I have felt so strongly about this unique, Algerian woman, because I identify with being born different -- in my case I had a huge nose when I was a pre-teen, and despite getting it fixed as a 15-year-old, the insults never left me. And I am short; growing up to be only 4’11” inches “tall” in a world designed for the tall has defined my entire life. I cannot imagine the pain of having the so many in the world against me for my looks, as this boxer has had to experience. It’s just insane. If she was some “hot” blond in an Olympic volleyball bikini, no one would care how many X, Y, or Z (!) chromosomes she has at all. Who can’t figure that out? And why is J.K. Rowling weighing in on Olympic boxing, anyway? Why doesn’t she stay in her own, damned lane? Khelif’s father was on PBS Newshour showing off her birth certificate and childhood photos. It was wonderful to see how supportive he is and that her country is so proud of her. I have some big news for Carini: she’s going to get punched hard in the face by a lot of boxers. In the immortal words of Mike Tyson: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The most ridiculous thing about all of this is that anyone would think that someone could “transition” in Algeria! It’s illegal even to be gay in Algeria and no one can transition there. I wish some billionaire with tons of expendable dough would come forward and on Khelif’s behalf sue the pants off every famous person who got traction libeling and slandering her. Hit them where it really hurts: in their wallets.
I don't know a great deal about Algerian law, but I understand, perhaps incorrectly, that there would be severe reprisals for being gay or transitioning.
I was a very large man in my youth. I never "boxed" with women, but I frequently "wrestled" with women friends, even much smaller women. It was for fun and I gave them the advantage in the initial positioning. I didn't always end up winning.
I played basketball and football (not flag) with mixed gender friends. Men were not always better than the women in competitions. Of course we were friends and no one was trying to hurt anyone, although noses did sometimes get broken.
So imagining world class athletics, I envision that some train harder, and there are differing levels of skills and bodily development. A man can pummel another man in a fist fight and I've witnessed a woman knocking a man often his feet with a single punch, so why wouldn't a woman be able to do the same with another woman.
Granting the very best male athletes are probably more skilled (faster, stronger, capable )of jumping higher, et. al.) than the very best women in any sport---the vast majority of males would be deficient in competing against the very best female athletes in any sport.
A lot of hullabaloo over false equivalencies. Put flabby large bodied Donald Trump, or ,myself in my prime, I imagine we would have lost to that femala Algerian boxer as well.
Unaware of your proficiencies Mr. Katz, my assumptions would lead me to believe that as a typically skilled male, there are women who could be better than you in any given sport and you would be more competitive in others.
Women could outshoot me in basketball, but I could out rebound them. But then I could also out rebound almost any male competitor and one gentleman told me I couldn't have played semi-pro basketball because I was a lousy shot.
Does anyone get my drift here? Comparing the skill levels in any sport as male v. female is a false measurement to begin with. It is the individual v. the individual and some of one sex could have greater athletic skills than some of the other sex in any endeavor.
One correction: I'm a female Sam. I've was nicknamed Sam at age three. My real name is Sharon. But, I totally agree. In some of the Olympic competitions, gender is not a factor -- ie. equestrian events. Men and women compete against each other; because it's really all about the horse! Also age is not much of a factor, either. One of the competitors in dressage was 55 and she's the winningest equestrian in the Olympics. If the horses don't care, why should the people? I don't know if it matters in shooting sports, either. It certainly doesn't matter in chess.
apologies.; I tend to make incorrect misogynous assumptions myself about names. My first great love was Charlie, I couldn't bring myself to call her that.
Nevertheless I can admit it, and had to admit to Charlie, my attitude is wrong.
i know. i am unclear why i have that failing . Maybe because I stuttererd and couldn't pronounce it (I don't believe it was feminine nor masculine) but i couldn't get my tongue around kentrolaphagat. My parents always continued to call me that, but for everyone else I quickly became ken. But i don't know what the connection would be
It bugs me, though I've known several women who go by "sam" , that I always make a misogynist assumption ii is male.
I have a grandson who was Ben but became Gwen and I have no problem with that, I have no problem with women being any name, and there is a trend towards unigender names---my issue, is with myself, and my continually making false assumptions.
But names are important, people do want their names spelled and pronounced correctly.
