Fallon Fox and Class Conclusion: Michelle Bowles, Whitney Pellham, Even Sechler

Our group felt there were a lot of strong opinions mixed with little knowledge in the class when discussing the topic of transsexual and transgender athletes in sport. This led us to further exploring the background of Fallon Fox, a male-turned-female MMA fighter, and discussing the ethics, science, and opinions surrounding the situation.

Throughout the course of preparing this presentation, we learned a lot about the medical side of sex reassignment surgery, particularly what happens to a male’s body when he transitions into a female. Although there are a lot of things we are still having a hard time understanding, we feel even a basic knowledge has led us to being more accepting of male-to-female athletes in competition.

In the course in general, we found the most useful portion of class centered on discussions. Almost every day we were exposed to new ideas and had to assess our own viewpoints. The fact that classmates were not afraid to voice opposing opinions was encouraging, because it opened difficult topics up to conversation.

One of the readings we all found to be interesting was the Messner article on children and gender. Being more aware of how gender is pushed on children even before they are born opened our eyes to the different ways society shapes us as individuals.

All of the topics we felt were covered a decent amount in class. While all of the topics were interesting and provoked meaningful conversations, to cover all of the material in the class we felt we covered enough to get a general idea before moving on to the next topic.

Writing the journals was a great way to further explain your point without worry of judgment based on your stance, but blog entries forced you to analyze the perspectives of others and also your own. Often times the few dominant voices in class shared a viewpoint, but then the blog would be full of people taking the other side.

Overall, we will take from class that everyone has an opinion, whether it is a strong or weak opinion, and that everyone has different ways to communicate those opinions. In our careers we will make sure to get feedback through multiple channels so everyone feels they can best express themselves.