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Section One: The Fundamentals
A) History and Context
Exercise 1: Notebook Prompt
| After listening to Episode 3: Card-Carrying Females on Rose Eveleth’s podcast, Tested, she explored the experiences of Kenyan sprinter Maximila Imali, who has been impacted by World Athletics’ rules on athletes with Differences of Sex Development (DSD), much like Namibian runner Christine Mboma. I found the podcast to be very intriguing to listen to since Imali made the decision to legally contest these laws, whereas, Mboma, who opted to abide by them by getting medical treatment to reduce her testosterone levels. The podcast discusses her legal battle and looks at the history of sex testing in women’s sports, bringing to light a prior conflict in which players, journalists, and scientists fought for decades to outlaw earlier types of sex verification tests.
Learning about the long history of sex testing in women’s sports and how, in spite of efforts to phase out old-fashioned verification techniques, new regulations nonetheless regulate the bodies of female athletes was one unexpected component of this episode. Hearing that some athletes, like Christine Mboma, feel compelled to receive medical care in order to adhere to laws, while others, like Maximila Imali, have opted to legally contest these requirements, was also enlightening. Important ethical and justice issues in sports governance are brought up by the episode’s emphasis on how these regulations disproportionately affect athletes from various locations, especially Africa. This episode makes us reevaluate women’s sports fairness and the long-term effects of rules controlling who is allowed to compete. Which is something we are continuing to look for in-depth in for this class, which I find to be very important knowledge for everyone to know.
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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.
| Another milestone I would add to this timeline would be in 1928, the turning point in the history of women’s participation in competitive sports when women participated in track and field competitions for the first time at the Amsterdam Olympics. In addition to giving female athletes more possibilities, this milestone questioned traditional assumptions regarding women’s physical prowess and their place in competitive sports.
The inclusion of this milestone in the timeline emphasizes the need of consistent campaigning for inclusion in traditionally male-dominated sectors and the slow progress made toward gender equality in 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 had to think pretty hard about this question since I grew up doing competitive dance, which is mainly a female sport. Although the more I thought about it, my participation in competitive dance has been impacted by the gendering of sport as it is frequently characterized as “feminine,” which can result in both acceptance and rejection. Although I valued that dance was acknowledged as an artistic and physical endeavor, social views occasionally called into question its validity as a “real sport.” Furthermore, certain contests’ emphasis on looks and conventional femininity created additional pressure that male participants would not experience in other sports.
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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?
These poll results did not surprise me. The responses confirmed my assumptions about gender-coding and sports since every answer I put was the most voted answer. Demonstrating that majority of my classmates see the sports from the same view. I know we shouldn’t be gender assigning sports but there seems to always be a bias towards a gender with association of a sport.
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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.
| I agree with Leah Thomas that there is no threat to women’s sports in general from transgender athletes. Trans women comprise a relatively small percentage of athletes, and their participation is restricted by the NCAA’s long-standing rules, which require hormone therapy and other measures to guarantee fair competition. There has been no sign that trans women are taking over women’s sports during the past 10 years that these regulations have been in place. Sometimes, the conversation over this subject appears overblown and driven more by political goals and sensationalism than by a genuine desire for justice or equity in women’s sports. Prioritizing inclusion and concentrating on removing systemic barriers can create a healthier, more equitable environment for all athletes. Historically, women’s sports have faced far greater risks from problems like unequal funding, a lack of media attention, and limited opportunities than from the presence of trans athletes.
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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?
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“Unfair Advantage?” host and author Rose Eveleth examines the problem of “unfair advantage” by examining the complexities of sports competition, particularly as it relates to athletes with Differences of Sex Development (DSD). She talks on the intersection of social, ethical, and scientific considerations in defining what a “unfair” edge in athletics is. Eveleth investigates the concerns of inclusion and justice raised by regulations requiring athletes with DSD to reduce their testosterone levels. She highlights the difficulty of developing equitable sports regulations that preserve competitive purity while also accommodating a wide variety of athletes. She criticizes how these regulations frequently ignore the deeper structural injustices and difficulties encountered by women in sports in favour of regulating bodies and enforcing gender binary thinking. Overall, the idea of “unfair advantage” is highly individualized and vulnerable to social, political, and cultural prejudices, making it challenging to apply generally. She advocates for a more complex definition of fairness in sports that goes beyond only assessing hormone levels or physical characteristics.
An example that I think of of unique biological or circumstantial advantages which athletes benefitted from enormously are certain gymnasts like Simone Biles and Nadia Comăneci have benefited from their exceptional flexibility and agility, which can occasionally be the consequence of a combination of genetic predisposition and intense training. When athletes are able to perform complex routines with exceptional form and control, they have a competitive advantage.
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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.
| In favour – Like Katie Barnes, I believe that sports are not inherently fair. There will always be elements of unfairness due to biological, cultural, and structural variables, even if the aim of rules and regulations is to level the playing field. For example, my experience with competitive dancing which emphasis on appearance, style, and subjective assessment may provide certain dancers an advantage based on unpredictable factors like body type, facial expressions, or even the judges’ assessments of their performance. This highlights how, depending on certain circumstances, some athletes may face challenges or advantages without compromising the necessary skill and creativity. Such as, I had to put in a lot of effort and practice to get better at my physical skills, factors like personality, performance style, and even the timing of a routine might affect results. Because of this, even while we aim for equity, the system is influenced by a number of factors that can alter the outcome in different ways.
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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.
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