Ambiguity and the Innocent
The making(s) of a sportswoman
Illustration by Bayram BiliciGiven the advancements – and recessions – in the understanding of sex in sports, this particular piece may be outdated in both its research and context.
Nevertheless, I wanted to document this here as a marker of what has changed, hasn’t changed, or could change, and the questions that remain unanswered from the journey of a then eighteen-year-old aspiring champion.
Note that the athlete has since represented India at the Olympic Games twice, sprinting through a career filled with both more wins and more controversy.
“Sports karne bheja tha, isme ladka kaise ban sakta hain koi?” (Sent her to participate in sports, how does that make her a boy?).
This is the response by an utterly bewildered mother, who, unschooled and impoverished, is unable to comprehend why her daughter is being publicly broadcast as not being female. The inference by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), that track and field athlete Dutee Chand, who specialises in 100m and 200m sprints, is ‘unfit’ to qualify as a female athlete in the Commonwealth Games, has once again disrupted the future of one who trained for most of her childhood to represent the country internationally. Not only can sex verification tests disqualify women from competing in major events, often disrupting careers and denting honour, but they are also based on weak scientific foundations.
Dutee Chand’s rise is a story of success against odds. She was born into a below-poverty-line household in one of India’s poorest states. Talent and determination were key in going from the local village tracks to some of the most renowned athletic competitions worldwide.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) issued the first mandatory sex test in 1950 based on allegations about men and males with ambiguous genitals competing as women. Only women, not men, have been subjected to gender verification tests. Over time the tests have lost most sight of their purpose as ‘fully female’ women are denied permission to participate based on certain aspects, such as hormones, that may give them a slight advantage over other women. These tests study mainly the chromosomal structure and/or the hormonal balance of the subjects, both of which only partly determine the sex of an individual. Biology has proved that sex cannot be seen to be of a mutually exclusive polarity. There are at least six determinants of sex, which majorly include gonads, secondary sex, chromosomes, internal genitals, external genitals and hormones. Chromosomes release hormones when a fetus is being developed, and in some cases, people with two X chromosomes can develop as males, while those with one X and Y chromosome can develop as females. Moreover, hormone levels in individuals can vary, without having effect on the sex of a person.
Dutee Chand has been labelled with ‘hyperandrogenism’ – a condition which causes the excessive production of testosterone in the body, exceeding permissible limits. The basis of this test is that higher testosterone provides an added advantage. But by this argument, aren’t longer limbs or a capacity to form muscle easily added advantage to? The 18-year-old, to whom no clear explanation of the condition was given, has revealed that she is quite unaware and has decided to seek guidance and try and ‘fix’ herself as a female through correctional measures. This not only puts her at a major disadvantage in her limited career time as an athlete, but it also comes with great dishonor.
Dutee Chand, 2017. The country is in the midst of a ‘movement of movements’ against various violations of the integrity of women, but minimal effort is seen for a woman who is blatantly regarded as ‘not enough of a woman’. A few years ago, when Santhi Soundrarajan was publicly stripped of her silver medal achieved at the 2006 Asian Games, the support given was little, and the questions raised were few. The mention of the setback in Dutee Chand’s career (or of her in general) has been minimal in the media. There seems to be a lack of the otherwise abundant righteousness, even though these women are international representatives of our country.
Probably worse to deal with is the personal stigma: the questioning of the sex itself, which is like questioning a basic core of identity. Crude questions (like “is she a boy or a girl?”) addressed to largely clueless family members just further prove the disregard, and have caused much disrespect for Dutee where she comes from, and in the nation at large, which she still most voraciously hopes to represent. Rules today disqualify any person ‘not woman enough’ as opposed to ‘not women’, and little is being done to find a solution, and the price of this scientific and regulatory ambiguity is paid by hard-working athletes.