Sports Doesn't Have a Gender, but Sportspersons Do: The Nuances of Sex Verification in Sports
![handle is hein.journals/gblspr1 and id is 125 raw text is: Sports Doesn't Have A Gender, But Sportspersons Do: The Nuances of Sex
Verification in Sports
Janvhi Rastogi, Student, Faculty of Law, Jamia Milia Islamia
PA P ER
1. SPORTSWOMEN: A PARODY TO ATHLETICISM
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Sex Segregation in sports has existed for a very long time. Men and Women are not allowed to
compete against each other, they have to participate in a specific sex competition. Why is it
that both sexes cannot participate in a single competition? It's not the sex which was introduced
in sports, but the gender. Depending on the relevance of the gender of a person, the sports can
be classified into various categories.[1]The first classification is a mixed-gender one consisting
of sports like riding, sailing and motorsport. The second category gives the discretionary power
to both the sexes to participate; mainly because the performance differs drastically and hence
both are rated differently like Chess and Billiards. The third category consists of those sports
in which sex separation is mandatory. Both the sexes are forbidden to take part in each other's
competitions. However, in this classification, there is a category of sports like athletics, in
which the performance can be compared through the cgs mechanism (i.e. centimetres, grams
or seconds), yet both cannot run together.This category also includes strict gender-specific
sports, which cannot even be compared like football, boxing, rhythmic gymnastics. The fourth
group allows only members of one sex to take part as is the case in the combined event of
decathlon in athletics. In this event, only men are permitted to play. The last division makes it
mandatory for both the sexes to participate like the Couple Dance.
Having looked at all the major categories, it is pertinent to note two things. First, the
segregation is made into two tight compartments, without even mentioning the transgender or
intersex community. Second, it seems that the differences are natural and they always existed.
It is to be noted that these differences were created by the humans in a passage of time.
Sex differences rather (say) gender differences began to emerge with the rise of middle-class
(bourgeoisie). Up till that point, there did not exist any significant distinction between male
and female except a few biological differences. The characteristic-based attributes emerged
only at the end of the eighteenth century as the rise of the middle-class section defined
separation between home and the work. A lot of stereotypes were attached to each sex like men
are supposed to be strong, active, brave while women need to be emotional, weak, passive.[2]
As a matter of deviation, biological sex was replaced by social sex.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/gblspr1&div=13&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Sports Doesn't Have a Gender, but Sportspersons Do: The Nuances of Sex Verification in Sports
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