The first problem that comes to mind with transgender athletes is the idea of testosterone. Testosterone has been touted by most as a hormone that makes individuals perform unbelievable feats of strength and athletic ability but yet it is unknown if there is an ideal level of testosterone that produces elite athletic performances. While men and women have both testosterone and estrogen men do produce higher levels of testosterone which is part of muscle mass and strength. Both men who transition to women and women who transition to men may have higher testosterone levels than their biological counterparts which could produce a competitive advantage. These assumptions about testosterone promote ideas of advantages of strength but are not academically supported. There is only a small amount of research done in the area of transitioning athletes and athletic performance. Ann Travers conducted research among lesbian softball teams and transgender athletes and found that “many of our subjects held the same assumptions about male athletic superiority and testosterone as a performance enhancer.†Travers also found that women who have had athletic success as women who then transition to men take testosterone but do not necessarily experience the same level of success against male athletes. So, testosterone must not be the deciding factor in athletic ability. Males who fully transition to women have comparable testosterone and estrogen levels as biological women, therefore, issues over competitive advantages are unjustified. This illusion of male testosterone being the hormone responsible for increased athletic ability creates “sex binary logic†within sports. This means that there are only two genders male and female and that male is the superior gender.
Only women were administered sex tests from the IOC which immediately created a patriarchy that women’s athletic performances would always be inferior to their male counterparts. While transgender athletes are able to compete their inclusion forces them into gender specific categories maintaining the status quo. The problem is that the while the IOC has allowed transgender athletes to compete they have not done enough to explain that these transgendered athletes do not have a competitive advantage and this lack of information can create an extremely hostile environment for transgender athletes. The belief that male athletes are superior has become engrained in the structure of governing sport policies even though there are intersections between male and female performance but this illusion only makes transgender inclusion more difficult.
Within sport beyond sex segregation sport is traditionally associated with masculinity and patriarchal control. So, beyond the unequal sex segregation and male dominated status quo sport is about “fair play†or a “fair playing field.†The inequalities that sport promotes by masking them as equalities is almost laughable if it was not at the cost of athletes futures, careers and dreams. Gender testing was one policy that was done in the name of “fairness†which made Caster Semenya the face of intersex athletes, even if unwanted, and made her extremely private matter international news because of her “suspicious†times and her appearance that did not conform to traditional Western feminine beauty. The IOC justifies this gender test to make sure there is a “level-playing field†for women so that men do not compete against them or women with high levels of testosterone do not compete, which as we addressed earlier is a fallacy. Shari Dworkin describes the fallacy of “fair sportâ€:
“By exposing what myths in sport exist and how these operate to mask the production and reaffirmation of inequalities, opens the door to transforming the ways sport is organized, structured and understood. In Western countries, the notion of sport as a level-playing field serves to normalize competition and hierarchies that are found in broader society. As such, sport is a key socialization agent that serves to maintain social inequalities. Thus, rather than attempt to maintain the myth of a level-playing field by sex testing athletes to ensure no one has an “unfair†sex/gender “advantage,†there should be a clear recognition and acceptance that sport is not a level-playing field. This effectively eliminates the need to sex test athletes, male or female, in the first place. This may be an effective route through which to begin to transform sport and to assist with the eradication of sex, gender, race, and sexuality injustice,â€
The idea of fair sport is absurd for multiple reasons. If we consider running training camps the Nike Oregon Project has unlimited Nike resources at their disposal including underwater treadmills, altitude tents, cryotherapy and of course the newest Nike shoes. Compare this to Kenyan and Ethiopian groups with dirt tracks and used shoes, this does not seem like a fair playing field. Now consider the genetic lottery of being born into an upper middle class family in North America with disposable income allowing their child to pursue any athletic camp or training they choose to the Dominican child who cannot afford to play with real equipment. While neither promises success or failure these examples demonstrate there is simply no level playing field that sport proudly defends.
While many other elite female athletes can make people uneasy, specifically well-defined African athletes, strong white athletes like Ronda Rousey are praised for their strong independence and ability. Similarly male athletes who are genetic outliers and are successful are praised and rewarded with multimillion dollar contracts while women, like Semenya, are subjected to gender testing, hormone therapy and international embarrassment.
While the common idea is that sex segregation demonstrates the difference between gender abilities, sex segregation is actually the problem that continues to reinforce gender norms and the idea that women are inferior to men athletically. Critical scholars argue that sport should be gender neutral for all individuals and not a masculine dominated spectacle reinforcing patriarchy. However, for many women playing in a hostile environment with misogynistic, sexist men is not worth the aggravation regardless of their athletic ability. While women are able to perform acts of masculinity within sport the gender binary and consequences that come with that deter many woman from acting on them. It is here where we have the best chance of transgender inclusion when we can accept the wider spectrum of gender identity and break away from traditional binary norms.
Just a few things to think about, pretty liberal stuff but its the research out there. Rojo has read all this before.