Much ado about gender

Much ado about gender | Daily Tribune

Gender debate in sports should not stop just because Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer currently embroiled in a heated gender controversy at the Paris Olympics, is a woman.

This is an issue that should be resolved as it affects the future of sports and other related events. On the one hand, we have the trans community and its allies, who insist that biological males who identify as females are women and therefore should be allowed to participate in sporting events reserved for them. On the other hand, we have predominantly Christian conservatives who believe there are only two sexes and that transgender people should just stay in their lane.

This insistence that this is a gender issue is actually misplaced at best and should not be the focus of a meaningful and honest discussion.

Classification, although generally based on gender, is more than that. It is actually a system that provides a structure for competition —- one that seeks to eliminate inequalities in sporting excellence. It is nothing but a question of fairness.

So, if you prevent a transgender from participating in women’s boxing, for instance, it does not mean you also deny her right to gender identity. Both Pacquiao and Tyson are actually men. Yet, they do not compete against each other because the latter obviously would have way more competitive advantage over the former. And this shall always be the case even if Pacquiao would identify himself as an African-American heavyweight with a thick Pinoy accent.

The story of Lia Thompson is a case in point. When she was competing as a man in swimming, she was apparently ranked 462nd. Yet, she immediately bounced to first when she transitioned. Despite complaints raised, the US NCAA outright ignored them even if they came from women and Ivy League athletes themselves or alums from various universities. Instead, they were simply conveniently branded as homophobic.

This is not to say that there are no bigots. There are those who not only discriminate but perpetuate hatred and violence against the community. In fact, the spate of violence committed against transpeople has continued to this day, claiming the lives of at least 369 individuals between 2017-2018 (Amnesty International). Many of them are still denied entry into clubs and pubs, while some lose jobs and opportunities.

This is why I fully understand where the trans community is coming from. But that is another issue worth discussing in another column.

Anyway, going back to the topic, it might be prudent for sports governing bodies to not only settle this instant issue but also revisit some classification systems that no longer make sense.

In chess, for example, there is no separate men’s division. There is an open division where everyone can participate but they are mostly men. In order to address this underrepresentation, they created a women’s division instead, which is absurd as there is no difference between the two sexes when it comes to this boring board game.

In time, just like anything else, we would be able to finally address this issue of gender classification in sports. At the end of the day, everything evolves, beliefs migrate and systems adapt to changes. So, I’m not really worried.

When I was young, masturbation was actually considered a sin. If you jerk off, the belief is you go to hell when you die. Of course, in hindsight, this is idiotic because it means almost nobody goes to heaven and almost everyone goes down there, including your pastor or priest or even your own father. Now, this is no longer the case as people think it is as normal as brushing one’s teeth. In fact, even Jim Paredes endorses it. So does Mark Anthony, I was told.

During the turn of the century, women were not allowed to vote. In the UK, in what was later known as the suffragette scandal, a lot of British women had to literally sacrifice their lives and liberty before they finally got what they wanted. Now, such a myopic view would be frowned upon. Denying them their right to vote is just plain ridiculous.

I wonder what people 50 years from now, who clearly are removed from our cultural trappings, would look back in disbelief?