Berkeley PhD Sociology Professor: “Penis Panics” Are Reason Women Don’t Want Biological Men In Their Sports

Trans competitors in women’s sports is a hot topic right now. Trans swimmer Lia Thomas, who medically transitioned from male to female after developing an adult male body and competing on the men’s swim team, went on to dominate female NCAA swimming competitors, who have a biological disadvantage compared to a fully-developed male athlete’s body. And female competitors are frustrated that their years of hard work training in their sport can be so quickly erased by a man who decides they want to be a woman.

Female competitors, especially in high school and college sports, also feel uncomfortable sharing a locker room with a biological male. Locker rooms are private and sensitive spaces that often include vulnerability and various levels of undress. So to be forced to share this private and sensitive space and be in vulnerable positions with biological males makes these girls feel uncomfortable. And rightly so. It’s biological instinct intended to protect women from potentially dangerous situations.

But UC Berkeley “Professor of Sociology PhD” Laurel Westbrook (they/them), whose Twitter bio says, “Studies gender, sexuality, violence, social movements, and surveys,” thinks the reason is “penis panics.” Westbrook explains that these female competitors are simply afraid of penises, and condescendingly accuses them of having “penis panics.”

She’s basically saying that men don’t feel threatened by a trans man who does not possess a biological penis, while women experience “penis panics” which are “fueled by the terror of penises,” specifically “penises where they should not be,” like in women’s bathrooms and locker rooms.

Listen. Women aren’t terrified of penises. They aren’t terrified of penises being where they’re not supposed to be. The issue is that the penis is attached to a biological man. The penis all by itself doesn’t rape a woman. The man attached to the penis does that. The penis all by itself doesn’t smash sports records. The man attacked to the penis does that. The penis all by itself doesn’t make women feel uncomfortable in vulnerable or private spaces. The man attached to the penis does that. Just like guns don’t kill people all by themselves. The criminals attached to the guns do that. It’s condescending and diminutive to reduce and dismiss all the legitimate concerns and valid arguments against the radical leftist trans agenda to “penis panics.”