"Like white person explaining racism to black person" - Martina Navratilova argues men shouldn't lecture her on women's rights amid transgender debate

Martina Navratilova firmly clarified that men shouldn't be lecturing her on women's rights amid a conversation surrounding the gender debate. The former World No. 1 sternly objected to the idea behind a Princeton University professor-authored book Sex is a Spectrum: The Biological Limits of the Binary.

She has always been a very prominent advocate for women's and queer rights. Her conversation was largely based on contradicting the title of the book itself which did not align with her notions of sex and gender.

Martina Navratilova however lost her cool when the author ignored her point and indicated her being 'bitter' and uninformed. She took to X (formerly Twitter) to call him out on his take without understanding the point put forth by her.

"Yet another man explaining to me where I should get my information…. Hmm…," she replied.

However, she was agitated by another user's comment asking Navratilova to be more receptive to 'good opinions' irrespective of them being from men or women. She was quick to shut them down by drawing a parallel to the situation with racism.

"Why can't a man tell you this as opposed to a woman? Good advice is good advice," one user commented, to which Navratilova replied, "Kind of like a white person explaining racism to a black person while telling them what they don’t know about racism…"

The 18-time Grand Slam champion's opinionated demeanor has often attracted negativity online. She was also largely critiqued for her views on the involvement of transgender athletes in sports.

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Martina Navratilova's take on the participation of transgender athletes in women's sports

Martina Navratilova at the Laureus World Sports Awards Madrid 2024 - Source: Getty

Martina Navratilova has always shown her support for queer rights but believes that the involvement of transgender athletes in the women's sporting field proves to be advantageous for the people who have transitioned. On an episode of 'On with Kara Swisher' podcast, she was loud and clear in making her views known.

"This is not against trans athletes. This is against male bodies competing as women, if they identify as women." - she said.

She highlighted that male bodies retain physical advantage even after hormonal therapies and testosterone blockers.

"So we are not against trans athletes. We are for women athletes to compete in as level a playing field as possible. Which means the males, who now identify as women, should compete in a male category. And women who identify as men but don’t take testosterone can compete as women. Because there is still no advantage physically over other women athletes. That’s all that’s about," she added (28:00 onwards).