برای خواهرم ایمانه که با دست های خالی جنگید...
From the start, the 2024 Olympics was highly influenced by the "cultural wars" of 21st-century human beings. Mottos like "Olympics brings the people together" seemed too simplistic to be taken seriously. On the contrary, the 2024 Olympics were both a battleground for the athletes and the ideas. In a way, the latter brought more eyeballs to the Olympics than the former. The starting ceremony, for example, turned into a war between the progressive left and the far-right political groups. While the far left was pushing the idea of sexual liberation and gender identity liberalism, it received a bad rap from the far-right groups and the religious communities due to the alleged resemblance of the stage to the most sacred Christian signs, e.g., the Last Supper.
One of the most controversial moments during the 2024 Olympics occurred when Imane Khalif, an Algerian boxer, defeated Angela Carini, an Italian boxer, within the first few seconds of the first round of the match. After withdrawing from the match, Carini cried in the ring and insinuated that this was not a fair match in a post-fight interview. This fanned the flames of the cultural wars, with many people speculating that Imane Khalif is a transgender woman. The alleged conspiracy theory abrupted in social media, resulting in a conspiracy theory that Imane Khalif is a biological male competing in female sports. Soon, some reporters, e.g., Piers Morgan, joined the campaign, and unexpectedly, the Italian prime minister, Georgia Meloni, in an interview, warned that athletes with elevated levels of testosterone should not compete against female athletes. These elements, overall, produced a narrative of Carini as a victim of an unfair match with a biological male. The significant elements of this narrative, as I understand it, are as follows:
1- Imane Khalif, a woman of color, is a biological man who transitioned into a woman who has an unfair advantage over women.
2- Angela Carini, a white woman, is a victim of an unfair match, and Carini's dreams are "stolen" by a biological male in an unfair match.
As a side note, the way this story was received in Iran is interesting for various reasons. Some regarded this as a downfall of Western society, as they allowed a biological male to compete in a boxing match with a female. Some shared and echoed the sentiments behind the above narrative and criticized the Olympic authorities for allowing the match, questioning the fairness of the decision. Some others regarded this as a wake-up call to the Western world, hinting that this should "awaken" the Western world from their dreams. Nevertheless, few people in the Iranian community have challenged how the narrative is being framed. This is what I will discuss in what follows.
As an example, Dr. Javad Darwish, an Iranian philosopher and a faculty member of Shahid Beheshti University, argues that while modern cultural narratives, like those presented in the Olympic opening ceremony, suggest that gender differences are socially constructed and can be transcended, the example of Imane Khalif challenges this idea. Her physical dominance in the ring raises the question of whether mental and emotional differences between genders are similarly innate and resistant to change. The author ties this to evolutionary psychology, suggesting that many human traits, including gender differences, are deeply rooted in our biology and shaped by thousands of years of evolution, not simply by cultural learning, ignoring the cultural aspects of gender identity en bloc as irrelevant. In his Telegram Channel, he writes (Translation by Ghat GPT 4o, and slightly adjusted by me):
"... the first punch that the Italian female boxer took from Iman Khalif seemed to awaken modern humanity from its LGBTQ dream, making it worry whether mental differences might be as persistent and irreducible as physical ones. What if, just as Iman Khalif's punch was stronger than an average woman's, her preferences, emotions, interests, beliefs, and feelings were also different from those of an ordinary woman? What if, even if culture and the media command that women think and feel like men and men think and feel like women, it might not be so easily achievable?"
In this essay, I will argue that these elements stemmed more from a culture of white supremacy than from objective facts and that the coverage, presentation, and broadcast of the story were systematically discriminatory, intentionally and willfully designed to scapegoat the Algerian boxer and her achievements to push a narrative against the transgender community. The media, in its role as a disseminator of information, has a responsibility to present a fair and balanced narrative, which it failed to do in this case. Additionally, I will critique Darwish's view, which was presented earlier. My primary concern will not be with his understanding of evolutionary psychology and its implications for moral judgments or gender identity (though I do disagree with his claims). Rather, the focus will be on how this story is framed and the extent to which it aligns with the earlier narrative and echoes the sentiments behind it.
Let's examine the key elements of the narrative above. Imane Khalif, an Algerian, was born in a poor village where boxing for girls posed significant challenges. Reflecting on her experience, she says, "I came from a conservative family. Boxing is not widely practiced by women, especially in Algeria. It was difficult." This quote reveals the cultural barriers she faced alongside other factors. According to Human Dignity Trust, Algeria even criminalizes LGBTQ individuals. Therefore, determining someone's biological sex often relies on medical testimony. A quick online search shows that typical Algerian birth certificates include "AL-JENS," meaning sex, which identifies the holder as either male or female. Thus, as an Algerian citizen, Imane Khalif was identified as a biological female. Further evidence shows that her father is perplexed by the controversy surrounding her gender, as she was born a woman and has lived her life as such. In fact, one of her main challenges growing up was overcoming the stigma associated with young girls participating in "tough" sports like boxing. Finally, a picture of her early childhood revealed that she lived her life all as a female. This seems to, first and foremost, debunk the claim that she belonged to the LGBTQ community. On the contrary, she is a biological female with a birth certificate indicating that her biological sex is female. Hence, a major element of the narrative mentioned above is just false.
