Imane Khelif's Win Against A White Woman Proves She's Not A Woman.
The 2024 Olympics has started in Paris and it has been making headlines since day 1. For all the wrong reasons. Right wing conservatives have been triggered by drag queens and they won't let us forget that. But you know what they hate more than drag queens? Women of colour defeating a white woman. Let's unpack.
Introducing Imane Khelif: A 25-year-old boxer from Tiaret, Algeria. Her father was against boxing for girls, but she had her own plans. Her first Olympics was in 2021 Tokyo, where she secured the second spot in the women’s boxing championship. She went on to win many other matches, upsetting a lot of people. And the reaction to her win in this Olympics shows.
Imane Khelif went against Italy’s Angela Carini for the opening match, which lasted only 46 seconds with Carini quitting the match. She went on to cry in the ring and even refused to shake hands with Khelif, leading to a huge outcry in support of Carini. Media, fans, the Italian Prime Minister, conservatives, transphobes— Khelif became one common target of them all. Infamous transphobe J. K. Rowling weighed in her two cents with this tweet:
Following their conviction, Imane Khelif has been subjected to severe media trial mainly surrounding her gender. Is she a biological man? Is she a transgender woman? Is she intersex?
Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting failed a “gender-test” conducted by IBA (International Boxing Association), which led to their disqualification from the World Boxing Championship in 2023. You can find the details of their statement here.
The IOC (International Olympics Committee) released a statement standing with Khelif. They questioned the validity of the gender tests Khelif failed, based on the minutes of that IBA meeting available online. IOC wrote—
According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should “establish a clear procedure on gender testing”.
Due to the inconsistencies of the test and lack of clear procedure, IOC didn't find the results valid. Khelif is very much eligible according to the IOC’s eligibility criteria. Also note that IOC withdrew it's recognition of the IBA in 2023 which was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Let's debunk a few myths here.
Umar Kremlev, President of the IBA at the time, told Russian news agency TASS that the boxers had "XY chromosomes", which has sparked the whole transgender rumour. There are no official documents that support this claim. None of IBA’s statements regarding this issue discloses any details of the gender tests, calling it confidential.
Even if she did have XY chromosomes, she would be no less of a woman because according to some reports, she has DSD (Disorder of Sex Development) where women, who can even give birth, carry XY chromosomes. You can read more about it here.
Testosterone levels are not fixed uniformly for women across countries, ages and time. While most women's testosterone levels remain between 0.5 to 2.4 nmol per litre, hyperandrogenism can hike these numbers and 70% of these cases are caused by PCOD/S. So to call a woman a man because of high testosterone is demeaning to every woman with varying levels of testosterone in their bodies, most of who are just suffering from some medical issues.
Khelif is Algerian, a Muslim majority country where homosexuality is illegal. I think it is safe to assume that they wouldn't allow a transgender woman to represent their country in the Olympics.
Many biological women have defeated her in boxing matches too. She was defeated by Amy Broadhurst in the World Championship finals in 2022, along with 4 other women. This is not about gender. It is a matter of systematic racism against black and brown women.
I would like to take this opportunity to talk about what this issue is actually about. Racism against brown and black women because of their failure to conform and fit into the feminity standards of white women. This is what this situation really is about.
I urge my readers to google about the “Caster Semenya rule.” Caster Semenya is a 33yo South African runner who won her case last year when the European Court of Human Rights decided she was discriminated against by sports rules that force her to medically reduce her natural hormone levels to compete in major competitions. Exactly. This biological woman failed to fit into the eurocentric definition of “woman” and hence was asked to either medically reduce her natural testosterone levels or stay banned from participating in a lot of international sports events. She was subjected to invasive gender tests and blood tests to determine her natural testosterone levels. According to these rules, any female athletes who refuse to take medication to lower their naturally occurring testosterone levels were being banned from competing in the 400 meter to 1 mile races.
Another case that will hit home for us is that of Indian sprinter Dutee Chand’s. She too suffers from hyperandrogenism, where her body produces high levels of testosterone naturally, defining her as male in the international track and field. She had also once faced bans by the International Association of Athletics Federations, which mandated her to reduced her testosterone levels by either taking hormone-suppressing drugs or surgically.
So when we put such invasive criteria to bar transwomen from entering women’s sports, we simultaneously perpetuate equivalent harm on cisgender women who cannot and do not fit into said definitions, failing to “protect” the same women all this was done for. Unless what we’re trying to protect is the ego of white women.
Imane Khelif shouldn’t be punished for excelling in her field. She shouldn’t be punished for the shortcomings and lack of talent of her white, gender conforming, straight female passing opponent. And it is high time we recognise the sham that is gender and dismantle it so all the divisive and oppressive systems standing and profiting from these structures can also fall face front to their own demise.
