Teams 5 & 6, Equestrian and Race-Car Driving

Housekeeping

• Take home final is at Canvas.  Final is due May 7, 1:00.  We will do some reviewing on Monday.
• Please reply to my citizenship email.
• Last RR is due Friday.

Equestrian Slides

Race-Car Driving Slides

Team 3, Sport During the Pandemic

Housekeeping

1. The final will be "take home" and "open everything." 
2. The questions will be available at Canvas very soon.  
3. You will submit your answers at Canvas--the deadline is the end of our final period (5.7, 1:00).
4. We will have a review for the final on 5.4. 

Poll on intersex and trans athletes--at Zoom.

Presentation slides

Trans Athletes

Housekeeping

• Next time: presentation on sports during the pandemic, finish discussing McKinnon, discuss final a bit

Clarifications

Intersex vs. Trans athletes: they're not the same! (see post for 4.17)

• Caster Semenya (left) is intersex, not trans
• Rachel McKinnon (right) is trans, not intersex

Arguments for testosterone limits: they're not all the same!

1. Equal opportunity argument: Intersex women like Caster Semenya should be recognized as women, but they are to some degree male-bodied, not female-bodied.  There should be equal opportunity for women who are "female-bodied".  To protect equal opportunity for female-bodied women, Semenya should have to lower testosterone.  Same with trans women. (Coleman)

2. Talent argument. Talent should be a primary factor determining outcomes, but high testosterone in intersex and trans athletes affects outcomes and isn't talent. (Murray, also some of this in Coleman)

3. Fairness argument--when Caster Semenya or Rachel McKinnon compete in races against biologically typical females, there's an "uneven playing field." The intersex and trans women have "equipment" that others don't have. They may still have testes but at least have the byproducts of having had testes in the past.

Rachel McKinnon responds

Four arguments for testosterone limits or outright exclusion, plus McKinnon's replies.

1. Intersex and trans women may be women, but they're male, or male-bodied, or biologically male.  RM's reply:

• legally (in many places) and within sport, intersex and trans women are women and female (no difference). 
• if you're female you're female-bodied!
• What would Coleman say?  

2. They have too many performance advantages.  RM's reply:

• wouldn't matter, if true; but tends to be exaggerated (p. 8)
• "The practice of sport is a human right" according to the IOC. 
• performance advantage of being taller is permitted; no reason to treat performance advantage of higher testosterone any differently
• What would Coleman or Murray say? 

3. But the whole point of gender segregating sport is that men are "stronger and faster" (p. 8). RM's reply:

• gender segregation is just due to sexism, not performance differences
• If it's due to sexism, should we end it? What would happen to competitors like Semenya and McKinnon if there were no gender segregation?

4. It's unfair for intersex and trans women to compete against other women.  RM's reply:

• Testing or excluding is discriminatory--it's treating intersex and trans people differently.
• Discrimination is sometimes acceptable but only when it's (1) "in service of a worthy social goal" and (2) "necessary for the promotion of the worthy social goal" and (3) "effective at promoting the worthy social goal" and (4) the good accomplished is "proportional to the harm" done to the people discriminated against. (all quotes on p. 6).
• RM: treating them differently doesn't pass the four-fold test
• Suppose Coleman were applying this test.  What would she say about each clause? 

Intersex Athletes

Gender Segregation of Sport

• Different positions on gender segregation will lead to different positions on the eligibility of intersex women.
• Jane English's view
• Every person, regardless of gender, should have access to the basic benefits of sport (exercise, health, character, teamwork, etc.)
• Women as a group and men as a group should have equal access to the scarce benefits of sport (prizes, glory, fame, scholarships, etc.)
• How? by integrating a few sports, inventing new sports...
• but primarily by gender segregating sport ...
• and giving equal resources to women's sports
• Why is equal access important? English: because equal access to sport contributes to the self-respect of all women; women need to see other women succeed in all walks of life
• Other rationales for the gender segregation of sport
• today's readings

###

Rules for Intersex Athletes: 2011-2019 

• 2009: Caster Semenya, South Africa, wins world championship in 800 meters
  • legally female, female gender identity, intersex condition--46XY, possibly Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome 
  • challenged, gender-tested, suspended pending results
• 2010: Semenya is reinstated 
• 2011: International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) decides that if challenged, any athlete competing in a women's event (a) must be legally female and (b) testosterone level must be below 10 nmol/L unless athlete is insensitive to testosterone

• can reduce testosterone with contraceptive pill or surgical removal of internal testes



