The best example I can give of how the gendering of sport has been a constraint on my involvement was when I was in Grade 10. I spoke to the only female coach we had at the school about joining our school’s ‘boys’ football team, and she told me I could try out since there were no official rules against it. When I went to the all-male coaching staff, instead of figuring it out with me, they said, “You can try out next year when you’re in grade 11 and can be on varsity.” I knew they only said that because they were hoping I’d back down—they figured the guys would be much bigger and stronger next year, with some already being 18, and I was just 16. But once I set my mind to something, I wasn’t going to let it go. The next year, when I was going into grade 11 in 2020, I tried out again. The coaches were still stand-offish but let me try out, and I made the team. However, during training, there were all these different rules that applied to me, even though all I wanted to do was get hit. They didn’t think I could handle it, but I guess it worked out for them in the end because before we could actually start the season in the spring, COVID hit.

If it had been anyone else, someone less persistent, I don’t think they would have made it or come back. In my mind, I wasn’t successful—there was an entire year I could’ve played in Grade 10, but the coaches couldn’t handle having a girl on the team. When I finally did get a chance, it was shut down by COVID. It’s frustrating because I know that if I hadn’t fought for my place, it wouldn’t have happened at all, and that just shows how much harder it can be for women in sports, even when they prove they’re capable.

I chose soccer as my sport, and although I believe it’s unisex/neutral, most people would probably say it’s male-dominated because of how it’s viewed on a larger scale. Going through all the answers, I was right about how I thought my peers would gender each sport—it’s just a stereotype. It definitely confirmed my assumptions about gender-coding and sports, but in a way, it makes it more frustrating that I was right. It’s frustrating because it feels like these assumptions have been passed down through generations, and there’s still so much work to do. What surprised me, though, was how predictable the responses were—gender-coding seems almost instinctive to a lot of people, even though sports themselves are not inherently gendered. I’ll always stand by the belief that if women had been allowed to participate in sports at the same level as men from the start, gendered assumptions about sports wouldn’t exist. No sport should be limited to one gender; the concept of gender-coding is just a way to explain which sports are socially acceptable for women to participate in.

I will always advocate for the fact that creating these issues around trans women in sports is just another way to oppress women, period. I entirely agree with Leah Thomas’ statement. While I can see how it might be frustrating for some athletes, the reality is that the issue is being blown way out of proportion, and Riley Gaines has been one of the most vocal about it. Yet, somehow, I only ever remember Leah’s name because, in the end, it feels like she’s the one being targeted and dragged through the mud for no good reason. I think this issue is being overblown by politicians and influencers who don’t care about women’s sports—they just care about making a spectacle out of it.

To be more specific, I played soccer for 15 years. I’d say I was good, but I always told myself that even if I was better than one person, there would always be someone better than me. That’s literally the point of competitive sports—someone is always going to be stronger, faster, or more skilled. I grew up playing with a girl, who I was very close with, who was naturally jacked at 12 because of her genetics, which happened to give her an advantage at running, kicking, etc. If I let that discourage me, I would’ve quit then and there, but honestly, it had nothing to do with gender—her whole family, both male and female, were just built that way.

Not to mention, even within a sport, the skills you need depend on your position more than anything else. In football, whether male or female, a quarterback and a cornerback will have completely different strengths and weaknesses that have nothing to do with gender. In soccer, if you’re fast, you’re probably a striker; if you have a powerful kick, you’re probably a midfielder. It’s all about how you use your strengths. Sports aren’t fair, and they never have been—but that’s what makes them so competitive.

Robins is saying that these so-called “investigations” into whether an athlete is “really a woman” aren’t actually about maintaining fairness in sports or protecting women’s categories—they’re about reinforcing transphobic narratives. The entire discourse around “ensuring fairness” in women’s sports serves as a pretext to continue publicly questioning and invalidating the existence of trans women.

She’s arguing that this isn’t an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern where society obsesses over proving that certain women “aren’t really women” as a way to reinforce rigid, exclusionary definitions of womanhood. And the real target isn’t cis women like Khelif—it’s trans women, whose very existence is being put on trial in the public sphere under the guise of concerns about fairness, biology, or competition.

I agree, this was never really about Khelif as an individual, and it certainly wasn’t about sports. It was just another excuse to uphold the constant scrutiny and policing of trans femininity.