First published: 05/08/2024
By Karen Doyle
On the left is Fatima Whitbread, at the height of her athletic career.
Bear in mind, I was a child at the time when she was winning gold medals. I have memories of constant aspersions being cast on her because of her ‘masculine’ looks. ‘Jokes’ were rife on the playground about her being a man.
I was too young to know if those childhood ‘jokes’ came from adult news sources being regurgitated by parents - but given these trends don’t come from nowhere I suspect they did.
On the left is Imane Khelif.
She is now having her intimate personal life thrown open to the world. She was born a girl, raised a girl, overcame immense hardship to become an elite female athlete. She has fought in many fights and alongside victories, has also lost to many women.
She may have a DSD diagnosis, she may not. It’s none of my business what her personal medical history is. She jumped through the hoops required of her for this olympics and she was permitted to compete. The tears of a white woman were a spark that now sees her being ripped apart.
It is sickening to see the treatment she is getting - as it was sickening to see how Caster Semanya was treated.
For the most part it seems to be black and brown women who get subjected to the worst scrutiny and abuse. Shades of eugenics in some of the ‘debate’ and it rests on particularly racist tropes about black women's bodies. Simone Biles and the Williams sisters got hit with a version of it - their bodies are ‘too’ powerful, ‘too’ fast, ‘too’ strong’.
Back in the 80’s there wasn’t the same kind of overwhelming anti-trans brigade fuelled by social media and Terfluencers ("an angry woman who is not going to 'just be quiet', 'sit down' or 'be kind' anymore") like JK Rowling. I suspect if Fatima were at the height of her career now she would be subjected to the same treatment.
There are no trans women competing in the Olympics this year. The tsunami of coverage would lead you to think there was. There is a trans man competing, but trans men don’t fit the narrative. The anti-trans brigade were just glued to their screens, waiting for the first ‘masculine’ seeming woman they could find to ‘expose’.
You 👏 cannot 👏 assume 👏 everyone’s 👏 gender 👏 by 👏 looking 👏 at 👏 them 👏.
7/10 times you MAY be right, but there’s always the chance you are wrong. Not everyone conforms to our heavily culturally derived notions of what a ‘woman’ or a ‘man’ looks like.
I also know barely anything about athletics or sex testing in sports - but I know enough about life to know that it is going to be political, messy and not always right. The academic article I’ve linked to here is a comprehensive history of sex testing in sports - it is a fascinating read.
Karen Doyle is a Trainee Solicitor and Justice First Fellow with Wilson’s & Rainbow Migration, a GDL/LPC graduate, and an advocate for immigrant rights, disability, and mental health.
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