Imane Khelif is not trans and the drama around her gender is a classic case of weaponising white tears

Within 46 seconds, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif defeated her Italian opponent Angela Carini during the Olympic Games. Khelif’s victory sparked huge controversy in Paris — this year’s host city — and online for the strangest of reasons.

Khelif had been disqualified at the 2023 World Championships after failing International Boxing Association (IBA) eligibility rules that prevent athletes with male XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stripped the IBA of its recognition last year over governance and finance issues, with the Olympic body running the boxing competition in Paris, Reuters reported.

The IOC said the IBA decision to disqualify the boxers last year was arbitrary and the main cause for the furore that has seen people like British author JK Rowling and billionaire Elon Musk voice their opposition to them competing in the Games.

“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA,” the IOC said in a statement. “Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.”

The chief spokesperson for the IOC also clarified in a press conference that Khelif was born a woman, raised a woman and was assigned female on her passport.

Despite the myriad of clarifications, the right wing was quick to label Khelif a “transwoman”.

“A young female boxer has just had everything she’s worked and trained for snatched away because you allowed a male to get in the ring with her,” Rowling wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “#Paris2024 will be forever tarnished by this brutal injustice.”

That’s not all the author of the beloved Harry Potter series said. Tweeting a picture of Khelif trying to console Carini with a pat on the back, Rowling said: “The smirk of a male who’s knows [sic] 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”. (2)

Former US president Donald Trump took to his version of X, Truth Social, to state that he would “keep men out of women’s sports”.

Pakistani actors Mawra Hocane and Ahsan Khan took to X and Instagram to apparently voice their support for Carini. The actors’ statements confused us a little — who exactly are they supporting? Are they aware of the whole situation? Do they need us to send them a link to a detailed explainer? Who knows.

‘White femininity’

There is a history of women of colour being labelled men or trans, if they defeat a white woman in sports, X users pointed out. It happened to tennis legend Serena Williams, it happened to South African runner Caster Semenya, it happened to American basketballer Brittney Griner and now it’s happening to Khelif. All these women did one thing — they won against white women.

An X user highlighted that “white women tears ruin lives” as Khelif had to post childhood pictures and ‘prove’ she was born a woman because she defeated a white woman with ease.

As activist Matt Bernstein so aptly put it, “transphobia, racism and misogyny stick together like glue. Any woman who fails to perform traditional white feminity runs the risk of being transvestigated [investigated for being trans]”.

An X user highlighted that labelling Khelif a man because of her “masculine features” was blatant “racism”. (1)

Another netizen maintained that TERFS (trans-excluding radical feminists), “used the pretence of wanting to “protect ciswomen” to hide their deeper belief that the category of woman should only include those upholding western, white, normative femininity in manner, form and aesthetics”.

Someone else pointed out that American swimmer Michael Phelps is quite “literally referred to as a freak of nature” because of his build and is still “rightly celebrated for being the greatest male swimmer in history”.

They continued that women athletes with genetic differences are discriminated against and harassed. “This is not about ‘protecting women in sports’ — this is about protecting a very specific idea of what a woman is.”

An X user told Carini to “train harder” after she burst into tears following the match — and we gotta say, they’re right.

“They do this with every black or brown woman whose better than them… there is no mass conspiracy to keep you white women from excelling; only your own mediocrity is to blame.” Harsh? Yes. True? Also yes.

‘Transphobia’

Several netizens claimed that the reaction to the entire ordeal was “transphobic” and harmed “trans women AND ciswomen”.

Another person maintained that, “trans people and their advocates have been saying for years that transphobia will easily be weaponised against cis and intersex women who don’t conform to traditional femininity, threatening all women in the process.”

An X user maintained that Khelif’s situation was the “perfect encapsulation of how right-wing misinformation works”, with people continuously labelling her trans, regardless of all the proof “because… it’s about hurting trans people”.

“They’re constantly foaming at the mouth for any opportunity to target trans people but none have actually qualified to compete in this Olympics, so a Black cis woman will have to do. All forms of bigotry feed each other.”

Someone stated that the situation made it evident that it was impossible to “answer the question ‘what is a woman’ in a way that ONLY excludes trans women, because no matter the answer it will also exclude cis women, which hurts everyone who doesn’t fit the perfect misogynist version of ‘woman’”.

‘Illegal to be trans in Algeria’

And now, a moment of common sense. X users questioned why Algeria — the country Khelif is representing — would send a trans athlete when being trans is literally illegal there. This made it further evident that the claims were baseless.

Others highlighted that because of Algeria’s anti-trans laws, the “baseless accusations against Imane Khelif that she is trans because she is a cis woman with elevated testosterone levels puts her life in immediate danger”.

Another netizen stated that the right-wing didn’t “care what’s true, don’t care about the potential consequences of transvestigating a woman from a country where being trans is illegal”.

‘Explain to me like I’m five years old’

Someone reiterated that it was confirmed that Khelif was born a biological woman but showed elevated levels of testosterone during testing. “If we are saying elevated levels of testosterone make you a biological man, does that mean ‘women’ who suffer from acne, PCOS [polycystic ovary syndrome], diabetes, alopecia, and infertility linked to hyperandrogenism makes them men?”