Qasim, this is one of the most disgusting and despicable stories of this year's Olympics. So many low-life opportunists jumping on a non-story to promote their agendas, none of whom give a fuck about sexual orientation or women in general except as tools and pawns to bring attention to themselves. May they rot in hell. A REAL story that ISN'T being covered is the ruthless assault on the homeless and disenfranchised people of Paris as they were 'disappeared' from the city center and transported far from the Olympic sites. (Of course, this has long been standard operating procedure for international events - but still....).
I don’t understand why there are people on here hating on Imane . What if she was your daughter? I believe that there is such jealousy and hatred towards people of color. The world is more of color than it is just white.
“Palestinian women suffer genocide as their oppressors compete despite IOC rules banning nations from competing while violating international law.”
Is this necessary for the article? Are we going to ignore Palestine’s incessant violations of international law? No mention of the Iranian gender apartheid? No mention of the challenges Muslim women suffer all over the world, but this one specific line had to be put in there?
I love your articles for the perspective of a clearly pro-Palestine author that is well researched and willing to discuss. But I must say at some point the one-sidedness gets old. This is a beautiful article that could have been so much more had it focused on the topic at hand or been more fair in its perspective of the mis-treatment of Muslim women.
Why are we only calling out the violation of IOC rules on one side and not the other? Why not mention that Palestinian women are (I am only imagining here, as I do not know for sure) trapped between a war enemy and their own government oppressing them? Why not call out all other Muslim countries for their treatment of women?
I get what you’re saying, but why mention the IDF war crimes (which are not specifically targeted at women) but ignore the challenges Muslim women face at the hand of their own governments/religious leaders? And if the war crimes are relevant, why not mention the over 1k missiles launched by Hamas since Oct 7th from civilian areas in order to force Israel to literally blow up civilians as their only way to defend against said attacks?
Your Islamophobia is exceeded only by your ignorance to international law and the situation in occupied Palestine. Read up. I suggest Edward Said, a Palestinian Christian scholar, is a good place to start.
So now questioning your writing is Islamophobia (much like criticizing the state of Israel is anti-semitism). I do not want to distract from the main point of your article as it is an important one, so I will end this exchange here. I will check out the author recommended.
He, he, he is a man, XY jock strapped man. 2 independent tests were done, not contested or appealed by both boxers, and they could have done, they were given the chance but did not. IOC was advised 1 year ago of the findings, the IOC allowed this to happen.
And to the handmaidens here spouting vemon against other women, your internalised misoginy is showing. To accomodate men you 'd rather disbelief your eyes and disregard facts and reality. This has nothing, nothing to do, with religion or politics, stop deflecting.
No, sweetheart -- she, she, she is a woman. Chromosomes are not the only factor in gender. There are people born with extra chromosomes and both genitalia, and one gender is selected over the other at BIRTH. This boxer was designated female at birth by her doctors, then she was raised as a female, and she has female genitalia. She is a WOMAN. Tests are only for hormones and chromosomes, but she does not take testosterone, it is natural in her body. She is a female. She has no jock strap, darling. She has a vagina. This does indeed have to do with politics and religion, because YOU -- a total stranger -- are weighing in where her DOCTORS already left off 20 years ago. She isn't going to change sex to appease any boxing Federation or YOU! She was raised female and identifies as female for her only 20 years on the planet. THAT is fact and reality. Is there some reason you are so vehemently against a woman who is a woman -- let me guess? She's too "masculine" looking for you? That's your own personal prejudice and politics. Go watch the volleyball gals in bikinis. That's more your style. Meanwhile, she's a female. Get over it.
Colin Wright / The terminology of whether some Olympic athlete is "cis" or "trans" is irrelevant, as these are ideological terms that refer to whether a person's "gender identity" (a pseudoscientific term) aligns or does not align with their "sex assigned at birth."
But "sex assigned at birth" is another ideological term that does not always reflect a persons actual sex. Some people are born with DSDs that may cause a doctor to mistakenly "assign" a newborn the wrong sex. According to gender ideology, if these people grow up and "identify" as the sex that was incorrectly recorded on their birth certificates, they will be "cis."
Because gender ideology is completely detached from reality, the term "cis woman" does not necessarily mean "female."
So everyone saying that the male boxer currently beating up women in the Olympics is a "cis woman" needs to stop using these misleading ideological terms and actually focus on material reality.
The boxer is biologically male, and ideological word games do not change that fact.
