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The Grantland Dr. V Transgender Controversy

sirkickyass

sirkickyass

Moderator Emeritus
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Hadn't seen this discussed here yet, but I think given this board's long-standing issues with transphobia this might be an appropriate place to talk about it.

The original article is here: https://grantland.com/features/a-mysterious-physicist-golf-club-dr-v/

On the merits, the article is very good. The story is fascinating and a good example of in-depth investigative journalism. It has some portions that are potentially problematic as well.

Bill Simmons apology that ran on Grantland today: https://grantland.com/features/the-dr-v-story-a-letter-from-the-editor/

And an in-depth discussion of the article's problems: https://grantland.com/features/what-grantland-got-wrong/
 
@Kicky I started reading that article last week cuz I'm a golfer but was like "holy shizz this is long" and stopped.

The follow up discussions are also TLDR for me.

Care to sum it up?
 
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Caleb Hannan the Grantland writer started investigating the so called Yar putter which claimed to have revolutionised how the putter is designed. The putter is endorsed by Gary MacCord and is designed by Dr. Essay Anne Vanderbilt who claimed to have received a Physics PHD from MIT and worked for the Department of Defense in a secret operation.

The writer got talking to Dr. V through emails, etc, and eventually received a putter to try. He found it to be very good and was ready to write an article supporting it - so he proceeded to verify facts about Dr. V as sort of background check.

Unfortunately he didn't find any records of her attending MIT. What he found was that Dr. V was in fact born Stephen Krol who didn't have a PHD and had at one point changed the name to Essay Anne Vanderbilt.

He then talked to the investors, and various people who have come across Dr. V. and found that she had filed for bankruptcy and has had numerous run-ins in relation to sexual harrasments before. The writer confronted Dr. V and had various telephone conversations with her about privacy Acts, hate crimes, etc. Dr. V basically wanted him to sign a contracted saying he'll keep quite about his findings. He refused to do so. Eventually 4-5 weeks after his last correspondence, Dr. V decided to commit suicide.

Grantlant decided to publish the article anyway outlining what the writer had found, which received lots of criticisms from readers. After which Bill Simmons was forced to write that apology letter as well as another editor outlining why the article is a "What not to do and how not to treat another human being".
 
Here's a slomo show of the tar putter showing limited spin on the ball as it comes into contact with the putter - as it claims to be the only putter currently on the market with zero MOI (moment of inertia).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy6ItJW5xM4
 
Sirkickyass said:
Hadn't seen this discussed here yet, but I think given this board's long-standing issues with transphobia this might be an appropriate place to talk about it.

The original article is here: https://grantland.com/features/a-mysterious-physicist-golf-club-dr-v/

On the merits, the article is very good. The story is fascinating and a good example of in-depth investigative journalism. It has some portions that are potentially problematic as well.
Click to expand...

Did you read the part where he says: "Writing a eulogy for a person who by all accounts despised you is an odd experience."


LOL... what kind of reception did he expect from a woman who was about to be outed to the whole world as a transgender? To me, I thought the article had a very vindictive tone about it. Moreover, as the article was published after her death, it seemed me to very disrespectful and really distasteful.
 
UGLI baby said:
@Kicky I started reading that article last week cuz I'm a golfer but was like "holy shizz this is long" and stopped.

The follow up discussions are also TLDR for me.

Care to sum it up?
Click to expand...

You need to read it. Brilliant article.
 
If this person didn't want anybody to know, then why did he/she do what he/she did? Could have declined being interviewed for the article as well.

Sorry, about the he/she thing, but I don't know a better way to identify the subject.
 
LazyD said:
If this person didn't want anybody to know, then why did he/she do what he/she did? Could have declined being interviewed for the article as well.

Sorry, about the he/she thing, but I don't know a better way to identify the subject.
Click to expand...

Transphopic *******.
 
LazyD said:
If this person didn't want anybody to know, then why did he/she do what he/she did? Could have declined being interviewed for the article as well.

Sorry, about the he/she thing, but I don't know a better way to identify the subject.
Click to expand...


To me it just strikes me as a very sad story of a very troubled person. Whether we find her behaviour irrational or not-- our society is constructed to make people like her feel outcasted, and feel the need to hide certain facets of her personality. Keep in mind (to those of you who are less sympathetic to the LGBTQ community) that she married twice before coming to terms with what she felt most comfortable with in terms of sexuality-- so to me this just strikes me as saddening, and I feel like we are letting people like her down. It's sad that some people feel the need to hide certain things about themselves as a defense-mechanisms-- as one who used to hide his faith growing up, I have s small semblance of what it feels like, and it really isn't a great feeling.
 
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