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Section One: The Fundamentals
A) History and Context
Exercise 1: Notebook Prompt
| One of the most surprising things to me from this episode was how Maximilia Imali was subjected to invasive medical testing, without being informed of its purpose. The fact that she was made to stand naked in front of a doctor, without explanation, is not only humiliating but also a blatant violation of her dignity and bodily autonomy. This practice reflects a long history of monitoring women’s bodies in sports, something that was not commonly talked about, but happened surprisingly often.
What makes this even more surprising is that the testing was framed as necessary for ensuring “fairness” in competition, yet the process itself was anything but fair. Athletes like Imali were not given informed consent or the right to refuse these examinations without consequences for their careers. The lack of transparency in how these decisions were made and the arbitrary nature of sex testing in sports raises serious ethical concerns. The podcast also mentioned that eventually they switched from nude parades to the barr body test, where cheek scrapings were done. Debbie Brill, Canadian high jumper, won gold at the Olympics, but had to go through genetic testing before her gold medal. She passed this test and was given a “certificate of femininity”. Even though she passed, Debby explains that all the young women who were forced to do this test were scared for what the results would be. They took moments that should be about celebration and pride, and turned it into a moment of anxiety and fear for what the results of the medical test would say. This episode shed light on the deeper issue of power dynamics in athletics. Who gets to define what is “fair” and why are certain athletes targeted while others are not? The psychological impact of such experiences must be immense, turning a moment that should be about athletic achievement into one of humiliation and exclusion. Imali’s decision to fight back against these regulations is not just about her career; it’s about challenging a system that has dehumanized so many before her. |
B) Timeline of History
Exercise 2: Notebook Prompt
What other significant case/milestone would you add to this timeline? Note it in your notebook along with a brief (one or two sentences) explanation of why you feel it is important.
1956 – Barr Body Test Deemed Unreliable, Yet Still Used
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C) Gender coding in Sports
Exercise 3: Notebook Prompt
Has the gendering of sport ever been a constraint on your involvement? How?
Or, if not, why do you think this is?
| The gendering of sport has shaped my involvement in ways I didn’t fully recognize at the time. As a child, I played a variety of sports, including tennis, soccer, basketball, golf, and more, but when I was around nine years old, I developed a strong desire to do gymnastics. I practiced outside with friends and begged my mom to enroll me in classes. Eventually, she agreed. While my parents were always supportive of my athletic pursuits, gymnastics was an exception. Despite my skill, I wasn’t allowed to compete at a competitive level. Instead, after less than a year, my mom “bribed” me with an alternative, saying that if I switched to a sport like basketball, they would let me compete. Wanting the chance to compete, I made the switch. While I enjoyed basketball, I sometimes can’t help but wonder where my gymnastics journey might have led.
Years later, I asked my mom why she had been so against it. She believed gymnastics was the sport girls were expected to do and wanted me to challenge gender norms instead. Ironically, in trying to break stereotypes, she imposed her own, steering me away from something I genuinely loved. In the end, the gendering of sport didn’t limit me in the way most might assume. Rather, it was my mom’s attempt to push against traditional roles that ultimately constrained my choices. |
D) How is sport gendered in the popular imagination?
Exercise 4: Padlet/Notebook Prompt
While most sports are in fact unisex, gender coding remains pervasive, particularly at the professional level, although with a foundation established in youth competition. Participate in the poll below to share your views on how popular sports are gendered in the popular imagination. Also feel welcome to add or suggest sports that you feel strongly conform to the gender binary!
After you contribute to the padlet prompt, record your response in your notebook AND briefly discuss in two or three sentences how these responses and the polling figures in general confirm or contradict your assumptions about gender-coding and sports. Did anything surprise you?
 
These responses of the polls in general confirm my assumptions about gender-coding and sports. Generally, I assume that sports that are high in physical contact, such as football, hockey, rugby, wrestling, martial arts, and more, tend to be seen as “male sports”. On the contrary, sports where performing is central, such as dance, cheer, gymnastics, and figure skating, tend to me more “female sports”. While I don’t think this idea is correct, I do think that it reflects general gender-coding in sports. |
Section Two: Breaking it down
A) Title IX
Exercise 5: Notebook Prompt
In a longer version of the interview excerpted in the video above, Leah Thomas states “Trans women competing in women’s sports does not threaten women’s sports as a whole because trans women are a very small minority of all athletes and the NCAA rules around trans women competing in women’s sports have been around for 10+ years and we haven’t seen any massive wave of trans women dominating”?
