History bears witness to the fact that female athletes with non-stereotypical female characteristics are forced to undergo humiliating sex-testing practices, many times against their knowledge. These tests are often based on outdated notions of what it means to be female, and they subject women to invasive procedures and public scrutiny. These tests and their results are confidential information, which has many times been leaked to the press by people within the system influenced by malicious intent.
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Dutee Chand, an Indian sprinter, was banned from competing in 2014 because her natural testosterone levels were deemed too high. Similarly, Caster Semenya, a South African middle-distance runner, has faced repeated challenges to her eligibility due to her high testosterone levels. What they experienced was mass bullying and harassment, with people calling them “man” or “trans”. The heartbreaking aspect of this is that athletes like Chand or Semenya come from remote parts of their countries and they have immense difficulty understanding what a gender test is, who a trans person is, or what is testosterone in the first place.
Sex-testing practices are inherently sexist because they enforce a rigid, binary view of gender. They imply that to be a woman, one must fit a narrow set of physical criteria, ignoring the natural diversity of human bodies. This discrimination extends beyond sexism and often includes racism. Athletes like Chand and Semenya, who come from countries outside of the Western world, face additional scrutiny and suspicion. Their successes are frequently undermined by assumptions that their bodies are inherently “unnatural” or “unfair.”
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On the other hand, Michael Phelps, who has a disproportionate wingspan, double-jointed ankles, and a body that produces half the lactic acid of a typical athlete, is called a “gifted” swimmer. Men with non-stereotypical characteristics that give them an advantage over other men are called “gifted”. Women, on the other hand, are called a “man”.
With the recent gender controversy that has been going on with Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who achieved a victory at the Paris Olympics by knocking out Italian opponent Angela Carini, a lot of people have been coming out in support of Khelif because she is being massively harassed and abused online.
Many, including J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk, have been calling her a “biological male” because of her high levels of testosterone and the presence of XY chromosome – which could be a disorder of sexual development. On the other hand, innumerable people stood in support of her, highlighting how Imane Khelif is a born female who is more than qualified to participate in the realm of women’s sports.
Imane Khelif is a female-born woman fighter, she’s perfectly eligible to compete in women’s sports from a gender point of view
She’s born a female, please do not belittle her achievement as a woman and call her a man. It’s not right. This mass misinformation needs to stop. https://t.co/FSQOpxMQJG pic.twitter.com/Ft4kEz4Mxr
— 𝙁𝙎 🇵🇸 (@Fs_FTBL) August 1, 2024
Using her father to manipulate people into sympathising with her is evil
Imane Khelif is a woman who suffers from hyperandrogenism and the hate she’s receiving is beyond belief
She beat her fair and square, this loser should go train harder or change sports instead of crying https://t.co/O9UYcohDIc— Nour ᡣ𐭩🇵🇸 (@cyborglec) August 1, 2024
Imane Khelif is a cisgender woman.
She was born female, was registered as a girl at birth, is legally a woman, & continues to identify as a woman.Is transphobia now so bad that even cisgender women cannot be women if they don’t comply with a certain woman ideal-type? pic.twitter.com/o5XPa6tPyN
— Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte (@turnbulldugarte) August 1, 2024
Being gay or transgender is illegal in Algeria. Making baseless accusations against Imane Khelif that she is trans because she is a cis woman with elevated testosterone levels puts her life in immediate danger.
These people do not actually care about women.
— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) August 1, 2024
It’s so crazy that they’ve had to post Imane Khelif childhood pictures to prove that she was born a woman because she packed a white woman with one punch in 40 seconds. White women tears ruin lives.
— inqilāb (@tastefullysaucy) August 1, 2024
Imane Khelif is BORN WOMAN.
She is NOT a man.*The right to change their gender is illegal and banned in Algeria, the country she represents.*
Indians have harassed and harangued Shanthi Soundarrajan, a brilliant sportswoman, just because she didn’t look the way they expect a… pic.twitter.com/JzYvTNgTVV
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) August 2, 2024
Imane Khelif is the daughter of a welder from a rural village in Algeria. She was declared female at birth in a country where homosexuality is a crime. But the great Feminist has decided she’s “a man” because a white woman cried that she’s too strong. The sorting hat has spoken https://t.co/iU1jnhU30n
— islamic person (@khalidbinyaqub) August 1, 2024
Irish Olympic champion Kellie Harrington fought Imane Khelif in the last Olympics and won. Everyone tweeting now about how Khelif is ‘really a man beating up women in the ring’ (she isn’t) has likely never watched a moment of women’s boxing in their lives.https://t.co/Vz62eMi18x
— Aidan Comerford (@AidanCTweets) August 1, 2024
Imane Khelif participated in women’s boxing at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Guess how many medals she got? ZERO. She got defeated by another boxer. You all are hypocrites who don’t care about or follow women’s sports. We have to hear this unfounded nonsense every Olympics.
— Mena (@mena_ishere) August 1, 2024
Imane Khelif is a female boxer who has been defeated 9 times by women opponents. Those claiming she’s a man have the same aims as those who claimed that the suspect in the Southport stabbings was a Muslim asylum seeker: to stir up hatred against a marginalised community https://t.co/Pn9vaKd7N9
— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) August 1, 2024
Once again, Imane Khelif is a c*s female.
JK Rowling is using her tremendous platform to purposefully spread disinformation to harm the trans community, despite Khelif not being trans.
This is irresponsible and a complete abuse of power from Rowling. This cannot continue. pic.twitter.com/4rCbLryTli
— Thomas Willett (@ThomasWillett9) August 1, 2024
I see the gender of Imane Khelif is being questioned because Angela Carini couldn’t cope.
Just remember they said Serena Williams was a man because they couldn’t accept she was a brilliant tennis player. pic.twitter.com/qC16ouWZaz— Lorraine King (@lorrainemking) August 1, 2024
Michael Phelps is literally referred to as a freak of nature because of his disproportionate wingspan, double jointed ankles, lung capacity twice that of an average human, body that produces half the lactic acid of a typical athlete, and he is rightly celebrated for being the…
— Caroline (@carolinekwan) August 1, 2024
Michael Phelps had wild arms that gave him an advantage. He’s considered the greatest of all time.
Men are allowed to be biologically gifted, and women are, in turn, called men.— Chelsie🏳️🌈 (@chelsieomfg) August 1, 2024
The humiliation that is caused by these public debates about the bodies and identities of female athletes strips them of privacy and dignity. It ignores their talent, hard work, and dedication, and reduces their achievements to mere biological anomalies.