Fertilitypedia

• 2012: Semenya wins Olympic gold medal in women's 800 meters (presumably met 2011 standard)
• 2014: Indian runner Dutee Chand dropped from several competitions due to "hyperandrogenism" (high testosterone in a female). 
• legally female, female gender identity, intersex condition
• 2015: Chand appeals to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)
• CAS suspends testosterone testing, giving IAAF time to defend.
• 2016: Caster Semenya wins Olympic gold medal in women's 800 meters
• 2018: IAAF defends and upholds testosterone testing for intersex and trans athletes
• athletes competing in a women's event must have testosterone under 5 nmol/L (unless athlete is insensitive to testosterone)
• only for middle distance (400 meters to a mile) running events, 
• must sustain lower level for 6 months prior to competition (chemically or surgically)
• affects international competition only
• alternatively these athletes can compete in men's events
• "in no way intended as any kind of judgment on, or questioning of, the sex or the gender identity of any athlete" (a question of eligibility, not gender)
• 2019: After another challenge, IAAF upholds 2018 policy. 
• clarifications here: limit on testosterone only applies to intersex women who are both XY and legally women (e.g. Caster Semenya)
• also applies to trans women (who are XY as well)
• 2019: decision challenged and suspended pending review by Swiss Supreme Court

###

Question: should Caster Semenya and other XY women have to reduce their testosterone to 5 nmol/L in order to compete in women's events?  Positions:

1. They should be included unconditionally (Rachel McKinnon, Friday)
2. Yes, this is a reasonable limit (today's readings: Murray, Coleman)
3. No, they should be excluded altogether

What if English were alive to discuss?  

• Winners in women's events should send an empowering message to women--"You can do anything!"
• Does Caster Semenya make women feel like they can do anything?

Doriane Lambelet Coleman

• Discusses female disadvantages and performance differences, concludes:
  "The result of this differential is the performance gap between males and females that justifies the existence of a women's category in competitive sport." (p. 2)
• Why must women have access to the basic and scarce benefits of sport?  For the benefit of biologically female athletes themselves. (compare English)
• Why not use gender-identity to decide who's eligible for women's events?
• What does she say about the silver and bronze winners at the 2016 Olympics?

 The "Missy Franklin" Objection (that Coleman tries to rebut)

1. Missy Franklin is 6'2" with a 6'4" wingspan, which helped her become a gold medalist in women's swimming; that's perfectly legitimate.
2. Semenya's high testosterone is an analogous advantage in a woman.  THEREFORE,
3. Semenya's high testosterone is perfectly legitimate and she shouldn't have to reduce it to participate in women's events.

Coleman's reply, p. 10

Murray's Talent Argument

Murray, p. 100

1. Sports should be governed in such a way that outcomes are largely determined by talent, dedication, and courage.
2. If sports were gender-integrated, winners would be mostly male, making maleness in effect a talent.
3. But maleness is not a talent.  THEREFORE
4. Sports should not be gender integrated, but rather gender segregated.
5. Gender segregation requires limiting women's events to people with testosterone in the female range. THEREFORE
6. There should be testosterone limits (he discusses 10 nmol/L)

What about fairness?

Not the main focus on Murray or Coleman.  We will discuss next time.

Women in Sport

Housekeeping

• Next presentation is on Monday 4.27. That's Team 3--Sports During the Pandemic.
• After that, Team 5 and 6 both present on Wednesday 4.29.
• Please respond to the emails I sent to Teams 5 and 6.

###

Jane English

• published in 1978, a few years after Title IX
• she died in a mountain climbing accident the same year
• so no reply to critics

Background assumptions

• she assumes female athletic disadvantage:  "There are physiological differences between the sexes that are relevant to sports performance." (p. 355)
• women are underrepresented in sport at all levels

What is equal opportunity for women in sport? What would it entail?  Her answer:

1. All individuals, regardless of gender, should have equal chances to acquire the basic benefits of sport, which are: teamwork, character, health, self-respect, fun.  
2. Women as a group and men as a group should have the same chance to acquire the scarce benefits of sport, which are: prizes, records, wins, fame, income, etc.

Note: she is not saying this is the right approach to equal opportunity in all areas of life. 

How to achieve equal access to the basic benefits of sport for all individuals, regardless of gender?

• She doesn't say much about this.
• Perhaps what she has in mind is PE for everyone in K-12.

How to achieve equal access to the scarce benefits of sports for women as a group? Three-step recipe.

1. Gender-integrate those sports in which abilities are not very different--"dressage, riflery and car racing" (p. 357).  Flick Haigh article.

2. A. Gender-segregate most sports; after all, if they were integrated, most women would be excluded. As a result, women as a group would suffer loss of self-respect.  B. Give equal treatment to women's sports.

Top female athletes

3. Develop new sports in which women are better than men, so that women can be "best" and not just "best woman"; this would enhance self-respect in women as a group even more than segregated sports.

• balance beam
• synchronized swimming
• long distance swimming

###

Pam Sailors' Response (2014)

• She's the author of the article on cheerleading that said it's not a sport
• We read her article on climbing, in which she differentiated summitteers and mountaineers.

