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Section One: The Fundamentals
A) History and Context
Exercise 1: Notebook Prompt
| I was really surprised that it was Christine’s successes that led to her testing and ultimately being unable to race without altering her chemistry. I think I thought they probably reviewed contestants before the race, but in the way it currently occurs, it makes people question the authenticity of her win – which is unfair. Giving her an impossible choice hardly seems like the right answer in these situations; although I am still developing my opinion, forcing her to give up what she loves or do something with life-altering results does not seem just. I am glad she has her coach to guide and advocate for her, but it must still be extremely tough to know that a bunch of people think you cheated your way to success.
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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.
| As much as it is complex to include, I would like to add Caitlyn Jenner’s coming out as to the timeline. While this has not resulted in the incredible change and advocacy it should have, it did encourage the mainstream media to think about transgender athletes and sports. Instead of promoting bathroom bills, Jenner could have stood as a strong voice for trans athletes, but regardless, Jenner created sport discourse at a time when people were just starting to genuinely consider the negative consequences of gendered sports.
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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?
| I played badminton pretty seriously as a child (I competed in tournaments, and took lessons a couple times a week.) Part of my league was playing doubles, not just singles. There were often constraints on whether it would be mixed doubles, where I could play with whoever I wanted, and regular doubles. I played with my younger brother, who was also in the league, and we practiced as each other’s partners outside of just the league. Badminton in pairs takes some coordination, as you have to rotate who serves, who plays back, and who plays front. Being siblings, we had strong communication and our own structure; that is why we were always so disappointed when we would get to tournaments and be told that they were not mixed. We would have to pick a random parter of the ‘same’ gender and would, inevitably, be unsuccessful. The rule seemed so arbitrary and was irritating as we were working incredibly hard during our practices, only to be told at tournaments that it did not matter.
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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?
| While the class responses to this poll surprised me, I was most surprised by my own responses. I did not think that in my own imagination, sports were so slated towards men, and not neutral. Only sports where I had actually seen both men and women athletes competing received a neautrl score, which I attribute largely to my love for the Olympics, and the sports that I like to watch. If I had seen the sport in the Olympics, with both male and female competitors, I marked it as neutral. If I had not, I typically marked male. This is surprising to me, as I thought I was more neutral in my mind. surfing (which I see as female probably because of Bethany Hamilton,) and rugby (which I see as female because my partner’s sister played competitively and I watched her games.) This demonstrates the profound impact gendered sports coverage has on the way people view sports; if I have not seen it, my default is male.
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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.
| In my opinion, the issue of transgender athletes has become a media talking point. This should not even BE an issue; rules and instructions are already in place to regulate athletes as needed. Instead, much like the bathroom ban, something that was not an issue suddenly is blown totally out of proportion. Lia is right; the percentage of trans athletes is not causing trouble in sports, but politicians are making challenges solely to advance their own agendas. If people were actually concerned about women’s sports, there are other avenues they could focus their energy on to make positive changes.
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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?
| Eveleth describes how there are some physical advantages people might have, specifically in their chemistry, but also in there training, coaching, and life experiences. She explains that some athletes win at tests of their biology, like the Olympics, but that is not a sole predictor of success.
A classic example of athletes with biological advantages takes place in basketball. Athletes who are taller and have larger palms are generally better at the sport because of these physical advantages. However, advantages can also go beyond what you can see. For example, Micheal Jordon’s brain has evolved due to intense training. He has a more pronounced striatum, allowing fast and more efficient motor learning and processing.
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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 would like to think that the basis for sports is fair. Predicated on rules and regulations, sports were built to encourage elite athleticism in the confines of a prescribed activity. On paper, sports are fair. Each team or competition has, in theory, an equal opportunity to succeed and win. However, as people are not equal, this concept is immediately tested. In my experience, sports are not fair. Beginning as children, when some kids have access to afterschool coaching and teams while others do not. Intersectional barriers exist in sports, too, impacting athletes at all levels. I think about children I knew in high school who were at hockey practice five times a week, compared to children who had to go to work right after school to support their families. These same kids would come face to face in gym class, and, the child with more experience in the sport would be more successful. This is no surprise but it is a reality. Societal differences prevent the fairness of sport from existing the second athletes are added.
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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.
| In this piece, Robins explains that Imane Khelif’s victory (and subsequent gender analysis from the media) is not an example of a fight for more ‘fair’ sports but instead an opportunity to further discuss and regulate trans bodies. While the media may portray this discourse as a fight for more rigorous gender testing and more equal competitions, it is actually a chance to diminish trans athletes. Robins notes that no trans athletes were even permitted to compete at the Paris Olympics, making the source of this conversation so much more about gender testing than efforts to keep sports equal for everyone.
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