I, man

Medaling in misogyny

Well, in what will certainly fail to go down as the news of the century, Imane Khelif, male boxer and Olympic medalist in female boxing, has finally publicly admitted that he is indeed male, pesky Y chromosomes and all. As if the world for both athletes and laymen couldn’t see the emperor with no female sex standing in front of it the entire time.

But that’s the issue. A large part of society chose not to see. And another part chose not to care that eighteen months ago, two men were given a free pass to an abuser’s dream: the ability to not only assault women on an international stage, but the chance to be absolutely celebrated for it.

Two men, who had failed more than one sex test at a reputable clinic, entered the 2024 Olympics as a sex they were not, and worse, they did it with the full knowledge of the IOC. Two men stole multiple women’s dreams and years of tremendous work, and both were rewarded with gold for their fraud.

At the expense of having more than only goals ended, one woman had to make the agonizing decision to forfeit rather than participate in the dangerous charade. How surreal it must have been to make that unbelievable yet necessary call, to not only go against everything one has trained for, but everything one stands for as an athlete, professional, and disciplined fighter.

For the women who did participate, the level of betrayal was additionally unfathomable. A man could punch a woman in the face as a world of media and spectators looked on. Male on female violence was not just acceptable, but a spectacle to officiate and judge. The crystal clear decision was that male feelings had won over female reality.

Yet while these female competitors, boxing association officials, and genuine feminists protested the unbelievable misogyny being broadcasted globally, many decided to protest calling a spade a spade. They claimed that Khelif and Lin were simply “masculine-looking women” who shouldn’t be insulted for appearances beyond their control. They claimed that it was (stop me if you’ve heard this before) right-wing propaganda and Nazi TERF bigotry to suggest that such “gender nonconformity” made them men. The pick-me cherry on top, of course, is that it was misogyny to call such a “woman” a man.

But pretending this man was a woman only hurts women. Pretending he was just an extremely masculine woman only hurts actually masculine women by having the world question their sex. Pretending that he was any kind of a woman only opens the door for further imposters to more easily mimic us and steal our opportunities, in athletics and beyond. Which, let’s not pretend isn’t exactly the point: after all, if an “ambiguous” man with a developmental disorder like Khelif is excluded from female sport, any case for unambiguous men with trans identities gets fully knocked out.

And for anyone who gave him the benefit of the doubt that “maybe he just didn’t know”…

He knew. His family knew.

If one is being raised as female and never begins menstruation at puberty, it will absolutely be examined why that is. Once illness and female conditions are ruled out, you’re left with the “condition” of being male. In this case, a male likely with 5-alpha reductase deficiency.

Such disorders of sex development are unbelievably unfortunate for a multitude of medical reasons, beyond being tokenized and weaponized through identity politics, that most cannot truly imagine. However, no one’s personal condition is ever a legitimate reason to disadvantage or endanger another demographic...that is a certainly a road one should never want to go down.

But to ignore such disorders in order to adhere to traditionally physical sex ideals is fairly common practice in conservative and religious countries, and African nations have a history of scouting such male individuals for the purpose of sneaking in and dominating women’s sports. It also happens to explain why Khelif, a Muslim in a Muslim nation, was free from traditionally-mandated female attire and able to be so hands-on with his fellow male trainers.

And beyond that entire backwards reality, one must also genuinely ask why he never chose to appeal the International Boxing Association’s 2023 disqualification on being male, or why he refused to participate in subsequent female competitions that required testing for sex.

So he knew. He just counted on society not caring. And on that, he wagered well.

If you have ever thought that “this never happens,” you simply have not been paying attention whatsoever. Most people are still under the impression that Caster Semenya, Francine Niyonsaba, and Margaret Wambui are simply masculine women with higher testosterone and ignorant to the fact that these are just a few proven examples of male athletes with DSDs.

If you still think that “this doesn’t happen enough to matter,” be very ready to give an acceptable number of women who must lose out on all their years of work and effort for male desire.

If you think this is somehow still “offensive,” consider for once imagining how ridiculously offensive it is for the women, who have to not only unfairly face a man who everyone can recognize as one, but are expected (as women usually are) to take it with grace and a smile.

This is today’s gender misogyny in action. Concessions will be made to spare male feelings in the name of “inclusion,” ultimately and ironically excluding women from their very own opportunities. Chromosomes and anatomy (and human sight) are disregarded for false passport markers and old photos of a pink dress, because apparently that is the only acceptable (and desired) proof of what “woman” means. But this is the only possible outcome of a system riddled with both preference for male feelings and complacency for female safety and dignity.

Of course, many who put on misogynistic blinders then will now inevitably be miraculously blind to the harm they supported.

“Imane WHO?”

They’ll ask why this athlete is worth bringing up now, when not even two years ago it was clearly worth exposing their own intellectual and moral failings to get in the ring for a dude with eyeliner. Khelif’s unforgettable selfishness will get memory holed, along with their own unforgivable enablement in this feint of reality.

But this did happen, and it can never happen again. Imane is and was always exactly as his own name states. And now that everyone else can no longer pretend that they do not know, they will have to finally decide whether they believe men are indeed entitled to women’s earned opportunities, or if they are truly for women after all.