Many aspects of his podcast episode shocked and surprised me!

1. The doctors not disclosing why they were testing and examining Max, is such an invasion of her privacy and body. It is so disturbing they had an assumption that she was not a cis-gendered woman and poked and prodded her body, without her consent, to determine whether they considered her a woman. I think it is a disgusting invasion of privacy to have an assumption and believe that gives them the right to investigate a body without the individual’s consent.
2. Another thing I considered was how ableist the discrimination of women with higher testosterone is in the sports industry. Hearing about many women’s situations made me think about how many women live with chronic illnesses such as polyovarian cystic syndrome that elevates their testosterone levels and how that chronic illness would prevent them from competing in sports because someone would no longer consider them women. That idea is so ableist and sexist that it is hard to wrap my mind around it.
3. Another thing I found disturbing and fascinating was the prince’s ability to separate science from sports, but then use it to his advantage when it pleased him and he could use it to discriminate against women.

Despite that, I found in gym class I shied away from “masculine sports” such as football and hockey. While I knew I was no good at those sports (and that remains true today), a major component was the co-ed factor of the gym classes. In no way do I believe girls and boys shouldn’t be attending gym classes together, but I found the boys believed themselves to be better at those masculine sports and would exclude many of the girls from playing. What Katie says is very true, sports are not gendered, but they are culturally gendered. It is not a factual truth, but a cultural truth about gendered sports.

Softball- Female

Gymnastics- Female

Hockey- Male

Volleyball- Female

Basketball- Male

Powerlifting- Male

Soccer- Male

Football- Male

Most responses reflected my assumed and culturally taught gender associations toward the listed sports. However, one category surprised me, which was the most neutral votes for soccer. It is interesting because I so infrequently hear about female soccer teams, yet those who voted saw it as a neutral sport! I think that is amazing and made me reflect on why I do not watch women’s soccer over men’s (to be fair I watch little soccer) but I will look out for it more! Another thing that surprised me was how cheerleading and football (when I voted) were 100% female and male. It is interesting how feminised or masculinised they are due to gendered stereotypes, that women are graceful and dainty while men are strong and powerful, even though both sports require balance and strength.

In Favour- As discussed in the lecture and videos presented in chapter two, so many athletes are faced with disadvantages every day. A disadvantage I have seen through Barnes’ novel and the experiences of the cis-gendered and transgender female athletes is not being viewed as a “true” woman by external forces such as sports organisations and fans. A lot of the cultural expectations of what a woman is and is not are disadvantaging many female athletes, both cis-gender and transgender because they are rooted in misogyny and patriarchal values for women. For example, the women who had higher levels of testosterone were told taking medication that suppressed their natural hormones should be considered gender-affirming care and they should want to do it. It was never about being fair within sports, specifically women’s sports, it was only ever about how society views what a woman is and is not. Therefore, yes there are many aspects of sports that are unfair, many athletes have biological advantages that may make them faster, perform longer, jump higher, throw farther, etc. but the disadvantage I see the most is how all women are less than because they do not fit within the patriarchal and misogynist expectation for women.