At the Paris Olympics, boxer Imane Khelif fought in the women’s boxing event. Khelif was assigned female at birth, making her a cis woman. There was some controversy around her inclusion, however, because of (disputed) claims that Khelif failed a gender test. and that she has XY chromosomes. This led to trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) like J.K. Rowling describing Khelif as a “male”:
Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better? The smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Q5SbKiksXQ
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 1, 2024
This has created a bit of a paradox for the TERFs, because if a person can be born with female anatomy; can live their life as a woman, can do things like give birth and have periods, but still be deemed a man because they have XY chromosomes, then we can’t really say anyone is a woman until they get their genes tested.
In other words, J.K. Rowling could in fact be a man:
I'm not saying @jk_rowling is a male. I'm just saying we have zero proof that she's not a male. And until we see her chromosomes, can she be trusted in women's spaces?
— Anna Piper Scott (@annapiperscott) August 3, 2024
Imane Khelif: male until proven female
Transphobes have been arguing that anyone assigned male at birth doesn’t belong in female spaces. Now they’re telling us that people assigned female at birth might not belong there either. If that’s the case, we should assume the TERFs are all getting their chromosomes checked, and are using ‘they/them’ pronouns until they can hard-confirm their gender.
We’re additionally sure they’ll banish themselves from women’s toilets and changing rooms should they fail the test, as we know that statistically some of them will do.
We look forward to welcoming these men into the locker rooms and sweat lodges where they belonged all along, and we’re sure this new state of affairs will feel perfectly normal and not at all like the final stages of a contagious paranoid delusion.
People are pointing out that the TERFs have really tied themselves in knots over this issue:
It's ironic how Imane Khelif has blown apart the entire Gender Critical TERF ideology just by spreading disinformation about her.
Either she's a woman with XY Chromosomes which means there's different categories of being a women, or a biological man who could give birth. Oops!— Dementia Von Grimm (@Dementia_Grimm) August 2, 2024
Seems like you’re arguing gender is not biological but instead based on how people express themselves visually and socially https://t.co/CUaibYbxmp
— evan loves worf (@esjesjesj) August 4, 2024
Policing gender boundaries & chastising women for being inadequately womanly or too masculine in looks and behaviour: JK Rowling will go down as one of the great patriarchs of the twenty-first century.
— Priyamvada Gopal © (@PriyamvadaGopal) August 4, 2024
What can we learn from the #ImaneKhelif case?
1. The gender binary is inherently unstable.
2. Human bodies are extremely diverse.
3. Black/brown athletes face immense racism.
4. Transphobia has reached absurd heights.
5. Many hearts will bleed for a crying white woman.— Nida Kirmani (@NidaKirmani) August 2, 2024
Side note – Rowling changed her profile picture a couple of times this week after several people suggested they could see black mould in the background of the first picture:
Sorry but is that black mould growing up the walls of her house? Is that why she’s the way she is? pic.twitter.com/SNZjdbg25H
— Sam (he/him) (@mushycrouton) July 30, 2024
I thought you were joking until I looked for myself and… what the fuck?? https://t.co/zgNzB0U60z pic.twitter.com/NJNzx3zAyP
— Mike Figueredo (@HumanistReport) August 2, 2024
Rowling has now changed her picture to something which is less embarra… oh wait, never mind:
It's really funny that JK Rowling has like, a curse. People made fun of the black mold on the walls in her profile pic, so she changed it to this picture, where a puppet with a dick is floating behind her head pic.twitter.com/7atFl4IApF
— 👻 the 👻 ด้้้้้็็็็็้้้้้็็็็็้้้้้็็็็็้ (@spvkythghst) August 4, 2024
Imane Khelif and the Vanishing Gender Test
As it turns out, the big controversy around Imane Khelif is somehow even less clear than the transphobes are making it out to be. NBC New York reported on the XY chromosome issue as it related to Khelif and another boxer:
IBA [International Boxing Association] Russian president, Umar Kremlev, claimed that DNA test results showed the two athletes have XY chromosomes, citing it as the reason they were disqualified in the world championships. The IBA also cited high levels of testosterone in Khelif’s system.
However, the test results were never published and Khelif has never disclosed her biological markers, calling the decision a “big conspiracy.” The disqualification came after Khelif defeated Russian boxer Azalia Amineva in the 2023 tournament. IBA said it stripped Lin of a bronze medal because it claimed she failed to meet unspecified eligibility requirements in a biochemical test.
The IOC [International Olympic Committee] has long criticized the IBA and its governance of the sport and eventually banned the Russian-run organization in 2019. In a statement Friday, the IOC said it stands by the athletes and their eligibility to compete, noting that the boxing association’s own documents say the decision was made unilaterally by the IBA’s secretary general.
Those documents also say the IBA went on to resolve at a meeting that it should “establish a clear procedure on gender testing” after it had already disqualified the two fighters.
For additional context, the IOC stripped the IBA of “recognition as the global body” for boxing in 2023 “due to its failure to complete reforms on governance, finance and ethical issues”. But we’re sure that’s nothing to worry about.
What is a woman?
For the past several years, people have been asking the question: ‘what is a woman?’
Now we have the answer.
A woman is a person who spends their time becoming increasingly paranoid that everyone outside their Discord server is secretly a man. And unless you belong to this group, you might be outed as a male too.
In other words, tow the line or learn how to piss standing up.
Featured image via the Canary
