The Paris Olympics, which ended on August 11th, sparked a global controversy over two female boxers: Imane Heriff from Algeria and Lin Yu-ting from Taiwan. They had both been disqualified in a gender test conducted by the International Boxing Association (IBA) at the previous year’s World Championships, which led to widespread slander that they were transgender. Itani Satoko, an associate professor at Kansai University who is an expert on issues surrounding sports, gender, and sexuality, points out that at the root of this issue lies political motives and discrimination against “transgender women.”[Interviewer: Fujisawa Miyuki]

Chromosomal information that should not have been made public

–The two athletes were subject to widespread slander and discriminatory posts on social media, with people assuming they were transgender, and speculation that they may have a disorder of sex development (where the sex chromosomes develop differently from normal). What did you think about this?

◆What happened this time is a serious violation of human rights, and can be called abuse. Information such as the athletes’ sex chromosomes that the IBA made public is related to privacy. The IBA is an organization that was originally removed from the status of an international sports organization recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to problems with its organizational management. The information should not have been made public, and people should not be allowed to say or write about it based on their imagination, regardless of the facts.

It was made clear early on that the two athletes were not transgender women (people who were assigned male at birth and identify as female). Nevertheless, the flood of slander against them denying their femininity is a classic example of misogyny, discrimination against women, and discrimination against women with Disorders of Sex Development (DSD).

Denying a woman’s femininity based on physical characteristics such as broad shoulders and a muscular build is, in other words, a highly sexist view, as it implies that only those who are thin and weak can be considered women.

–The gender of female athletes has been an issue in the past.

◆In 2009, South African athlete Caster Semenya, who won the women’s 800m at the World Athletics Championships, was reported as having “gender suspicions” after the results of a gender test were called into question. At that time, as she became a global star, doubts arose within the athletics organization that she was a woman.

This time was the same, but it was over in a flash…