There are people born with extra chromosomes and both genitalia, and one gender is selected over the other at BIRTH. This boxer was designated female at birth by her doctors, then she was raised as a female, and she has female genitalia. She is a WOMAN. Tests are only for hormones and chromosomes, but she does not take testosterone, it is natural in her body. She is a female. She has a vagina. Her DOCTORS already left off 20 years ago. She isn't going to change sex to appease any boxing Federation or YOU! She was raised female and identifies as female for her only 20 years on the planet. Is there some reason you are so vehemently against a woman who is a woman -- let me guess? She's too "masculine" looking for you? That's your own personal prejudice and politics. Go watch the volleyball gals in bikinis. That's more your style. Meanwhile, she's a female. She also comes from a country where it's illegal to be gay, let alone trans. She is not trans. She was BORN THIS WAY. Take your complaints up with God. You're not God, by the way. God made HER this way. Get over it.
Very simple, any woman that those men are afraid of will be subject to bigotry. They know she would be able to beat them in a match easily so she “must be a man”, their shrimp brain will not fathom a woman would be able to beat their pathetic ass. (Any woman that does look female according to them, and would also be able to whoop their ass, they would just come up with another type of bigotry)
The IOC is rife with hypocrisy and filthy with corruption. I wouldn't ever expect the IOC to substantively uphold the codes of sportsmanship they publish. The IOC only cares about money and which country will give them the biggest kickback to be selected as a host.
She showed she could ride off the storm thankfully and now have a Bronze medal. If the bigots were so sure she had an unfair advantage, that should be hard to explain. Afterall they said she was transgender and a man is always better than a girl right? (sarcasm btw)
Except she's a woman, thus blowing your theories off the ropes, so to speak. XY chromosomes do not equal man in some cases. This is one of those cases. She's a female. Get over it.
Thanks for highlighting the unacceptable misogyny and Islamophobia faced by Imane Khelif and Muslim women athletes at the 2024 Olympics. The IOC's inaction demands accountability, and Khelif's struggles show the need for solidarity and inclusivity advocacy. Appreciate your attention to this urgent matter, Qasim.
I have felt so strongly about this unique, Algerian woman, because I identify with being born different -- in my case I had a huge nose when I was a pre-teen, and despite getting it fixed as a 15-year-old, the insults never left me. And I am short; growing up to be only 4’11” inches “tall” in a world designed for the tall has defined my entire life. I cannot imagine the pain of having the so many in the world against me for my looks, as this boxer has had to experience. It’s just insane. If she was some “hot” blond in an Olympic volleyball bikini, no one would care how many X, Y, or Z (!) chromosomes she has at all. Who can’t figure that out? And why is J.K. Rowling weighing in on Olympic boxing, anyway? Why doesn’t she stay in her own, damned lane? Khelif’s father was on PBS Newshour showing off her birth certificate and childhood photos. It was wonderful to see how supportive he is and that her country is so proud of her. I have some big news for Carini: she’s going to get punched hard in the face by a lot of boxers. In the immortal words of Mike Tyson: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” The most ridiculous thing about all of this is that anyone would think that someone could “transition” in Algeria! It’s illegal even to be gay in Algeria and no one can transition there. I wish some billionaire with tons of expendable dough would come forward and on Khelif’s behalf sue the pants off every famous person who got traction libeling and slandering her. Hit them where it really hurts: in their wallets.
I don't know a great deal about Algerian law, but I understand, perhaps incorrectly, that there would be severe reprisals for being gay or transitioning.
I was a very large man in my youth. I never "boxed" with women, but I frequently "wrestled" with women friends, even much smaller women. It was for fun and I gave them the advantage in the initial positioning. I didn't always end up winning.
I played basketball and football (not flag) with mixed gender friends. Men were not always better than the women in competitions. Of course we were friends and no one was trying to hurt anyone, although noses did sometimes get broken.
So imagining world class athletics, I envision that some train harder, and there are differing levels of skills and bodily development. A man can pummel another man in a fist fight and I've witnessed a woman knocking a man often his feet with a single punch, so why wouldn't a woman be able to do the same with another woman.
Granting the very best male athletes are probably more skilled (faster, stronger, capable )of jumping higher, et. al.) than the very best women in any sport---the vast majority of males would be deficient in competing against the very best female athletes in any sport.
A lot of hullabaloo over false equivalencies. Put flabby large bodied Donald Trump, or ,myself in my prime, I imagine we would have lost to that femala Algerian boxer as well.
Unaware of your proficiencies Mr. Katz, my assumptions would lead me to believe that as a typically skilled male, there are women who could be better than you in any given sport and you would be more competitive in others.
