The 46-second bout that ignited transphobia

The specter of gender policing in sports has reared its ugly head once again. The brief encounter between Algerian pugilist Imane Khelif and her Italian opponent Angela Carin in the ongoing Olympics, where Carin bowed out after just 46 seconds, has sparked a cascade of misinformation on social media. Despite unequivocal assurances from Olympic officials that Khelif is a cisgender woman who meets all necessary criteria to compete, conservative and anti-transgender voices have been out in full force to question Khelif's eligibility.

Khelif's path to the Olympics has been beset with obstacles. The 25-year-old, who hails from a conservative region of Algeria where gender transition is outlawed and boxing is deemed as an exclusively male sport, faced a significant setback when the International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified her from the women's championships in 2023, citing elevated testosterone levels. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) criticised the IBA's actions as "sudden and arbitrary" and highlighted the lack of due process and transparency in the IBA's decision-making. Despite these hurdles, Khelif was cleared to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics based on the IOC's eligibility criteria, which recognise her official documentation identifying her as female.

To gain a deeper understanding of the issue, I spoke to Dr Jenn McClearen, a feminist media scholar and the author of Fighting Visibility: Sports Media and Female Athletes in the UFC, whose academic work explores how sports media shapes and contests narratives around gender, race, sexuality and nationality.

"Imane Khelif's case highlights the ongoing and problematic issue of gender policing in women's sports," Dr McClearen explained. "This situation is part of a broader, unfounded panic around transgender and gender non-conforming athletes participating in sports, which has intensified in recent years. Despite Khelif being a cisgender woman, there is a public display of concern regarding her gender identity."

The testosterone hormone is often cited as a marker of unfair advantage. However, as Dr McClearen pointed out, the emphasis on testosterone is scientifically questionable. "The public discourse has unfortunately placed undue emphasis on the testosterone hormone, often overlooking research indicating that it has yet to convincingly prove a direct link between naturally elevated testosterone levels in cis women and enhanced athletic performance," she noted.

This narrow focus not only perpetuates a discriminatory standard but also disproportionately affects women athletes. "Cis men are not tested for high testosterone levels as an indicator of unfair advantage. Why are women disproportionately scrutinised? How is that fair if testosterone indeed enhances performance?" Dr McClearen asked.

Perhaps most troubling is the racial and geographical disparity in gender scrutiny. "This gender scrutiny is often directed towards women of colour from the Global South, while their counterparts from the Global North, particularly white women, are seldom subjected to the same level of public concern about gender," Dr McClearen highlighted. "This disparity reflects deeper, systemic issues where gendered and racialised expectations of femininity subject women of colour to greater scrutiny and suspicion."

The treatment of Imane Khelif, Dr McClearen emphasised, exemplifies the misinformation, sexism and racism that plague women's sports. "It is critical to abandon reductive measures in favour of an inclusive environment that values the rights and dignity of all athletes. Human bodies are inherently diverse. The diversity of sporting bodies on display at the Olympics exemplifies this beautiful reality, but they also show how not all bodies are celebrated equally."

It is worth bearing in mind that the IOC, the governing body of the Olympics, has steadfastly defended Khelif's right to compete, emphasising her legitimate status based on eligibility, official documentation and personal history. Moreover, the fact that she has lost nine games to female boxers, even if higher levels of testosterone give her an advantage as some claim, demonstrates that the advantage is negligible.