Monday, April 01, 2013

MMA World Still Hatin' On Fallon Fox

Still keeping an eye on the drama surrounding trans MMA fighter Fallon Fox. 

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees the Florida Boxing Commission, is expected to conclude an investigation into Fox's license on April 5.  

In the meantime life goes on for Fox since her license is not frozen or suspended and she has an upcoming May 24 bout with Allana Jones that could possibly be televised..

In the wake of Miesha Tate going on the record as saying she would refuse to fight Fox, she made an appearance on the Inside MMA show and asserted that any fighter who refused to face her was doing so out of fear. 

Fox has a valid point.  They are refusing to fight her out of fear and stereotypes about trans feminine athletes, but the comment incensed Peggy Morgan and her trainer.  They released a transphobic video declaring that she wouldn't fight Fox as trainer John Fain disrespected her. 

Morgan appears to be backing away from some of the inflammatory transphobic statements her trainer John Fain made, but they still are ignorant and skating close to the edge of transphobia. 

I am not an expert in gender reassignment, but I have a hard time believing that there is no correlation between Fallon’s success in the cage and the fact that she lived as a man for thirty-one years."

And that's the key point Peggy. Neither you or the transphobes commenting on the Net are experts on trans issues or trans athletes, much less have experienced living your lives as a trans woman.

Fox, meanwhile, blasted Morgan and Fain's video in a posting on her official Facebook page, saying they were mostly worried about losing the $20,000 offered to the tourney's winner.

"I wonder if I should argue that her long bone structure is an unfair advantage to all the female competitors in the tournament? Nah, I won't do that," Fox said in response to the transphobic video. "Because I realize that her advantage is something that I must overcome. It is a challenge and I welcome it!"

Medical evidence is on Fallon Fox's side.  Whatever advantage Fox had experiencing muscle and body development growing up as male is gone after her first year on hormone replacement therapy. That muscle development becomes FEMININE in character and strength level under the continued influence of estrogen.

I know that firsthand because I discovered when I played tennis post transition I can't hit my serve as hard as I used to. 

To assume that Fox has a natural advantage because she was born male is sexist and a disrespectful commentary concerning the abilities and talents of cis female athletes. Frankly, if Fallon Fox were 0-5 not one of you cis women or you transphobes would have anything to say about the issue of her being in MMA.

But since she's kicking butt and excelling in the sport it's let's try to find whatever excuse we can use to kick her out of MMA or frustrate her to the point that maybe she'll quit and we won't have to deal with the t----y kicking our azzes anymore.

But did anyone in their rush to hate on Fallon Fox think about the possibility that hey,
maybe Fallon Fox IS  that good and we have to step up our athletic game to compete with her?

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