The Tribune

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif was a primary topic of conversation over the past few days as the result of the poor sportsmanship of an opponent who could not win a match against her at the Olympics. Italian boxer Angela Carini decided not to continue the match just 46 seconds in. She cried, on her knees, in the middle of the boxing ring, refusing to shake Khelif’s hand when she was declared the winner. Carini’s behaviour contributed to what has become a raging debate about sex, gender, the category of woman, and women in sports, all with Khelif in the most vulnerable position, having been wrongly made the villain. Khelif’s womanhood was immediately called into question as people insisted, with no evidence, that she is a trans woman.

To be clear, trans women are women. Khelif is, however, not trans. This conversation is about a woman who people have decided does not fit their narrow understanding of woman.

Misinformation about Khelif circulated quickly. People heard that she had been disqualified from a boxing world championship in 2023 due to the results of an unspecified test. The International Olympic Committee referred to the test as “so flawed that it’s impossible to engage with it”.

The testing process was undertaken by the IBA which has been permanently banned from the Olympics. It is no longer the global governing body for boxing competitions. Referring to the tests used to disqualify Khelif, International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said, “Those tests are not legitimate.”

Adams objected to Khelif and one other boxer being singled out for testing. He noted that this sets a dangerous precedent and that there are issues of confidentiality in addition to there being no real basis for the testing.

Usually, when the issue of trans rights come up, people who are opposed to the rights—and even the existence—of trans people are quick to say that it is all about genitals. They incorrectly insist that people with penises are men and boys and people with vaginas are women and girls. They are adamant that everyone’s gender is derived from the sex assigned at birth, based on the appearance their genitals. For some reason, the false accusations against Khelif has led many of them to change their positions without, of course, admitting to the change. They suddenly started saying that being born with a vagina does not mean a person’s sex is female or that they are a girl or woman. They now acknowledge chromosomes and believe that the presence of XY chromosomes make a person a boy or man, whether or not they have a vagina.

We must ensure that we understand the basics before going any further. Sex is assigned at birth. Babies are pronounced female or male based on their genitalia. It is treated as though it is biological, but it is social constructed. No other testing is done to prove or corroborate the femaleness or maleness declared by the person who says, “It’s a girl!” or “It’s a boy!” to the parents. Note that “girl” and “boy” are genders, not sexes.

Gender is more easily understood to be a social construct. We generally socialise people based on the sex they are assigned at birth. If a person has a vagina, they are declared a girl, and they are generally dressed in pink, get their ears pierced, wear dresses, are given dolls, and their hair is kept long. If a person has a penis, they are declared a boy, and they are generally dressed in blue, wear pants, are given toy cars and trucks, and their hair is not usually kept long beyond the toddler years, if that long. Girls are allowed to cry while boys are quickly taught that their tears are unacceptable and a sign of weakness. Girl are called into the kitchen to watch adults cook and eventually help with the preparation of meals. Boys are allowed to play outside and roughhouse, and the most domestic duty they tend to get is to take out the garbage. Our lives are shaped, from childhood, on the basis of gender and the expectations that people have women and men.

Sex is assigned at birth. Gender is a training we receive. It is all based on assumption, not chromosomes.

After Carini gave up on the match against Khelif, she claimed that she had never been hit so hard. She is a boxer. She made it to the Olympics. It is a reasonable expectation that she would face the toughest competitors. Somehow, her statement was taken to mean that there was something wrong with Khelif. The assumption was that Khelif should not have been there, and not that Carini was simply not as good. Hate and violence dominated conversations about boxing at the Olympics. People made up stories. People jumped to conclusions. The truth is that Khelif is not a trans woman. Her health records are not the business of the public. The Olympic Committee determined that she was eligible to compete, yet people jumped at the opportunity to bully Khelif and to oversimplify womanhood, creating a dangerous environment for everyone woman who is outside of the parameters that these hateful, largely ignorant people set.

All of our bodies are different. We have all been forced into binaries that are not real, then some of us are punished for not fitting perfectly into them. This does not only harm trans people. It harms people with health conditions, whose hormones are different, whose organs are different, whose abilities are different. This essentialism is foolish. It is dangerous. It is violent. It must stop. The people who have participated in this ought to take several steps back and consider how wrong they have been before, and how wrong they are now. It is possible to change. It is okay to admit to being wrong, and it is even better to commit to learning and doing better.

Regarding her refusal to shake Khelif’s hand, Carini later said, “Actually, I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.” She also said, “If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”

Khelif’s father, Amar Khelif expressed his pride in his daughter and her accomplishments. He said, “Having such a daughter is an honour because she is a champion, she honored me and I encourage her and I hope she will get the medal in Paris.” He said, “Imane is a little girl that has loved sport since she was six years old.”

Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said, “We have two boxers who are born as women, who have been raised as women, who have a passport as a woman and have competed for many years as women. Some want to own a definition of who is a woman.” Bach explicitly refused to “take part in a politically motivated cultural war”. He suggested that the harassment against Khelif and the widespread anti-gender arguments were a part of the response to the isolation of Russia by sports bodies in response to its war against Ukraine. This is one of the ways that innocent people are exploited and harmed as hate is used to insight violence against them, all as a part of a completely different agenda. The vitriol against Khelif was real, yet it was likely fueled by a machine built for revenge.