Her objections

Objection 1--No evidence that sports have any impact on self-respect for the women as a group (as opposed to female athletes)

Objection 2--Segregating by gender doesn't enhance self-respect

Objection 3--New sports won't help, because people don't want to watch them, have less respect for them.

###

DISCUSSION

• Discuss the three questions below about English's 3-step recipe for achieving equal access to the scarce benefits of sport for women as a group.   
• Discuss for 10 minutes. Pick a spokesperson to tell the whole class the group's thoughts on these three questions.

1. Step one. Do you agree that some sports should be gender-integrated? Is race-car driving such a sport, as Flick Haigh says?
2. Step two. Do you agree that gender segregation of sport is necessary for the self-respect of women as a group? Or do you sympathize with Pam Sailors' skepticism about this?  Another issue: are there better reasons for gender segregating sport than English gives?
3. Step three.  Do you agree that it's important for women to be "best" at certain sports, and that new sports should be developed for this purpose?  Or do you sympathize with Pam Sailors' skepticism about this?

###

The rest of Sailors' points

Objection 4--Automatically segregating by gender takes away a woman's choice to compete directly against men if that's her preference.

Objection 5--English doesn't consider the option of making team sports co-ed (aside from a few).

Objection 6--Women should have segregated sport as an option but should have other options.

Objection 7--English is assuming a gender binary instead of a continuum. This creates problems for athletes like Caster Semenya (intersex woman) and also for people who consider themselves nonbinary and not men or women. (NEXT TIME)

What should we do? Move to mixed competition where possible, taking into account:

1. individual vs. team sports 
2. direct (football) vs. indirect (golf) competition
3. contact vs. non-contact
4. professional vs. amateur

She's arguing for mixed competition especially in amateur, non-contact, indirectly competitive team sports. 

Gender and Sport--Background

Women in sports

• Women in the Olympics
• before 1900, Olympics are for men only
• women not admitted into direct competition with men
• men's events vs. women's events = "gender segregation"
• Gender segregation in sport is meant to protect women 
• compare race segregation, which is usually meant to protect a privileged race

• Women in college sports

• Title IX of the 1972 amendments to the 1964 Civil Rights Act (or just "Title IX")

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance...

• Since 1972,  "female participation at the high school level has grown by 1057 percent and by 614 percent at the college level."
• Details:  US Dept. of Education  

An institution is in compliance with the three-part test if it meets any one of the following parts of the test:

(1) The number of male and female athletes is substantially proportionate to their respective enrollments; or
(2) The institution has a history and continuing practice of expanding participation opportunities responsive to the developing interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex; or
(3) The institution is fully and effectively accommodating the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex.

• Mostly implemented in a gender segregated way-- men's teams vs. women's teams

• Our question (Monday): Should sports be gender segregated?  
• Monday's authors ask: Is gender segregation good for women?  

Policing the boundary between men's and women's sports

• 20th century: as women enter sport, there's a fear of male impostors who might try to enter the women's category (because easier to qualify and win)

• 1940s: female competitors had to have gender certificates
• 1966: sex verification process used "nude parades" in front of physicians and genital exams
• 1967: changed to chromosomal testing. XX chromosomes required to compete in women's sports. 
• 1985: Martinez-Patino case. Intersex Spanish hurdler, expelled, lost medals. Later reinstated. 
• 1990s: if athlete is challenged, then chromosome and hormone testing, plus pelvic exam and psych evaluation
• Most recent decisions (2019):  next Wednesday

Our questions

1. Should we avoid these problems by ending gender segregation?
2. If we should keep gender segregation, who should be allowed to compete in the protected women's category?  What screening process should be used?

Caster Semenya, South Africa (intersex)

Trans athletes

Rachel McKinnon (Veronica Ivy)
Masters cycling gold medalist (2018, 2019)
philosophy professor, Charleston College

Intersex background

• Being intersex is being born with a mix of male and female biological characteristics
• Must be medically diagnosed
• You can be intersex and not know it--especially in a developing country
• Intersex and trans are different things
• Common estimate is 17 in 1000 (1.7%); others estimate far fewer (e.g. 1 in 2000); depends what is counted as an intersex condition

Kinds of  intersex conditions--there are dozens 

• Complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS)

• Emily Quinn--TED talk (first few minutes)
• people with CAIS have XY chromosomes (like males)
• starting during fetal gestation, body produces testosterone but doesn't have normal receptors for it
• they have female-appearing genitals and have vaginas; they have internal testes and no uterus
• Sex vs. gender: Emily's sex=intersex.  Emily's gender=woman.
• Note: that's how she sees it, but in the philosophy of gender there is a lot of controversy. 
• Partial androgen insensitivity syndrome (PAIS)
• same as CAIS, but more muscle development, more masculine-appearing
• Caster Semenya
• Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)