Women could outshoot me in basketball, but I could out rebound them. But then I could also out rebound almost any male competitor and one gentleman told me I couldn't have played semi-pro basketball because I was a lousy shot.
Does anyone get my drift here? Comparing the skill levels in any sport as male v. female is a false measurement to begin with. It is the individual v. the individual and some of one sex could have greater athletic skills than some of the other sex in any endeavor.
One correction: I'm a female Sam. I've was nicknamed Sam at age three. My real name is Sharon. But, I totally agree. In some of the Olympic competitions, gender is not a factor -- ie. equestrian events. Men and women compete against each other; because it's really all about the horse! Also age is not much of a factor, either. One of the competitors in dressage was 55 and she's the winningest equestrian in the Olympics. If the horses don't care, why should the people? I don't know if it matters in shooting sports, either. It certainly doesn't matter in chess.
apologies.; I tend to make incorrect misogynous assumptions myself about names. My first great love was Charlie, I couldn't bring myself to call her that.
Nevertheless I can admit it, and had to admit to Charlie, my attitude is wrong.
A name is a name. Mine was a nickname I got when I was three. It stuck.
i know. i am unclear why i have that failing . Maybe because I stuttererd and couldn't pronounce it (I don't believe it was feminine nor masculine) but i couldn't get my tongue around kentrolaphagat. My parents always continued to call me that, but for everyone else I quickly became ken. But i don't know what the connection would be
It bugs me, though I've known several women who go by "sam" , that I always make a misogynist assumption ii is male.
I have a grandson who was Ben but became Gwen and I have no problem with that, I have no problem with women being any name, and there is a trend towards unigender names---my issue, is with myself, and my continually making false assumptions.
But names are important, people do want their names spelled and pronounced correctly.
Qasim, this is one of the most disgusting and despicable stories of this year's Olympics. So many low-life opportunists jumping on a non-story to promote their agendas, none of whom give a fuck about sexual orientation or women in general except as tools and pawns to bring attention to themselves. May they rot in hell. A REAL story that ISN'T being covered is the ruthless assault on the homeless and disenfranchised people of Paris as they were 'disappeared' from the city center and transported far from the Olympic sites. (Of course, this has long been standard operating procedure for international events - but still....).
Absolutely!
I don’t understand why there are people on here hating on Imane . What if she was your daughter? I believe that there is such jealousy and hatred towards people of color. The world is more of color than it is just white.
“Palestinian women suffer genocide as their oppressors compete despite IOC rules banning nations from competing while violating international law.”
Is this necessary for the article? Are we going to ignore Palestine’s incessant violations of international law? No mention of the Iranian gender apartheid? No mention of the challenges Muslim women suffer all over the world, but this one specific line had to be put in there?
I love your articles for the perspective of a clearly pro-Palestine author that is well researched and willing to discuss. But I must say at some point the one-sidedness gets old. This is a beautiful article that could have been so much more had it focused on the topic at hand or been more fair in its perspective of the mis-treatment of Muslim women.
Yes it was necessary because it calls out a violation of IOC rules. What about that is bothersome, I don’t understand?
Why are we only calling out the violation of IOC rules on one side and not the other? Why not mention that Palestinian women are (I am only imagining here, as I do not know for sure) trapped between a war enemy and their own government oppressing them? Why not call out all other Muslim countries for their treatment of women?
I get what you’re saying, but why mention the IDF war crimes (which are not specifically targeted at women) but ignore the challenges Muslim women face at the hand of their own governments/religious leaders? And if the war crimes are relevant, why not mention the over 1k missiles launched by Hamas since Oct 7th from civilian areas in order to force Israel to literally blow up civilians as their only way to defend against said attacks?
Your Islamophobia is exceeded only by your ignorance to international law and the situation in occupied Palestine. Read up. I suggest Edward Said, a Palestinian Christian scholar, is a good place to start.
So now questioning your writing is Islamophobia (much like criticizing the state of Israel is anti-semitism). I do not want to distract from the main point of your article as it is an important one, so I will end this exchange here. I will check out the author recommended.
Imane is a true tomboy representing we tomboys around the world! WE ARE WOMEN! I am so stoked that she took the gold! 🙌
He, he, he is a man, XY jock strapped man. 2 independent tests were done, not contested or appealed by both boxers, and they could have done, they were given the chance but did not. IOC was advised 1 year ago of the findings, the IOC allowed this to happen.
