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Section One: The Fundamentals
A) History and Context
Exercise 1: Notebook Prompt
| After listening to the Tested Podcast with Rose Eveleth, I learned about the Kenyan sprinter, Maximila Imali. The podcast begins by recognizing Imali as a DSD athlete, which means difference in sex development. Under insensitive consideration, Imali was given the ultimatum to either change her body or give up on racing in the female category. She took the pursuit to choose a different pathway to fight for her gender rights. The battle she joined, which has been ongoing for years, used scientific data in an attempt to exclude women from sport.
What surprised me the most about Maximila Imali is her resilience to continue pursuing her goals of being the best sprinter in the world. The challenges she faced such as eligibility, examination and testing were significant violations to gender rights. This impacted her identity, not only physically but emotionally and psychologically. As she struggled with body complexities that were out of her control, the controversy still stands around the fairness and equity in women’s athletics. |
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.
Imane Khelif is a transgender athlete from Algeria. She is known for winning the gold medal in the women’s welterweight division at the 2024 summer Olympics. I believe this significant case should be added to the timeline due to the ongoing conversation about transgender inclusion in sports. Although she continues to face many challenges, Khelif continues to face adversity and break barriers in women’s sport. |
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?
| In terms of gendering in sport, one constraint I have experienced as a male athlete is the ongoing pressure of masculine stereotypes. Growing up playing hockey, my teammates and I were always told by our coaches to play aggressive and be tough on the ice. I believe this puts a level of pressure on male athletes to perform in a way that hinders personal identity and expression. The old saying “Men don’t cry” relates to the common theme that male athletes are discouraged from showing vulnerability. This ongoing stigma places an obligation on male athletes to be fearful and show no emotion while playing sports. This can impact the mental health of those that feel obligated to fulfil the expectation of masculine stereotypes as a male in sports. |
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?
| The polls confirmed my gender assumption regarding sports. The poll I was most surprised about was softball and its assumption to be a female sport. Growing up, softball leagues were considered male dominated. Over the last decade, there has been a decline in player registration placing it on the verge of extinction. |
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.
| Currently, I am neutral to the statement that “Trans women competing in women’s sports does not threaten women’s sports as a whole”. In my opinion, although trans athletes make up a small quantity of our NCAA athletes, this could change as we move forward into the future. With the trans movement growing, it is very possible that many skilled athletes could appear and dominate women’s sport. In contrast to this statement, we may see similar numbers as we do now in terms of trans athletes. With the numbers being so low, it would not be possible for trans women athletes to take over women’s sport as a whole. |
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, Rose Eveleth notes that advantage is an interesting topic when it comes to sport. Advantage is often considered when brainstorming the perfect athlete. Advantages come with mentality and determination, but genetic make-up creates unfair advantages. Biological factors such as muscle mass, height, bone density and testosterone levels all influence the performance. These are the unfair advantages that make up the world’s most skilled athletes.
Brian Shaw – 4-time world strongest man is 6.9ft and 400lbs Usain Bolt – 8-time gold medalist due to long legs and stride Haile Gebrselassie – 2-time gold medalist and 4 world champion, incredible lung capacity |
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 do agree with Katie Barnes’ comment that “Sports by design are not fair”. When diving into sports, there are many factors that make this comment true. The first factor that sticks out to me is ability. In sport, athletes compete at different levels due to their genetics. These are biological characteristics such as muscle mass, height, bone density and testosterone levels. If all athletes were created the same, fairness would be accomplished.
Another factor that contributes to fairness is access to resources. Families growing up in high-socioeconomic status would have access to proper resources compared to family’s living in low-socioeconomic status. This creates an unfair advantage as some social groups get the proper coaching, training and equipment for athletic success. Growing up, my parents provided me access to the proper resources needed to be successful in hockey. I was granted elite coaching and training for my skills, had the newest equipment on the market and provided rides to practices and games. While these were perks to my success, I was unaware that other kids did not get the same opportunities as me. Looking back, many of my teammates had extreme challenges. Some lived in poverty and others had parents who didn’t care about their success. It just goes to show that fairness is unequal. |
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.
| Robin’s argument on this topic is understandable. Due to significant legal backlash on trans rights, along with the ongoing social stigma that trans people face daily, I have empathy towards this statement. The trans movement has suffered extreme amounts of challenges over the past decade, experiencing unwelcomed violence towards their community and a resistance to change. The belief that the target of transness is valid, but as we move forward together, there has to be hope that society is changing together. |
