Cheryl Cookie, Purdue Professor of American Studies and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, said women should celebrate UPenn transgender swimmer Leah Thomas.
A women’s studies professor at Purdue University has been criticized for saying Penn transgender swimmer Leah Thomas should be celebrated as a “pioneer” in the same way as Jackie Robinson and that her accomplishments are good for women’s sports.
Cheryl Cookie, Purdue University Professor of American Studies and Studies in Women, Gender and Sexuality, said in an NBC article that Thomas’ victories should be celebrated as the first historic victories along with Jackie Robison, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.
“Thomas, as the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship, deserves to be placed among the first,” Cookie wrote, referring to Thomas’ first place in the women’s 500 yard dash.
“She should be included in the history of progress that the sport represents and recognized as the trailblazer that she is.”
Cookie also stated that Thomas’ victory provides women with the opportunity to break down gender barriers in the world of sports and “treat and have the same opportunities as men.”
“Everyone who cares about the development of sports, especially women’s sports, should celebrate her victory,” Cookie wrote.
But the article sparked a backlash, as opponents of allowing vehicular athletes to compete against biological women called Cookie’s argument a “gaslighting masterclass.”
In her NBC op-ed, Cookie argues that Thomas’ victory is a women’s victory and compared her to other sports pioneers such as Jackie Robinson.
Thomas (above) caused a lot of controversy for competing in women’s swimming despite being born a man. She became the first transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I championship last week, placing first in the women’s 500-yard dash.
Cookie’s article was criticized for comparing Thomas to Robinson (pictured), who crossed the racial barrier to become the first black baseball player in MLB.
Abigail Schrier, a writer and journalist who has spoken out against transgender propaganda, said women have nothing to celebrate over Thomas’ victory.
JACKIE ROBINSON WAS THE FIRST BLACK MLB PLAYER
Jack “Jackie” Robison was the first black baseball player to play in Major League Baseball.
The Georgia athlete broke the race barrier on April 15, 1947, when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Despite receiving criticism for heralding the end of racial segregation, Robinson won MLB’s first Rookie of the Year award in 1947.
He won the league MVP award in 1949 and was an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 to 1954.
He played in six World Series, including the 1955 Dodger winning game.
Prior to playing baseball, Robinson served in the US Army but never saw combat during World War II because he was court-martialed after riding a bus with white officers at a time when the military was divided.
Robinson was acquitted by an all-white commission and honorably discharged.
After his death in 1972, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Abigail Schrier, a writer and journalist who has spoken out against transgender propaganda, said there was nothing to celebrate with Thomas’ victory.
“First, they steal opportunities from women,” Schrier tweeted. “Then we are told that we should celebrate it as a women’s victory.”
Twitter user Tony Scampanelli agreed that the honoring of Thomas went too far, writing: “This is not the progress of women’s sport or sports at all. It is the promotion of uncommon sense and an obsession with some kind of moral superiority based on “progressive” values.”
Laura Tuck, another Twitter user, disagreed with Cookie’s argument and edited the summary of the NBC article to read: “Anyone who cares about the development of sports, especially women’s sports, should [not] celebrate the victory of Leah Thomas.
Twitter user Mike McClatchy was also taken aback by Cookie’s insistence that Thomas stands alongside Robinson as the main trailblazer.
McClatchy simply tweeted, “Like we did with Jackie, come on now.”
This is not the first time Robinson and Thomas have been compared.
In January, Thomas’ teammate told the Washington Examiner that Thomas allegedly compared himself to the MLB legend.
“She compares herself to Jackie Robinson,” said a teammate who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being seen as transphobic. ‘[Lia] said she looks like Jackie Robinson in trans sports.”
Thomas denied the accusations in an interview with Sports Illustrated, one of the few news outlets she spoke to during her controversial swimming career.
In a February op-ed in the conservative National Review, Madeleine Kearns said it wasn’t Thomas that should be compared to Jackie Robinson, but female athletes who oppose the inclusion of a trans swimmer.
“These are the ones whose rights are being violated, who are facing humiliation and bullying,” wrote Kerns, an employee of the Independent Women’s Forum.
That’s why the real Jackie Robinsons are young athletes like Selina Soule who spoke out against this sexist injustice,” she added, referring to the Connecticut high school runner who lost to two transgender runners for the chance to compete in New England. Regional championship last year.
Others also criticized Cookie’s argument and said that Thomas was not a trailblazer.
Thomas’ college swimming career, which ended Saturday night with a disappointing last-place finish in the women’s 100-yard freestyle, has been the center of much controversy.
Thomas had parents and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner, 72, among other former professional athletes such as tennis great Martina Navratilova weighing their thoughts on her ability to compete in NCAA championships.
For most of the season, Thomas remained silent, rarely speaking about the mass of criticism heaped upon her. However, after taking first place on Thursday, she told ESPN she’s trying to “ignore” the violent comments.
“I try to ignore it as much as possible, I try to focus on my swimming, what I need to do to prepare for races, and I just try to block everything else,” she said.
“It means the whole world to be here, to be with my two best friends and teammates, and to be able to compete.”
Thomas finished her swim at the University of Pennsylvania finishing last in the women’s 100 yard final on Saturday night.
Thomas’ NCAA championship ratings
500 Years Qualifiers – 1st place
500 Yard Final – 1st
200m Preliminaries – 2nd place
200m final – 5th place
100 Years Qualifiers – 4th place
100th Anniversary Final – 8th
Source: NCAA.
Thomas competes within the rules as she completes a year of testosterone suppression drugs as she begins transitioning during the pandemic.
However, the rules are likely to change next season when transgender women have to go through three years of testosterone suppression to compete with biological women.
The NCAA ruled that it would be wrong to introduce new rules midway through the season, allowing Thomas to complete his final season.
Jenner criticized the NCAA for allowing a college student to compete.
Although she said she had “no problem” with Thomas himself, Jenner said the 22-year-old “relaxed” in the 500-yard race to avoid breaking Katie Ledecky’s record, which Thomas was nine seconds short of.
Earlier this month, Jenner also said it was “simply unfair” to allow biological boys to compete in women’s sports.
“I don’t think biological boys should compete in women’s sports – we should be protecting women’s sports,” Caitlin said. “That’s the main thing.”