 Intersex and trans athletes: who gets to be a “female athlete”?Elizabeth A. Sharrow Chapter 15 in Reimagining the Gendering of Sport, 2025, pp 170-187 from Edward Elgar Publishing Abstract: From international sports governing bodies to American state legislatures, the identity of competing as a “female athlete” is increasingly contentious. In what contexts has this identity been politicized, for what (ostensible) reasons, and to what ends? This chapter reviews the state of knowledge and practice on the impacts of these questions for transgender and intersex people, relating the so-called “debate” about their participation rights in sport to the longer histories of cis-centric sports, the racialization of gender, public and sports policies, and the political fortunes of marginalized groups in binary sports structures. It provides historical perspective and an assessment of the contemporary sporting and political landscapes with an eye toward identifying key barriers to fully inclusive sporting structures insofar as they rest on notions of who gets to be a “female athlete.” Ultimately, it offers insights into reimagining sports in ways that hold gender diversity at the center. Keywords: Transgender; Intersex; Sex segregation; Title IX; World Athletics; Female athlete (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22230_15 Ordering information: This item can be ordered from Access Statistics for this chapter More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing |
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