Brittany Romero

Comm1080

Journal #1

Chloie Jonsson Vs. CrossFit

Chloie Jonsson is a personal trainer who is pushing to compete in a CrossFit strength competition. The only drawback on this matter is that Jonsson identifies herself as a transgender female and the CrossFit Company has a rule that participants have to apply for the competition under the gender that they were born as. Since Jonsson was born as a male, the company has offered her to compete in the mens division but prohibits her from competing in the womens division. Jonsson disagrees with CrossFits regulations and has since escalated the disagreement to a lawsuit where she is seeking $2.5 million in damages, charging CrossFit with discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and unfair competition. Jonsson showed key characteristics of the Frustration-Aggression cycle as taught by Linda Nobis (2009). With the perceived injustice, Jonsson became more frustrated, that frustration than resulted in more aggression towards CrossFit, with inevitably her filing a lawsuit against them. As reported on by CNNs Madison Park, Jonsson has identified herself as a female since her teenage years and is legally recognized by California as a woman. She had sexual reassignment surgery in 2006 and has been on female hormone therapy Also stated by Madison Park is that Hormone replacement therapy for transgender women includes anti-androgen therapy, which nullifies the effects of testosterone to reduce the masculine features of the body. Therapies can also consist of the hormones, estrogen and progesterone to feminize the body.

Brittany Romero

Comm1080

Journal #1

There is severe face issues involved here by the damage to [her] public image (Nobis, 2008). Jonsson did not come out to anyone as being transgender and by Crossfit requiring original birth gender to be used it forces transgender people to come out even if they do not want to. Jonsson has stated that "If I am going to be forced to out myself, I want it to be for the good for all transgendered people and athletes -- not because of a company's discriminatory policies." I do feel as though Jonsson showed key characteristics of the Frustration-Aggression cycle as taught by Linda Nobis (2009). With the perceived injustice Jonsson became more frustrated, that resulted in more aggression towards CrossFit (filing a lawsuit). Question: Should fully transgender people be allowed to participate in sports competitions of their new sex?

Brittany Romero

Comm1080

Journal #1

Works Cited

1. Nobis, L. Frustration, Aggression, & Escalation Cycles. Retrieved from PowerPoint Online Web site: https://slcc.instructure.com/courses/250187/files/35221765?module_item_id=2027575 2. Nobis, L. Elements of Face. Retrieved from PowerPoint Online Web site: https://slcc.instructure.com/courses/250187/files/36809712?module_item_id=2057566 3. Park, M. (2014, March 7). Transgender Athlete Sues CrossFit for Banning Her From Competing as Female. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/us/transgender-lawsuit-crossfit/