Ohno! I got punched too hard :(

Ohno! I got punched too hard 🙁

Krishya Nema

FY B.Sc. (2024-2028)

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

                                                     

Source: Youtube

Introduction: 

In August of 2024, Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer awarded a gold medal at this year’s Olympics, would have never imagined that her gender would come under scrutiny—despite what, in any other context, would have been universally praised as an outstanding display of skill and power.

In an infamous case of, “You are what you have in your pants,” we come to analyse the role of gender discrimination in sports with a focus on trans athletes. If the “party downstairs” argument holds true then I suppose I am a wrinkly PMPML bus ticket dated two weeks prior.

What happened:

Cisgender, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif  came into the spotlight in this year’s Olympics because, simply put, she “punches like a man.” To give more context to the matter, Imane was up against Angela Carini, an Italian boxer fighting in the 66 kg class. The controversy arose when Carini quit just 46 seconds into the bout, deeming the opening punches by Imane “too powerful.” This incident handed the megaphone over to professional transphobes such as (but not limited to) JK Rowling, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump who assumed Imane was transgender (Male to Female aka MTF) and began to voice their half-baked opinions and insults.

Coming to the point:

Contrary to popular belief, trans women are NOT out to dominate cis women in sports! From some very handy statistics it’s clear that trans people, or rather openly trans people, account for less than 1% of our world population. In the Olympics, non-cis athletes account for a not-so-shocking 0.001% of recent olympians that identify as trans and/or nonbinary.

The biological “edge” that men have over women in terms of physical and athletic ability is their testosterone levels which leads to higher muscle mass, speed, endurance and strength. What’s funny to note is that while male athletes also differ in their levels of testosterone, the obsession with testing these hormones is largely dominant only in women’s sports. It is this presence of testosterone in trans women that is deemed a threat to their cis counterparts.

Women cannot be praised for their achievements without association to men and going so far as to deeming them a “man in disguise,” or a “man by birth” only goes to show that the issue lies not in biology, but in society. 

What we fail to understand is that sex testing and gender scrutiny harms ALL female athletes, cisgender or not. Plenty of cis women have “manly characteristics” or naturally higher levels of testosterone, in fact hyperandrogenism affects 5-10% of women. It must also be noted that women of colour are disproportionately singled out in such matters. 

Arjun award winner Dutee Chand, an Indian Intersex athlete was barred from competing in the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2014 Asian Games due to her “unfair” biological advantage.  An elite sprinter born as a woman, living and identifying as a woman, was deemed “unfit” to compete. 

Dutee Chand was diagnosed with  hyperandrogenism and was asked to undergo medical procedures to reduce her testosterone levels to within a permissible range. In her letter to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF, now known as World Athletics, WA) she exercised her right to refuse this request stating that the hormone levels present in her body were naturally produced and not a result of doping or cheating. She had no wish to undergo invasive procedures to alter her body’s natural state, insisting that these medical procedures will have a negative impact on her athletic performance due to their serious side effects. To quote her directly, “they will interfere with the way my body has worked my whole life.” (page 8 of linked document)

With a landmark ruling in favour of Dutee in 2015, the CAS ruled that hyperandrogenism regulations were discriminatory toward women, and based on insufficient scientific evidence. It was ruled that while the effect of testosterone on athletic performance cannot be negated, the evidence brought by the IAAF to support the link between testosterone levels and athletic performance referred only to exogenous testosterone (externally consumed), and not endogenous testosterone (naturally produced).

If we deem “naturally higher levels of testosterone” to be an unfair advantage then we must negate all other natural advantages as well. Michael Phelps, an American swimmer and the most decorated olympian, stands as a prime example of how biased the testosterone argument is. His freakishly large wingspan and hypermobile ankles are seen as “gifts of god” and not foul play. 

An interesting point put forward by Scientific American editors also asserted that ‘elite athletes are by definition physiological outliers because of their strength, speed and reflexes. Natural hormonal variations, similar to other intrinsic biological qualities—superior oxygen-carrying capacity in the blood, for example—are part of that mix.’ 

When talking about fair play, we must also recognise that sport is a privilege. What we fail to realise is that besides biological make up, what gives athletes an edge over us puny humans is their intense training. Access to adequate equipment, professional trainers, a balanced diet, new-age technology and a platform to compete are all factors that highlight an invisible advantage that is swept under the rug when discussing trans athletes. Which leads us to understand that social conditioning, financial support and a rise in opportunities were major causes of disparity in athletic performance when men and women’s sports were initially segregated. 

Conclusion:

I believe that the crux of the matter lies in society’s obscene and violent need to characterise social structures and pin them with pretty labels. Your gender is an outcome of social conditioning. There is a whole debate that one can present on “what is gender” and whether it is performed or exists innately. We cannot and should not restrict women to their biological characteristics. In my opinion, the most plausible short term remedy is to deconstruct our ideas of gender and sex and allow athletes to compete in the gender category they identify with. When we recognise men and women as more than just scientific data we come to see a newfound appreciation of the human body and its abilities. Inclusivity is not unfair.
Anyone wishing to ponder upon the nature of these social constructs should definitely look into this youtube essay by Abigail Thorn (quite mind numbing on your first watch but definitely something that provides food for thought. Also Maayan Sudai presents a detailed analysis of the matter alongside various solutions in her paper The testosterone rule—constructing fairness in professional sport.