Soon after these pieces of evidence were brought to light, some stopped pushing the narrative, yet some others doubled down on the narrative, arguing that she has an XY-karyotype result. Although the specifics of the alleged test results are not fully accessible, the second maneuver from the Karyotype result does not support the narrative's main elements, i.e., that Imane Khalif is a man. First, there are several reports and case studies of females with a prenatal 46, XY karyotype, and a completely normal female phenotype, including uterus and histologically normal ovaries (see here, here, and here). Moreover, from the viewpoint of gender studies, the argument is based on the highly dubious view that a there is a determination relation between a series of physical features and gender identity.
Although most commonly, sex is assigned by health care providers at birth based on the genitals they observe, it does not determine gender identity. Moreover, sex may also be assigned based on the X and Y chromosomes found on a genetic test. Commonly, people with XX chromosomes are assigned female at birth, and people with XY chromosomes are assigned male. Again, this does not provide a litmus test for the gender identity. As presented earlier, the hard-headed definition that biological sex determines gender identity is widely discredited by many observations in which biological sex does not match the Karyotype test results of an individual. This suggests that, as per what may be called the integrated theories of gender identity, gender identity is the result of various factors, including biological sex, social learning, self-reports, etc. The outcome is that the conclusion that Imane Khalif is a biological male solely based on the alleged Karyotype test is untenable.
The hard-headed, yet I hope fair, interlocuter may insist that despite the initial obviousness of their claims, there is a more nuanced argument that shares some of the sentiments behind the initial story. This argument questions the fairness of the match based on a series of physical advantages that Imane Khalif may have. This version of the argument does not touch upon the gender identity of the Algerian boxer, yet claims that the match was not fair because Imane Khalif has an unfair advantage. For the sake of the argument, there is not much of a difference in what the advantage might be. So, for the sake of argument, and despite her 46 wins and nine losses record as a boxer in the 66 kg female division, I suppose that Imane Khalif has a series of physical advantages as a boxer. I will argue that even assuming that she has a series of physical advantages does not immediately show that the match was unfair.
Consider the case of Micheal Phelps, the American swimmer, who is believed to be the most decorated Olympian of all time, who won more medals than anybody else in the history of the Olympics. According to an article in the Washington Post, he possesses "... a disproportionately vast wingspan, for example. Double-jointed ankles give his kick unusual range. "(article by Monica Hesse, see here). Although there is no confirmation of suffering from this condition, some believe that his disproportionately vast wingspan is a result of Marfan Syndrome, which causes unusually long arms, legs, fingers, and toes. However, extraordinarily long arms could be considered a physical advantage that gifted him the title of the most decorated Olympian ever. The raison d'etre of these competitions is nothing but finding what one may call "the rare talent. "The same story is to be told about the outstanding researchers, outstanding fighters, and artists.
Back to the case of Imane Khalif: Although her boxing record (46 wins, nine losses) does not amount to an advantage over average female fighters, it is possible that similar to the case of Michael Phelps, she is suffering from a particular condition, e.g., SDS, causing her to have an XY-Karyotype result or elevated levels of testosterone. As long as these conditions are not the result of prohibited substances, they will not challenge the fairness of the match, as much as the fish-like body of Phelps is not a challenge to the fairness of his competitions.
We have already seen that the motivation behind the harmful narrative about Imani Khalif was not citing facts. It remains interesting what could be the possible sentiments behind the media coverage or the widespread harmful narrative. It seems the bottom line is the way the Western world understands women. A centralized view that places a white woman in the center of the narrative and the rest of the women in the surroundings. If I had changed Imane Khalif to a "standard "white woman, our narrative would have been significantly different. According to this understanding, "whiteness "has a keen affinity with "femininity, "and if someone does not fit into the narrative, they will get a significantly different treatment.
One of the most striking examples of the racial bias embedded in media narratives can be seen in the contrasting responses to gender identity when it involves white women versus women of color. A case in point is Piers Morgan, a prominent media figure known for his outspoken views. When faced with a conspiracy theory about Brigitte Macron, the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, Morgan vehemently defended her femininity against baseless claims (spewed by a right-wing commentator named Candace Owens), dismissing the idea that her appearance could be questioned. Yet, in the case of Imane Khalif, Morgan reversed his stance, openly questioning her gender based on her physical appearance. This shift in his reasoning reflects a broader issue: the Western's dehumanization of “the other“ and, consequently, the media's willingness to defend the dignity of white women while participating in the dehumanization of women of color.
Imane was suspicious because she was not white!
Disclaimer: This manuscript is checked with Grammarly (premium version) and some paragraphs are revised with Ghat GPT 4o, to enhance the readability of the text. However, the translation of Dr Darwish’s text is verbatim used from the Chat GPT 4o. The references to the articles in the text are to be added.
