for extended periods of time. Reported studies show it is difficult to continuously suppress testosterone in transgender women. Given that the percentage difference between medal placings at the elite level is normally less than 1%, there must be confidence that an elite transwoman athlete retains no residual advantage from former testosterone exposure, where the inherent advantage depending on sport could be 10–30%. Current scientific evidence can not provide such assurances and thus, under abiding rulings, the inclusion of transwomen in the elite female division needs to be reconsidered for fairness to female-born athletes.”

[irisonthecliffside]

#Newfie #(most eastern province in canada) #you don't go shoes in the house #however i think that it might be less strict then other cultures because if you're just walking through the house to get to the backyard #for whatever reason #the host usually tells you “keep your shoes on!” #as a way to make you feel more comfortable #i have no idea if thats normal or not for other cultures

[irisonthecliffside]

The United States has vetoed a resolution at the United Nations calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an anticipated move that comes amid growing international clamor for Israel to pause its offensive against Hamas.

The US had already signaled its intention to veto the Algerian resolution, but has [allegedly] grown increasingly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and on Monday proposed its own Security Council draft resolution calling for a “temporary ceasefire” in the conflict.

20 Feb 24

[irisonthecliffside]

Ungoverned by sleep, weariness wears down the wears of time’s unutterable passage. I watched the possum’s body rot away, caught in the mangled sunrises and sunsets of my long commute, until maggots spilled so vibrant over the highway’s sharp angles I could spot them from the grim blackbeaked overpass on my daily journey home. In the city, a man held a gun to my chest and I was stunned with the lack of shaking in my hands. It was days later, torn after so many sleepless nights, that I lay in my bed as the sun rose and bleached the flowers on my windowsill into a colorlessness that left me weeping, when I paused. So used to terror, the moment of its arrival did not freeze; time did not slow down, there was no acuteness to color that such occasions are told to bring - but the wound was late, slow-moving, beastly, marking a slow upheaval of all matter as she slouched her way over seas and blank distances to seize me. And suddenly I remember: closets, corner-crouched the vacant whispers of the absent hero’s ghost because it never was at all and I remember being small and the weight of the weapon on my back and the look in the world’s bleak and apathetic face and the maggots spilling spilling all the way over to me weeks later. The way death soundlessly travels. The sloughing eyes. The flux of it. I look away - when will my hands start shaking? When will I blush? These moments of aloneness are soft in comparison. My hair turns white and I crawl sloppily out from the womb of machines. Wet still, with the lovelessness of it all. The mother that does not hold me. People scream at the cement of the Master’s buildings and another gun is drawn.

[irisonthecliffside]

bodies on bodies on bodies

[irisonthecliffside]

SO. MANY. FRENCH. KNOTS. by StephaniLowman

[irisonthecliffside]

There is more evidence that Joe Biden is a rapist than that there's "Hamas" in UNRWA.

There is no evidence that there are 12 members of Hamas in UNRWA.

There doesn't need to be. Israel says "jump" and the US and UK say "off what?"

[irisonthecliffside]

“Keep prisons single sex” sticker written over to read “abolish prisons have gay sex”

Seen in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

[irisonthecliffside]

[irisonthecliffside]

"A Child’s View from Gaza" was an art exhibition showcasing drawings created by the children of Gaza.

"The captioned illustrations were created by Palestinian children who lived through the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in 2008-09. The pictures were drawn as part of an effort to help children deal with the horrors they had experienced. A Bay Area nonprofit, Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), arranged to display a collection of these pictures at the Museum of Children’s Art in Oakland, California. However, under pressure from the Jewish Federation of the East Bay and other organizations, the museum backed out of the agreement at the last minute."

[irisonthecliffside]

[irisonthecliffside]

ok so instead of going on my usual the earth is doomed spiral I started looking into solar punk solutions and stumbled across the practice of permaculture & found a free 50 video series from the university of oregon on it if anyone else would like to learn abt ways we can actually start restoring earths whole deal

[irisonthecliffside]

Content warning for description of sexual violence.

A nearly 80-year-old woman, who was raped and robbed in an Edmonton parkade more than four decades ago, is relieved her attacker has finally been sentenced. On Friday, Court of King's Bench Justice Paul Belzil sentenced John Beausoleil, 70, to three years for the rape conviction and six months for robbery, in connection to the attack in 1981. "I'm glad it's over, and I'm glad he's paying for what he did," the woman, whose identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban, told reporters after Friday's sentencing hearing.

Continue Reading

Tagging @politicsofcanada

#3 years for rape???????????????

[irisonthecliffside]

“If I am killed, write about me and tell the world about my dreams”

The martyr, Reem Mahmoud Abu Daya. Reem's greatest fear was not death itself, but rather being remembered only as a statistic after being killed in the Israeli aggression.

She often told her friend Mohammed, "If I am killed, write about me and tell the world about my dreams. Tell them that I had undergone LASIK surgery a few months ago and started seeing Gaza with my own two eyes.

Tell them that I want to buy a camera to capture the beauty of Gaza."

Reem Mahmoud Abu Daya is not just a number; she will be remembered. Reem, along with her family, was martyred in an Israeli airstrike on January 7, 2024.

[irisonthecliffside]

#is there an other option #when i was 11 i was home alone and a popup saying my computer was hacked and i needed to call a number #so obviously any 11 year old that means my entire house was compromised so I turned off all the lights and shut the drapes and called #i call the number and it's gibberish #it hangs up on me but then a couple minutes later some guy CALLS ME BACK #now i think this guy is gonna get me despite the fact that he was probably a ocean away in india #so i call 911 #and the operator hangs up on me

[irisonthecliffside]