Section One: The Fundamentals
A) History and Context
Exercise 1: Notebook Prompt
One thing that surprised me in Tested Episode 3 was the extent of the invasive and humiliating sex testing that female athletes have endured. The concept of “nude parades,” where women were forced to strip in front of officials to prove their gender, was shocking and disturbing. I had heard of chromosome testing, but I didn’t realize how long and deeply ingrained these verification tests have been in sports history.
I also learned about Maximila Imali’s legal fight against DSD policies, which highlights how these regulations continue to harm athletes today. It was eye-opening to see how policing women’s bodies in sports remains a serious issue.
A real-life example to add would be the case of Dutee Chand, an Indian sprinter who was also affected by gender verification testing and the IAAF’s regulations on hyperandrogenism. In 2014, Dutee was banned from competing in international competitions because of her naturally high testosterone levels. She challenged the ban in court, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in her favor, suspending the hyperandrogenism regulations. This case exemplifies how athletes with naturally occurring intersex traits, like Dutee, have had to fight against intrusive and unfair testing that polices their bodies and gender identity. It further shows how deeply ingrained and damaging these practices are in the realm of sport.
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.
In 1991, the IOC required all new Olympic sports to include women’s events, promoting gender equity in competition. I feel this is important because it is crucial in challenging outdated norms that limited women to “fragile” sports like gymnastics. The policy enabled female athletes to compete in diverse, physically demanding events like snowboarding, proving their strength and skill beyond traditional stereotypes.
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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?
The gendering of sport has never been a constraint on my involvement because I was naturally drawn to activities like dance and soccer, which are often considered more gender-neutral or traditionally associated with women. I wasn’t particularly interested in male-dominated sports like hockey, not because of gender expectations, but because my interests aligned differently. Dance appealed to me because of its artistic expression, allowing me to showcase my creativity, while soccer attracted me for its competitive nature. My choice of sports was based on personal passion rather than societal perceptions of which sports are meant for women. My parents always encouraged me to pursue any sport I was interested in, and their support played a huge role in my involvement 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?
Football – Male, confirmed my prediction. Did not surprise me.
Soccer – Neutral, confirmed my prediction. Did not surprise me.
Power Lifting – Male, did confirm my prediction. Did not surprise me.
Basketball – Neutral, did not confirm my prediction. I wasn’t surprised that most of my classmates view basketball as a male-dominated sport, given how often we hear about the WNBA being less popular than the NBA. However, I personally see basketball as just as gender-neutral as soccer.
Hockey – Male, did confirm my prediction. Did not surprise me.
Gymnastics – Women, did confirm my prediction. Did not surprise me.
Volleyball – Neutral, did NOT confirm my prediction. This surprised me because volleyball is very popular for men just as much as women, it is very gender neutral.
Softball – Women, did confirm my prediction. Did not surprise me.
Baseball – Men, did confirm my prediction. Did not surprise me.
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Overall, the polling figures mostly aligned with my assumptions about gender-coding in sports, confirming that traditionally male-dominated sports like football, hockey, and powerlifting are still perceived that way, while gymnastics and softball remain strongly associated with women. However, I was surprised that basketball was seen as male-dominant, as I expected it to be viewed as more gender neutral. Additionally, volleyball being perceived as women-dominant rather than gender neutral surprised me, given its strong presence in both men’s and women’s sports.
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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’ statement. The statement raises an important point about the actual impact of trans women in women’s sports. Based on existing research and data, trans women make up a very small percentage of athletes, and there hasn’t been widespread dominance by trans women in elite competitions. The NCAA and other sports governing bodies have had policies in place for years, requiring hormone therapy and other regulations to ensure fairness, yet the number of trans athletes excelling at the highest levels remains limited.
The controversy surrounding trans women in sports often seems amplified by political and media narratives rather than actual evidence of unfair advantages. The image referenced suggests that some politicians and influencers may be using this issue as a way to push ideological agendas rather than genuinely advocating for women’s sports. If the concern were truly about fairness and investment in women’s athletics, there would likely be more discussion about issues such as unequal funding, lack of media coverage, and disparities in resources between men’s and women’s sports. While the debate over inclusion and fairness is complex, the idea that trans women pose an existential threat to women’s sports does not appear to be supported by the data available so far.
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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?
In Tested, host Rose Eveleth explores the complexities of what constitutes an “unfair” advantage in sports, particularly in relation to DSD (Differences in Sex Development) athletes. She highlights how the regulations imposed by World Athletics selectively target certain biological traits while ignoring others that also contribute to athletic success. Eveleth challenges the idea that naturally high testosterone levels in DSD athletes like Caster Semenya automatically create an unfair playing field, pointing out that elite sports have always been shaped by a wide range of genetic and environmental advantages that are not regulated in the same way.
There are many examples of athletes who have benefited enormously from unique biological or circumstantial advantages unrelated to gender. For instance, Eero Mäntyranta, a Finnish cross-country skier, had a genetic mutation that allowed him to produce significantly more red blood cells, enhancing his oxygen-carrying capacity. Even circumstantial factors, like altitude training for Kenyan and Ethiopian long-distance runners, have provided athletes with advantages that are considered natural rather than unfair. These examples underscore the inconsistency in how sports authorities define and regulate “unfair” advantages, often singling out certain traits while ignoring others that also contribute to athletic dominance.
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Exercise 7: Padlet/Notebook Prompt
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.
Yes, I agree with Katie Barnes’ statement that sports are inherently unfair. Sports are shaped by natural talent, genetic advantages, financial resources, and access to top-tier coaching, all of which create disparities among athletes. While rules and regulations attempt to maintain competitive balance, they do not eliminate inherent inequalities. Athletes with certain physical traits, such as height in basketball or lung capacity in endurance sports, often have a built-in advantage that is widely accepted as part of competition.
In my experience, sports are fair in the sense that they follow established rules, but they are not fair when it comes to the opportunities available to athletes. Factors like socioeconomic status, geography, and institutional support can greatly influence an athlete’s ability to succeed, often more than pure talent or effort. A clear example is long-distance running, where many of the world’s top marathoners come from high-altitude regions in Kenya and Ethiopia. Growing up in these environments gives them a natural advantage in oxygen efficiency, something athletes from lower altitudes have to train for extensively. While this is considered a “fair” advantage because it is naturally occurring, it is still an example of how sports inherently favor certain athletes based on circumstances beyond their control.
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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.
Robins is arguing that the scrutiny and policing of gender in sports, particularly through the so-called “transvestigations” of Olympic athletes, are not truly about ensuring fairness in competition. Instead, she suggests that these investigations are driven by societal anxieties about trans identities, particularly transfemininity. Rather than being motivated by a genuine concern for women’s sports, she sees these debates as a way to question and challenge the legitimacy of trans women’s existence in public life.
Her argument highlights how the discourse around trans women in sports often goes beyond athletic performance and fairness, becoming a broader cultural and political issue. By fixating on whether an athlete “really” belongs in a women’s category, these debates reinforce rigid definitions of gender and create an environment where certain women, whether trans or cisgender women with naturally high testosterone levels, are subjected to invasive scrutiny. For Robins, this is less about protecting sports and more about reinforcing societal norms around who gets to be recognized as a woman.
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