An X user underscored that Khelif lost a quarterfinal match against an Irish boxer in 2020, and was not “this unbeatable testosterone ridden monster”.

“She just trained harder and hit her opponent harder. She represents the country of Algeria. It is illegal to be trans there, which is an issue of its own. They would not have sent a trans athlete to compete.” The individual urged people to use their brains or otherwise turn to the “literal supercomputer in your pocket”. Well said.

Carini ‘wants to apologise’

Following all the controversy, the boxer told the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport that, “all this controversy makes me sad”.

“I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision,” the BBC reported her saying. Carini said abandoning the fight had been a mature step to take, but that she regretted not shaking hands with Khelif afterwards.

“It wasn’t something I intended to do,” Carini said. “Actually, I want to apologise to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.”

She added that if she met Khelif again, she would “embrace her”.

Mix it all together

This entire matter and the hatred against Khelif is very layered, as the tweets above have shown. This cocktail of bigotry employs misogyny, racism, transphobia and sheer stupidity to attack an athlete who did nothing but brilliantly win her fight.

Women athletes who look less “feminine” different face a slew of criticism, especially, as aforementioned, if they defeat a white opponent. That’s where the racism comes in. The tears of a white woman are weaponised because not only is she white, but she fits Western notions of femininity and beauty — she is petite and smaller than her opponent, with features that, for the right wing, are exactly how a woman should look. This is where the misogyny merges in with the racism. Brown people’s features obviously differ from those of white women, who, at the end of the day, are considered the epitome of femininity.

Moreover, when women of colour are subjected to such scrutiny, it often reveals underlying racial biases. If these athletes defeat white women, it suggests a belief that non-white women do not belong in the same competitive space or cannot be superior athletes, therefore reinforcing racial hierarchies.

It is important to note, that haters will use any and every ingredient from their bigotry cocktail to slam women. Ilona Maher, a white American rugby star, made a tearful TikTok addressing comments calling her a man or saying she’s masculine because she has broad shoulders and muscles. If a woman isn’t a dainty little thing, she’s immediately considered a man.

“I get comments being called a man and being called masculine and asking if I’m on steroids,” Maher said. “There will always be negative people out there. And they put women in a box. And they think women should be fragile and petite and quiet and meek. But that’s not the case.”

Williams (Serena, of course), told Harper’s Bazar, “People would say I was born a guy, all because of my arms, or because I’m strong. I was different to Venus: She was thin and tall and beautiful, and I am strong and muscular — and beautiful, but, you know, it was just totally different.”

The misogyny itself is two-fold, which becomes more evident when you discover that men aren’t subjected to these such tests, according to Teen Vogue. Men are expected to perform well in physical activities, especially sports such as boxing. The sexism is so deep-rooted that it furthers the scrutiny of women in sports, despite their prior performances and, in Khelif’s case, proof that they are in fact women. Judging them based on appearance rather than their athletic abilities undermines their hard work, dedication, and achievements.

The claims that women who don’t adhere to Western ideals of beauty and also win competitions against women who do also furthers transphobia when these women are labelled “men”. It not only invalidates the identities of transpeople, but perpetuates harmful misconceptions about gender, creating a hostile environment for both cisgender and transgender athletes. This transphobia, as shown in Khelif’s case, ends up harming ALL women — regardless of whether they were born a woman, transitioned to become a woman or if they are intersex individuals.

Furthermore, the idea that trans athletes have an unfair advantage over their opponents has also been rubbished by research. A recent study highlighted that “while data are still scarce, the limited information available does not suggest that trans men and trans women have much, if any, athletic advantage post-transition. Indeed, in most cases, they perform more similarly to those matching their gender identity.”

Excluding women athletes because of increased levels of testosterone also seems wrong, because as a tweet highlighted, there are several health issues women can have — that are completely out of their control — that can raise testosterone, such as PCOS.

It is interesting that a boxer from the Philippines competed in the women’s 75kg category in Paris while identifying as a transman. Born a biological female, he was allowed to compete because he had not undergone hormone replacement treatment, the Independent reported.

While the Olympic committee does have guidelines for which trans athletes can and cannot compete, it is intriguing that transwomen athletes face harsher scrutiny from society, thereby underlining that regardless of what ‘type’ of woman you are, you will be a victim of misogyny.

The primary focus in sports should be on skill, training, and competition. When athletes are judged by their appearance rather than their performance, it detracts from the true spirit of sportsmanship and fair play. Khelif trained harder and she won. That’s it.

Moreover, every person deserves to be respected and valued for who they are without being subjected to invasive and inappropriate questioning by people on the internet, especially if they’re passing the IOC’s criteria and testing. Even though Carini now wants to apologise, it feels a little too late because people with immense power like Trump, Elon Musk and JD Vance are all hating on Khelif.

PS — We think it’s high time to stop supporting JK Rowling, given all her hot takes in recent years. Trust us, there are many fantasy books that are much better than Harry Potter. Go read something else.