Do you agree with this statement? See also the image above suggesting that the issue may be overblown by politicians and influencers who don’t actually care that much about women’s sports.
Please share any thoughts you have in your Notebook by clicking on the audio button above or writing a few sentences.
| I do not agree with Leah Thomas’ statement. While it is true that trans women represent a small percentage of athletes, their participation still raises valid questions about biological advantages retained from male puberty, such as muscle mass, bone density, and lung capacity. Even if there has not been a “massive wave” of trans women dominating, individual cases where trans athletes have excelled significantly over cisgender women demonstrate that the impact can be substantial at the elite level. Statistically, I think that the few trans women in women’s sports do tend to dominate, even if there aren’t very many. This shows that it is an issue. Women’s sports exist to provide a level playing field for those who do not experience male puberty’s physical advantages, and even a few cases of unfair competition can undermine this principle.
While I do care about women’s sports and my genuine care for women’s sports shapes my opinions on trans women in women’s sports, I do agree that the issue may be overblown by politicians and influencers who don’t actually care that much about women’s sports. I think many people choose to argue in this topic in order to argue against trans people, and not so much for women’s sports, which I do not think is right. |
B) Unfair Advantage?
Exercise 6: Notebook Prompt
What does the host and writer, Rose Eveleth, have to say on the issue of unfair advantage?
Can you think of other examples of unique biological or circumstantial advantages from which athletes have benefitted enormously that have nothing to do with gender?
| In this podcast episode, Rose Eveleth discusses the issue of “unfair advantage” in athletics, particularly focusing on athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD). The episode highlights the challenges faced by Christine Mboma, who, after undergoing mandated testosterone suppression to comply with World Athletics regulations, struggled to achieve qualifying times for the Paris Olympics. Rose discusses the ethical and scientific debates surrounding these policies, questioning what truly constitutes an “unfair” advantage on the track. Rosealso touches upon the emotional and physical toll these regulations impose on athletes like Mboma, who are forced to alter their natural physiology to compete. Along with this, the podcast discusses the research that has been done in order to make various rules and regulations surrounding this debate, and how the research has been invalid.
Beyond gender-related factors, many athletes have benefited from unique biological or circumstantial advantages that have significantly enhanced their performance. For example, Michael Phelps possesses an extraordinary wingspan and a body that produces less lactic acid than average, allowing for faster recovery and prolonged endurance. Kenyan and Ethiopian runners live in high-altitude regions, and many athletes from these countries develop enhanced oxygen efficiency, providing a natural advantage in distance running. We also see the impacts of financial states, birthdate, personal connections, and more come into play in athletics, creating biological or circumstantial advantages for athletes. These examples illustrate that while certain inherent traits or environmental factors can provide athletes with competitive edges, the delineation of what constitutes an “unfair” advantage remains a debate. |
Again, let’s turn to Katie Barnes who points out that we tend to forget amidst all the debate that “sports, by design, are not fair” (235), that “the reality of sports is that we accept unfairness all the time” (235).
Do you agree? Why? In your experience, how fair are sports? Feel welcome to add a video response in the padlet and provide an example if you’re willing. Make sure you include a screenshot of your response in your notebook.
| I agree with what Katie Barnes is saying here, in that “sports, by design, are not fair. There are so many different factors that go into creating one’s success and experience in sports. One of the largest that comes to mind is money. Individuals of higher socioeconomic status have greater access to better teams, options for travel, multiple coaches, mental coaching, more resources, better equipment, and so much more. There is also the factor of age. Athletes born in the earlier months of the year (therefore the older athletes of the age group) tend to find more success and make it farther. We also see issues of favouritism, nepotism, and more. There are many examples in which “sports, by design, are not fair”. |
B) The Paris Olympics
Optional Response:
What does Robins mean when she argues that:
“The aims of transvestigating an Olympic athlete are not, in any meaningful sense, anything to do with sports, or fairness, or even with women (cis women, at least) as a social category. Rather, they have everything to do with transness, and the public expression of transfemininity.
For my money this has never been about sport.
What it has always been is an excuse to publicly relitigate the existence of trans women.”
Make a note in your Notebook.
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