Who’s “woman” enough: The long history of sex testing in sports : Code Switch

During the Paris Olympics this year there’s been a cohort of athletes who’ve faced scrutiny, attacks, and ridicule for not fitting the right definitions of “womanhood.”

We’ve seen this most prominently for boxers Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan, and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif. The controversy arose out of their disqualification last year during boxing’s World Championship. The International Boxing Association claims that they failed gender tests and – basically – that they aren’t “female.”

This was pounced on by a lively anti-trans apparatus – J.K. Rowling, former President Donald Trump, and Elon Musk all chimed in. These women are not trans – not that it would be okay to attack them if they were. But in this case, their bodies didn’t meet the standard of an opaque test that’s been disavowed by the International Olympic Committee.

The ongoing campaign forced Khelif to come out with a statement: “I want to tell the entire world that I am a female, and I will remain a female.”

But why does she have to prove her womanhood? Why are there “gender tests” in the first place? And who sets the standard?

Science journalist Rose Eveleth has been thinking about this for years. Rose is the host of Tested, a new podcast series by our play cousins over at Embedded, made in partnership with the CBC in Canada. The deeply reported series explores the stories of elite female athletes and the long but little-known history of sex testing in sports.

You can listen to the whole series here.