People on Social Media Are Mad at Malcolm Gladwell Based on His Views on Trans Athletes

When it comes to interesting takes and thoughtful discussions, author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell is an excellent source for both. Malcolm has written five New York Times bestsellers, hosted two podcasts, and has been included in the TIME 100 Most Influential People list.

Something that comes up often when discussing Malcolm is an idea he wrote about in his 2008 book Outliers. It's called the 10,000-Hour Rule and is pretty simple. Malcolm touched on the assertion that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something.

While there has been pushback from the originators of this idea regarding how Malcolm framed it, the concept is solid. You have to practice. This wasn't such a big deal, yet some people really hate Malcolm Gladwell. Why?

Malcolm is often criticized for his penchant for simplifying complicated ideas, which is what he did with the 10,000-Hour Rule. While that can be frustrating, it's certainly not a good reason to despise a person.

Much of the anger directed towards the author appears to revolve around his feelings on trans people in sports and, more specifically, his actual feelings.

While appearing on a podcast called The Real Science of Sport, Malcolm addressed something he said while hosting a 2022 MIT athletic panel. Ross Tucker, one of the podcast hosts, was also on the panel and has repeatedly stated that trans-inclusive sports aren't fair based on the physiological advantage most biologically born males have over most biologically born females.

Malcolm revealed he regretted not endorsing Ross's views. "If we did a replay of that exact panel at the Sloan conference this coming March [...] it would be, I suspect, near unanimity in the room that trans athletes have no place in the female category," said Malcom.

He went on to say he was ashamed and felt too "cowed" to express his real feelings on the subject.

When Malcolm shared the podcast episode to X, writing that he was excited to talk about sports, the replies were mixed. One person asked Malcolm to clarify when he said, "Trans women do not belong in sport." Did he mean all sports, or just elite sports? Another X user accused Malcolm of caving to societal and political pressure as well as a "fear of being ostracized" by his peers.

A few folks were grateful for Malcom's take.

"Thanks for admitting the truth," responded one. "The pressure put on professionals to go along with the lie that a man can 'transition' into a woman must have been overwhelming," they said.

Perhaps Matthew Shellenberger, CBR Chair of Politics, Censorship and Free Speech at the University of Austin, said it best when he wrote, "Like him or not, Malcolm Gladwell is one of the most influential and financially successful journalists of the last 30 years."