WNBA's 'MAGA Barbie' sells out her signature shoes

Sophie Cunningham's shoes sell out after her anti-trans crusade

WNBA player Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever has turned an opinion about women's sports into a commercial phenomenon. The Spanish daily ABC reported on July 26 that her shoes had sold out after the guard called for protection for "biological girls" and advocated for "keeping trans athletes out of women's sports." The nickname social media has given her, "MAGA Barbie," illustrates how she has been received.

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The WNBA and the nuance nobody mentions

The controversy has a nuance almost nobody brings up. No trans woman — that is, someone assigned male at birth — has ever played in the WNBA. The league has never drafted one. What does exist is a well-known case: Layshia Clarendon, a former player for the Indiana Fever and other teams, came out as a non-binary trans person in 2020, becoming the first active player to undergo masculinizing chest surgery. In other words, assigned female at birth. Someone with that history playing in a women's league does not miccionan any athlete with a male physiological advantage is sneaking in.

Commerce, identity and rights

The controversy pits two readings against each other. One holds that Cunningham has merely expressed a reasonable opinion on how to protect the female category, and that vilifying her for it is excessive. The other believes her words fuel the exclusion of a vulnerable group and that her sold-out shoes are proof that anti-trans rhetoric sells. Meanwhile, the product keeps selling out and the debate remains unresolved.

The fact that throws people off: the league that would supposedly be the battleground has never had a trans woman in its ranks.