100% Blog Entry

This is in response to the film 100% Woman wherein Michelle Dumaresq is a Male-to-female mountain bike racer who is criticized for competing in the female category. I thought the video was a great example of someone who can take a life-questioning confusion of identity and make the most of her life (and indeed it appears she has). What I want to address is the negative remarks that were aimed at her by the people interviewed in the documentary.
I was shocked, but not surprised, by the remarks made against Michelle during the movie. While I can sympathize with their disdain for a man to race in their category, I can’t help but feel that their comments were coming from a point of origin centered on disgust for what Michelle did to herself, as opposed to a genuine concern for the spirit of competition (more on the spirit of competition later). It appeared to me that the people criticizing her were simply upset with the way she dealt with her identity. Surgery to change ones sex is stigmatized in our society, and often what can be heard when someone finds out that they’ve been talking to someone who has undergone such a surgery usually runs along the lines of: “Oh…” Where a person can show if they’re understanding or not is by the next words they utter.
Yet, it is a point of contention in today’s society, and I think that that’s the reason why most of the racers were circling the petition to get her banned. The reason for my belief in that charge is twofold: The racers had been told that she was granted the legal right based on a Canadian law based on biological research, to race by the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA), and that should have been enough. Yet when faced with this empirical, and rational evidence they still objected, this is because of the prejudice against sex change operations. The second point I wanted to make has to do with the spirit of competition. The racers did themselves no service to say that a man is a better racer than the women in those competitions. What ever happened to overcoming all odds, and not backing down? In a few of the races Michelle placed dead last, and even had a few accidents, and yet the accusations still flew. It all boils down to the stigma of her sexual, and gender-related situation that shouldn’t even be at issue, as she is considered a women.

On a personal note, I thought the most touching part of the documentary was when Michelle’s hero (the top-female racer… I forget her name) gave Michelle her support. It just shows that one person wasn’t afraid to race against her, or allow her to compete on the same course as her.