And to the handmaidens here spouting vemon against other women, your internalised misoginy is showing. To accomodate men you 'd rather disbelief your eyes and disregard facts and reality. This has nothing, nothing to do, with religion or politics, stop deflecting.
No, sweetheart -- she, she, she is a woman. Chromosomes are not the only factor in gender. There are people born with extra chromosomes and both genitalia, and one gender is selected over the other at BIRTH. This boxer was designated female at birth by her doctors, then she was raised as a female, and she has female genitalia. She is a WOMAN. Tests are only for hormones and chromosomes, but she does not take testosterone, it is natural in her body. She is a female. She has no jock strap, darling. She has a vagina. This does indeed have to do with politics and religion, because YOU -- a total stranger -- are weighing in where her DOCTORS already left off 20 years ago. She isn't going to change sex to appease any boxing Federation or YOU! She was raised female and identifies as female for her only 20 years on the planet. THAT is fact and reality. Is there some reason you are so vehemently against a woman who is a woman -- let me guess? She's too "masculine" looking for you? That's your own personal prejudice and politics. Go watch the volleyball gals in bikinis. That's more your style. Meanwhile, she's a female. Get over it.
The IBA has demonstrated itself to be a corrupt governing body of the sport.
Imane could literally go to jail or be killed in Algeria over this bullshit. It's horrible. Some people don't care.
Colin Wright / The terminology of whether some Olympic athlete is "cis" or "trans" is irrelevant, as these are ideological terms that refer to whether a person's "gender identity" (a pseudoscientific term) aligns or does not align with their "sex assigned at birth."
But "sex assigned at birth" is another ideological term that does not always reflect a persons actual sex. Some people are born with DSDs that may cause a doctor to mistakenly "assign" a newborn the wrong sex. According to gender ideology, if these people grow up and "identify" as the sex that was incorrectly recorded on their birth certificates, they will be "cis."
Because gender ideology is completely detached from reality, the term "cis woman" does not necessarily mean "female."
So everyone saying that the male boxer currently beating up women in the Olympics is a "cis woman" needs to stop using these misleading ideological terms and actually focus on material reality.
The boxer is biologically male, and ideological word games do not change that fact.
There are people born with extra chromosomes and both genitalia, and one gender is selected over the other at BIRTH. This boxer was designated female at birth by her doctors, then she was raised as a female, and she has female genitalia. She is a WOMAN. Tests are only for hormones and chromosomes, but she does not take testosterone, it is natural in her body. She is a female. She has a vagina. Her DOCTORS already left off 20 years ago. She isn't going to change sex to appease any boxing Federation or YOU! She was raised female and identifies as female for her only 20 years on the planet. Is there some reason you are so vehemently against a woman who is a woman -- let me guess? She's too "masculine" looking for you? That's your own personal prejudice and politics. Go watch the volleyball gals in bikinis. That's more your style. Meanwhile, she's a female. She also comes from a country where it's illegal to be gay, let alone trans. She is not trans. She was BORN THIS WAY. Take your complaints up with God. You're not God, by the way. God made HER this way. Get over it.
What's it like to be an ignorant, bigoted POS?
Very simple, any woman that those men are afraid of will be subject to bigotry. They know she would be able to beat them in a match easily so she “must be a man”, their shrimp brain will not fathom a woman would be able to beat their pathetic ass. (Any woman that does look female according to them, and would also be able to whoop their ass, they would just come up with another type of bigotry)
Bingo!
The IOC is rife with hypocrisy and filthy with corruption. I wouldn't ever expect the IOC to substantively uphold the codes of sportsmanship they publish. The IOC only cares about money and which country will give them the biggest kickback to be selected as a host.
Thank you.
She showed she could ride off the storm thankfully and now have a Bronze medal. If the bigots were so sure she had an unfair advantage, that should be hard to explain. Afterall they said she was transgender and a man is always better than a girl right? (sarcasm btw)
Except she's a woman, thus blowing your theories off the ropes, so to speak. XY chromosomes do not equal man in some cases. This is one of those cases. She's a female. Get over it.
Apparently. Maybe they can also give you a heart while they're at it.
Thanks for highlighting the unacceptable misogyny and Islamophobia faced by Imane Khelif and Muslim women athletes at the 2024 Olympics. The IOC's inaction demands accountability, and Khelif's struggles show the need for solidarity and inclusivity advocacy. Appreciate your attention to this urgent matter, Qasim.
Teen Vogue’s op-ed is spot on:
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/gender-debates-around-the-2024-olympics-people-still-fear-powerful-women