• adrenal problem that can cause intersex condition in people with XX chromosomes
• body produces no cortisol and atypical testosterone 
• XX baby may be born with small penis
• cortisol problem and other issues have to be medically managed

Trans background

• Biological sex at birth is usually male or female 
• Language preferred by many: assigned male at birth (AMAB) or assigned female at birth (AFAB)
• They come to identify as "other" gender and transition
• Sex vs. gender (controversial)
• Language: cis means not trans

How elite sport has treated intersex women: the case of Caster Semenya (first 14 minutes)

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Team 4, Hockey

Slides
Nicholas Dixon, "A Critique of Violent Retaliation in Sport"

Fairness Issues

Housekeeping

1. There are no more readings or RRs this week, but the readings for Monday are longer than usual.  You might want to get started this week.
2. I will send a message to Teams 5 and 6 pretty soon, so we can meet and discuss your presentations.

###

Murray, chapter 5

Sports and Fairness (according to Murray)

1. Some sports issues are ethical, but not about fairness; they have to do with "what sport values" (natural talent, dedication courage)
• Doping
2. Some sports issues involve fairness/unfairness in a non-ethical sense
• Norwegians have an unfair advantage over Ethiopians when it comes to skiing because of climate and geography.
• Differences of opportunity due to differences of development and wealth (unearned advantages =/ unfair)
3. Some sports issues involve ethical fairness/unfairness
•  fairness in access to competition
• if there were no Paralympics, it would be unfair to disabled athletes
• racial discrimination forced black baseball players to play in so-called Negro Leagues 
• fairness in competition
• only fair to have same equipment
• Nike vaporfly running shoes
• light athletic wheelchairs in Paralympics
• Pistorius's blades
• all competitors must play by the same rules
• referees should treat both sides in the same way
4. Sports issue that involve both "what sport values" (natural talent, dedication, courage) and ethical fairness in access to competition and ethical fairness in competition
• issues about gender
• should women compete separately from men?
• should intersex women compete as women?
• should trans women compete as women?

Next time (Friday): background about gender and sport

Next week

1. Monday: Should there be separate women's sports?  
2. Wednesday: Should intersex women be able to compete against other women, despite possibly having some physical advantages?
3. Friday: Should trans women be able to compete against other women, despite possibly having some physical advantages?

Doping/The Olympics and the Paralympics/Fairness

Doping debate

1. Thomas Murray Position: Doping should remain prohibited. Argument: Because outcomes should be determined by natural talent, dedication,  and courage.
2. Foddy & Savulescu Position: physiological doping (moving within the normal human range) should sometimes be allowed, depending on the drug and the sport.  (e.g. EPO is ok in endurance sports, but beta blockers are not ok in boxing.) Arguments: 

• natural talents aren't sacred
• sport has to evolve
• athletes already take PEDS like caffeine and pain-killers
• sport is already risky
• open doping is safer than sneaky doping
• taking EPO is equivalent to accepted strategies like high-altitude training and training in a hypoxic tent
• doping is sometimes cheaper
• etc.

Other arguments against doping besides Murray's

1. Tom Hurka--value of sport lies in achievement.  Ebert & Robertson: a self-sufficient achievement is a better achievement.  Do drugs decrease self-sufficiency?

Next issue: "the category problem"

Ancient Olympics: all competitors in one category.  Winners are the best of the best.

Modern view: there ought to be lots of competitive categories

1. Olympics vs. paralympics; subdivisions within paralympics
2. Men vs women (we will discuss Friday)
3. Weight classes in boxing

Why is the multiple categories view the right one?

Murray's talent-courage-dedication perspective has trouble explaining

• "natural talents, dedication and courage should be the chief difference-makers in sport" (p. 72)
• Low hematocrit endurance athletes have to compete against high hematocrit.  It's legitimate that high hematocrit helps because it's a talent.  

High hemaocrit Finnish skier Eero Mantyranta

• Analogously????: disabled athletes have to compete against able-bodied athletes. It's legitimate that abilities help, because they're talents.
• How does he avoid saying this?  How does he support multiple categories?

Murray adds some elements to his view in chapter four

1. "natural talents, dedication and courage should be the chief difference-makers in sport" (p. 72)
2. Adds: competitions should be "interesting, fair, and meaningful" (p. 59)
3. Some differences are interesting to see play out, but others are too extreme
4. Fairness
• two sides must play by the same rules and with the same equipment
• like cases should be treated alike (Aristotle, but Aristotle did not apply this to sports)
• So disabled athletes should compete against others with the same disabilities
• Is this inconsistent with his emphasis on natural talents?

Other reasons why the multiple categories view is the right one

1. Sport as a human right
2. Access to high level competition as a human right
3. The chance to win as a human right

Disabled athletes and assistive technologies

Oscar Pistorius

Watch to 4:40


  


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