The Discursive Emergence of Gendered Physiological Discrimination in Sex Verification Testing

Abstract

Athletic female bodies challenge ideals of femininity, a tendency exacerbated by factors relating to gender expression, race, and nationality. In this article, the authors trace the discourse of sex verification testing in elite athletics. The study finds that most of the athletes historically suspected of not being “truly” female over the course of the tests somehow differed from White, Western assumptions about femininity. By highlighting discontinuities in the testing over the years, the authors illuminate the constructed and raced nature of sex verification tests and mark the emergence of a specific type of bodily discipline. Offering the concept of “gendered physiological discrimination” to explain how the testing enables discrimination based on internal bodily processes, the authors explore why physiological markers such as hormones and chromosomes need not be considered markers of biological sex. Although physiological discrimination intersects with sexism, patriarchy, racism, and imperialism, it is a new field of power that primarily discriminates against “non-normative” bodily processes.

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