Unfair Play: The Battle For Women's Sport 'Thrillingly Fearless' THE TIMES

A very good book indeed and I’m a huge fan of Sharron Davis and her campaign for fairness in women’s support. What I didn’t like about this book was it’s sneering, snide writing style. I believe a dispassionate approach sounds more authoritative. As a consequence of her writing style, (and as a biological male) I found myself feeling somewhat ashamed of some of the points she made, particularly of the male committee members of the IOC. As a physiologist, I and can vouch for the accuracy of the scientific parts of the book. One thing I was very surprised by was just how far behind female sporting achievements are compared to men’s and, by association, the advantage male puberty confers to biological males.A great book, well worth reading if your unsure about the debate in this area.

bought for my husband, he loved the book, very well written with some great points made

I rarely buy hardbacks - usually too stingy! But I did feel this book may shine a light on another consequence of the gender issue in society. I was not disappointed. Sharron Davies and Craig Lord have produced a measured, well researched account of the trashing of women’s sport by biology deniers enabled by lily-livered sports associations. Sadly, this comes as no surprise to Sharron and others like Ann Ogersby who suffered the injustice of being robbed by “male performance benefit” in the 1970s and 80s - then as now sporting bodies like IOC pulled their skirts over their heads and played dead. The book draws a clear line between the two situations, and warns of the increased risk of harm to grassroots sport due to the current idiocy. The T-doping in East Germany only impacted elite sportswomen, current events will erase grassroots female sport. Sharron (and probably Craig) will certainly gave suffered financial loss and social media trolling since producing this book, but it needed to be written. Well done to both, I sincerely hope proper science can be quickly applied to sort this mess out and the sporting bodies finally step up and do their job.

This is an excellent factual read which looks at the injustices that women have suffered in sport, first looking in detail at the doping cheats of the GDR who prevented Sharron getting a gold medal when she should have been awarded one and then continuing to look at how history is repeating itself with transwomen entering women's sport and depriving them of prizes, medals and opportunities. As a keen sportswoman now in my sixties, I despair at the lack of interest young women in general are taking in this field to protect and ring fence women's sport for biological women. We have fought for so long to be taken seriously in the sports arena and to see it slipping away is very disheartening. Hopefully the tide has now turned and more professional elite sports bodies are beginning to ban transwomen from competing against biological women but this is no thanks to any help or guidance from the IOC and it has been a tortuous process to get to this point. Thank you Sharron for writing this important book and being our champion!

A great book, a thorough and excellent discussion, science and data on transgender athlete performance and the difference between transgender women and female athletes. Very instructive and informative which helps understand the issues and the current debate. All credit to all those members of national and global bodies who have managed to carefully understand the issues and clarify the position in sport to protect female categories, in the face of strong transgender activism, opposition and protest.Sharron Davies is an admirable advocate for female sportswomen on this issue and with Craig Lord lays out the evidence clearly in a way that was very easy to comprehend. She was an amazing swimmer at her peak and should be congratulated for all that she achieved. The saddest thing about this book is the constant repeated references throughout to the doping by the GDR and the impact, primarily on her. I hope at some point she achieves peace with this, one way or another.It was disappointing that in the Charter of Fair Play transgender issues, the purported main subject of this book, were at Point 6, 7, 10 and 15.Unfortunately the final chapters seemed to move away from the main issues I thought the book was about and centred on union representation and financial reward for athletes. This is important but perhaps for a different book.Overall I found the book very compelling and highly recommend it to everybody, of all sexes and not all those necessarily interested in sport but, all those who are aware of and want to understand in more detail, the hot topics in the world today.

This is a well researched book, full of facts and information. Well written so it’s a pleasure to read!Everyone should read this and share with as many people as possible! If you can’t share the book then tell people about the reality of the disastrous impact of gender ideology (misogyny?) on women, girls and their families!This book lays out the full damage and impact on sport and peoples lives in general and everyone, with any empathy or concern for others needs to get involved urgently!

Helped me understand some of the problems surrounding competitive female sport

I wanted a pro book and a con book on gender/sex in sports. After reading reviews, I chose this book for an in-depth look at gender in sports, and transgender males competing against traditional female.I found it very informative, even if a bit repetitive. I found the first part kind of sluggish as she reviews her own history. If the topic interests you, just stick it out. The book covers the needed topics very nicely, and there is obviously a lot of experience speaking. For people wanting good citations, the notes and links seem to be very extensive.

Excellent and necessary reading.

This was a present and the recipient t was very pleased with it

The author gives an in-depth assessment of the impact of gender-based sports selection versus selection based upon biological sex. She makes a compelling case, in my opinion, for her view that biological sex should be the determinant. She also relates personal anecdotes from her own Olympic and competitive experience of the impact of testosterone-fueled drug cheats who dominated some women's sports during the communist reign in East Germany. For me, it was an eye-opener.The editing could have been improved as it seemed like chapters had been written as a series of blog posts or serialised articles, and there was a lot of unnecessary repetition.