New Delhi

The biggest sporting event in the world, the Paris Olympics 2024, has been marred by controversy, resulting in a larger debate about gender identity.

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Imane Khelif, a 25-year-old Algerian boxer’s participation in the 66-kg category boxing match has triggered a storm. This was after her opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, quit the bout after only 46 seconds, as she suffered heavy blows from Khelif. The short-duration match sent shockwaves across the world.

Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting has also become a part of the controversy over her gender identity and participation in the Games.

What is the controversy? 

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Many, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, X’s founder Elon Musk, and author JK Rowling, have raised concerns about a ‘biological male’ or ‘man’ competing against women and getting an ‘unfair’ advantage. 

Also Read: Paris Games, Carini vs Khelif Fight Controversy: IBA to award Italian Angela Carini $50k despite losing fight

Others on social media have pointed out that both Yu-Ting and Khelif have been given leeway by the International Olympic Association (IOA) to compete against women.

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This has set the stage for a broader discussion about who should be allowed to compete in international sporting events. 

Khelif and Yu-Ting did not pass the International Boxing Association's (IBA) eligibility rules, which prevent people with XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events. 

However, significantly, the IBA was stripped of its position as the global governing body for boxing in June 2023 over its failure to complete reforms on governance, finance, and ethical issues. 

The IOA took over and later allowed Khelif and Yu-Ting to participate in the Olympic Games. 

‘Biological males’ or ‘cis women’? 

People on social media and even several news outlets have been calling Khelif a ‘biological male.’ Not shockingly, the discourse has been rife with sexism and transphobia. 

Rowling in her post on X referred to Khelif using ‘he/him’ pronouns, completely discounting the fact that Khelif was raised as a female and identifies as one. She has even competed in many women’s boxing competitions. 

Musk has also reposted American swimmer Riley Gaines’ post, saying that she stands with Carini and that ‘men don’t belong in women’s sports.’ 

Indian MLA Kangana Ranaut has called the Khelif-Carini bout a ‘7-foot tall man beating a woman.’ 

Mind you, Rowling, Musk, and Ranaut are neither experts in sport nor medicine, and such public figures commenting on the matter only add fuel to the fire. Sensationalising the matter is not going to help anyone. Clear-mindedness is the need of the hour. 

Medical Background

According to a Reuters report, DSD, or Differences in Sex Development, is a group of rare conditions involving genes, hormones, and reproductive organs. Some people with DSDs are raised as female but have XY sex chromosomes, blood testosterone levels in the male range, and the ability to use testosterone circulating within their bodies. 

Hyperandrogenism is a phenomenon where female bodies produce excessive testosterone. 

Both DSD and hyperandrogenism have been in constant debate in the sporting world.

Indian sprinter Dutee Chand had also been left out of one of the country’s Commonwealth Games squads owing to her hyperandrogenism. She appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which temporarily dropped the rules relating to high testosterone levels in women’s sporting events. 

Similarly, former South African runner Caster Semenya was assigned female at birth and was later discovered to have an intersex condition that only affects people with XY chromosomes. Semenya has never publicly identified as intersex but was barred from several sporting events, owing to her alleged XY chromosome advantage. 

It is to be noted that there have been no confirmed reports of Khelif and Yu-Ting having DSD or hyperandrogenism, and both identify as cis women and have been approved by the IOA to play in women’s events. 

Hypocrisy and Misinformation

Being a female sports player is already a tough profession, with worldwide support mostly revolving around males. Upon that, transgender women have been vilified and demonised as being ‘not worthy’ of competing against women. 

From swimming to boxing, transgenders have long been discouraged to play against women in sports, warranting sharp criticism from a host of quarters. 

But now it seems that even cis-gendered women, who may not conform to what people are now calling the ‘Western-centric’ lens of femininity, are in the line of fire, by uniformed and deeply phobic critics.

Logan Paul, a former wrestler and now an internet personality, continues to misgender Khelif by calling her a ‘man’ and calling those who support her ‘sick f***s.’ He has now accepted that he was ‘guilty of spreading misinformation.’ 

Even world leaders like the former United States President Donald Trump have vowed to “keep men out of women’s sports.”

But many are also in support of Khelif and Yu-Ting, including the International Olympic Association, which has now publicly defended them. 

Phobia against women who ‘don’t look like women’ 

To understand if the sentiment against cis women who don’t conform to traditional norms of femininity is universal, this writer caught up with Arosma, a former NCC cadet.

“I got selected for RDC (Republic Day Contingent) twice, once in 2012 as a Junior Wing cadet and again in 2014 as a Senior Wing Cadet. In 2014, I was the commander of the Odisha contingent, and there's this other selection that happens where you get selected for Rajpath; it's the marching that you see on the 26th of January.

I got selected for Rajpath, but only as a cadet. When I gave the trial for commander, I wasn't selected because I looked like a ‘boy.’ Even though I was able, they didn't take me in. Similarly for the PM's rally, my officer in charge told me that I couldn't be the commander for the PM's rally contingent because I looked like a ‘boy,’ and that would give a bad impression to the jury.” Arosma told WION. 

Is not ‘looking like a boy’ the criteria to judge a woman’s worth?

The lens through which we see women, especially in traditionally male-dominated fields, needs a thorough clean-up. 

Need for temperance 

Elon Musk, JK Rowling, Donald Trump, and Logan Paul have been open critics of transgender people and have opposed gender-affirming surgeries and treatments for years. Are they then unbiased parties to judge whether Khelif, Yu-Ting, and other sports persons are worthy of competing in their respective sports? 

Ironically, none of us criticised legendary swimmer and 28 Olympic medal winner Michael Phelps for having an arm span much wider than the regular human. His body also produces half as much lactic acid as his rivals, a key advantage since less production means shorter post-exercise recovery times.

If he is a ‘biological man,’ why can’t Khelif be a ‘biological woman?’ 

It is of the utmost importance that we let the IOA, IBA, and other authorities decide the fate of Imane Khelif, Lin Yu-Ting, and Angela Carini. They are boxers who have worked very hard to reach where they are. Social media cannot be the right judge of their capability or womanhood. 

Logic must reign supreme, both inside and outside of the ring.