A certain college swimmer has been in the news for bending the rules, so it’s said. Not naming names, because anyone could have been the test case, switching from the Men’s to Women’s team without a significant interlude. Unnatural advantages are nothing new: earlier this century, the famous biker Lance Armstrong muddied the waters with his steroid use- apparently taking more than required for his medical condition. But what stands out, if I may say, is the swimmer’s sense of “due”. Sociologist Annette Lareau uses the term "entitlement" as a professional-class sense of belonging in a place, a term which I think has taken a negative connotation recently.
In the Real World (that
is, outside the literal Ivory Tower), prioritization and the acceptance of
constraints is a fact of life. Two good things can be mutually exclusive: being
a nationally-ranked Men’s Team Swimmer, regardless of gender identity, as this individual was; or receiving
treatment for gender dysphoria. In mutual exclusivity, you do one thing first,
then the other. The re-established three-year waiting period to switch teams,
in the case of transgender players, may hobble a student-athlete’s athletic
career, but delaying medical treatment for career or other ambitions is not out
of the ordinary in the Real World.
For some mariners,
including those on the high seas, it is impossible to complete a series of
orthodontic treatment, while earning a paycheck: the location and time of shore
leave is unpredictable, and not conducive to monthly appointments. For women
mariners, the same constraints apply to fertility treatment; and if successful,
non-seagoing work would have to be found for the duration of pregnancy. In my
case, it took a year to find time to see a nasal specialist: when I was on a
high-tempo ship, I relied on walk-in clinics, who could not give
specialists’ referrals.
Forgoing treatment, extending treatment (in the case of
government mariners who work year-round), or skipping medication commonly seen
as disqualifying for a safety-sensitive position, are all common in the shipping industry. We
have come a long way, in some respects. It is no longer expected to work
through an injury, or accept chronic pain “like a man”- an irony, as women have
higher pain tolerance. Seeking mental health care is no longer a disqualifier
for security work. Yet, for quality-of-life care, there remains a question of
access, even if these people at sea and in other remote environments can afford
it. This is what the Real World sees in the Ivy League swimmer’s case.
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