Gender, the Olympics, and Dominator Culture

Yes, this is at least partially about the boxing, but not entirely.

Without even paying that much attention to the Olympics, I have seen many examples of dominator culture. This is primarily in how people react and when they latch on to something. It is frustrating how often those reactions are fueled by hate and ignorance.

However, in trying to defend against the hate, ignorance sometimes comes up there too. Perhaps that means what we really need is a post about how to process and share news, but this post is committed more to gender.

This article is a good initial summary:

https://www.vox.com/sports/364856/olympics-boxing-imane-khelif-angela-carini 

A few transphobes started calling the winner of the bout, Imane Khelif, a man, spreading it everywhere and fueling outrage that such a thing could happen.

I suppose one thing that helped is that Angela Carini gave up so easily; you expect someone competing in Olympic boxing to be able to take a punch. 

Another factor could have been that Khelif appears taller, though some of that could be photo angles and choices for presentation. Both women are in the 66 kg weight class (welterweight).

The biggest factor is probably that Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 World Boxing Championship by the International Boxing Association. Many people are assuming that this means she has higher testosterone levels.

That's not impossible, and we will get to that, but there are some concerns about taking that as evidence.:

1. The IBA allowed her to compete in 2022.
2. The disqualification came by a Russian official after Khelif beat a Russian boxer. The bronze medal winner, Lin Yu-ting, was also disqualified.
   
3. They say it was not a testosterone test but will not say what kind of test it was or the results. (The confidentiality is appropriate for medical issues, but it should also make people cautious about what they say.)
   
4. The IOC has banned the IBA from any Olympic regulation due to "concerns over its financial dealings, leadership, and allegations of match-fixing."

Apparently IBA president Umar Kremlev told TASS that Khelif and Taiwanese box Lin Yu-ting had XY chromosomes, and that was the reason for the disqualification.

This is why Umar Kremlev and the IBA should not be considered the most reliable sources. 

(It does give me flashbacks to the quid for pro on the 

The most obvious problem is the people spreading transphobic hate, not only detracting from someone's win, but quite possibly endangering her life. They do it with no factual basis; only a "righteous" indignation that something terrible happened, even though it didn't.

(Resounding silence on the player who served jail time for raping a 12-year old.)

The next thing you get is that people trying to defend Khalef are calling her a biological woman. They are using the same term that the transphobes use which, in a way, cedes the ground to them.

We should think twice about that. I mean, people lying to spread hate is bad, and truth is important (I wish some of the people quickly spreading lies would remember that sometimes), but is it the right counter? I am not sure.

However, another great thing to think about is that gender is not as clearly defined as you might think. 

You may know that the "I" in LGBTQIA+ is for intersex. 

That may be commonly understood to mean both male and female sex organs, but often the differences are much more subtle. It would be easy to never know that there was a hormonal or chromosomal difference.

If there is a visible difference, it is not unusual that a doctor will decide that surgery needs to be done then to correct it, which has led to later problems for many of these children.

In general, transphobes are in favor of surgery on infants to make them conform, and quite possibly with hormone supplements. They are then not in favor of gender affirmation for teenagers, when their feelings and wished could make a difference.

That is the key to dominator culture right there, wanting to be able to exert control over others, generally along traditional lines. Adults get to decide for children. Men get to decide for women. 

European people get to decide for a Northern African woman and a Taiwanese women, because they are coming after Lin now as well, because she had another win.

For sportsmanship purposes, that was a bronze that Lin lost. Khalef has lost matches. An actual transgender swimmer did break one college record, but she also lost several races to other swimmers. The unfair dominance is not happening. The old persecutions keep chugging along.

It does give me some flashbacks to Russian collaboration with the French to fix pairs figure skating and ice dancing, even though the French ice dancing couple were the clear favorites. 

People are not always logical in the ways they suck.

Here's some additional food for thought:

The estimated rate of women born with the 46,XY karyotype is about 1 in 80,000 births. For Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS, but can also be PAIS for partial) it is about 1 in 20,000.

You can find stories covering a wide variety of differences at https://www.interfaceproject.org/stories, but here's another thought for you.

There is a very good chance that you assume that your karyotype and your ability to process Androgren matches your birth certificate, driver's license, and your personal identity. It probably does, but if it doesn't, and you don't know, that's not that uncommon.

Do you think someone else should get a say in that?

Should you have to prove it to anyone?