Imane Khelif And The Many Female Athletes Who Were Bullied Over Gender Identity
Following Italian boxer Angela Carini’s decision to drop out within 46 seconds of the boxing match against Algeria’s Imane Khelif at the 2024 Olympics, the latter has become the target of transphobic attacks. Interestingly, Khelif has never identified herself as a transperson or as an intersex. Despite that, right-wing critics have been quick to jump on the bandwagon to discredit her achievements. Sadly, Khelif is one of the many brilliant and talented sportswomen who have been targeted for similar reasons throughout the history of sports.
Over the years, several athletes have been subjected to punishment, often endangering their sports career, over their high testosterone levels, or for being intersex or transgender. Former Olympic runner Caster Semenya, Margaret Wambui, Francine Niyonsaba, Christine Mboma, and swimmer Lia Thomas are some of the names that have made headlines after being questioned regarding their gender identity.
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Former Olympian Aly Raisman and gold medallist Simone Biles have also faced scrutiny over their muscular arms and dominance in their respective sports, with Biles opening up about being bullied for her “muscular arms.” One of the best tennis players out there, Serena Williams, has long been a subject for a conspiracy theory that she was born a man.
Back in India as well, Santhi Soundarajan, the athlete who won twelve international medals for India, had her entire career finished within hours after a blood test and a body checkup were done to her without explaining what the reason behind the procedure was. Stripped off her Asian Games medal for failing the ‘gender test,’ Soundarajan’s sports career was over.
Till date, she has not been given the results of the examination in Doha by the Indian government nor the Athletics Federation of India.
Similar to Soundarajan, Uganda’s Annet Negesa also received a call from a doctor and was informed that she could no longer compete in the London Olympics due to her high testosterone levels. The intersex athlete (Negesa identifies as a female, born with external female genitalia but also with internal male genitalia) underwent a surgery allegedly recommended by a doctor for World Athletics (although the federation denies it) just so she could compete and fulfil her athletics dream.
Read Also: What International Olympic Committee Said On Imane Khelif Controversy
What these women went through is real. The history of conducting “gender tests” on female athletes, which started around the 1940s, is murky. Notably, men are not subjected to such tests, as they are expected to succeed in sports with exceptional skill. However, if a woman—intersex or transgender—shows exceptional strength or even muscular arms, contradicting the conventional notion of women being “graceful” and “frail,” they are subjected to bullying and asked to prove their gender identity.
When the seemingly concerned “protectors” of fairness in sports attack female sportspersons for their prowess over a sport, what they really do is outline a specific layout of what defines being a ‘woman,’ and handpick those who get to identify with that label.
Imane Khelif’s victory and the current discourse surrounding gender inclusion in sports is one that has surfaced over and over again in the past several years. The scrutiny faced by these female athletes is nothing new. But with each individual, the fight for inclusion and rewriting the traditional and stereotypical notions of a ‘woman’ takes one step forward.
