Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan clinched her first Olympic medal Sunday in front of a crowd that chanted her name at the Paris Games, one day after fellow boxer Imane Khelif of Algeria secured one as well following days of online abuse and intense scrutiny about their participation.

Lin defeated Svetlana Kamenova Staneva of Bulgaria in a women’s 57-kilogram quarterfinal, earning her second straight unanimous decision and advancing to the division’s semifinal round to ensure she will win at least a bronze medal.

Lin and Khelif have been at the center of a clash over gender identity and regulations in sports, as critics have brought up their disqualification from the world championships last year after the banned International Boxing Association claimed they failed unspecified eligibility tests for women’s competition.

  • itslilith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    4 months ago

    This has been and still is one of the most disgusting, misinformation-fraught witch hunts I’ve witnessed in a long while. It’s a real mask off moment for a lot of people claiming to be feminists, who are now frothing at the mouth and misgendering cis women for not living up to their arbitrary standards of “feminine”.

    • triptrapper@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      Well said. In addition to these stories demonizing trans people (or in this case, masc-looking cis people) they also fragilize women. We normally celebrate women in combat sports as feminist symbols, but suddenly we can’t stomach these delicate little angels being beat up.

      I don’t know a ton about boxing, but in MMA fighters made similar comments about fighting Ronda Rousey, Cyborg, Joanna Jedrzeczyk, and Amanda Nunes. “I’ve never been hit that hard.” “She completely overpowered me.”

      We already have a way of separating athletes based on their ability. It’s called competition. Sometimes you’re just outmatched.

      • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        In addition to these stories demonizing trans people (or in this case, masc-looking cis people)

        This is 100% the point of the outrage. They are demonstrating that just the “potential” of being trans will result in vicious attacks, which signals to actual trans people to hide, even when they don’t have to.

    • iamtrashman1312@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      100% correct. One of the most frustrating things with talking women’s sports, imo, is the same as talking about abortion: me personally? I’m not a woman. Never have been. Due in no small part to that I don’t think I have any fuckin business deciding what’s best for women, assigned at birth or otherwise.

      I don’t know a lot about boxing either. I’m pretty sure literally anyone competing in Women’s Olympic Boxing could lay me the fuck out. I don’t think what’s in their trunks or what diagnoses any of them may have contribute to that outcome so much as “they’re some of the best people in the world at punching other people”

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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        4 months ago

        I was thinking about something this morning… how many women are going to be turned off of sports by finding out that they have some sort of testing, be it genetic testing or genital examination vs. finding out that there’s a chance they might compete against someone who isn’t a “real” woman? Because I think the former. I think being forced to prove you’re a woman is a far bigger way of discouraging girls and women from competing than the chance they might compete against someone who has some unfair male advantage based on averages.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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            3 months ago

            So not what was done in the case of Yu-Ting Khelif. Or at least not what they admitted to doing.

            And no, you’re not “either a real biological woman or you’re not.” It’s nowhere near that simple:

            • Snowflake@sh.itjust.works
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              3 months ago

              Again it’s just a chromosome blood test. You can test for all that crap. Then you can make it publically known to fans and even potentially disqualify people from participating depending on the mutations because, again, a punch can kill someone. You think I didn’t know about chromosome mutations before commenting?

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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                3 months ago

                Cool. Which category should the person whose “all that crap” is XX plus the SRY gene with a body that appears to be biologically male be in?

                Since you know about chromosome mutations, perhaps you can tell me if they’re a man or a woman.

                • Snowflake@sh.itjust.works
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                  3 months ago

                  Give a fuck what they are. I’m betting money on fights so they should make it public who might have an advantage.

                  Now for my answer. So xx plus sry makes females have a male phenotype. That’s what the sry gene does. It makes their bodies i.e muscles and physical traits and behaviors develope as if males would.

    • ShepherdPie@midwest.social
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      3 months ago

      Ghouls that will turn around and tell you “life isn’t fair” when you talk about income equality, yet somehow fairness in relatively pointless sports competitions is such a pressing issue.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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    4 months ago

    If you want me to believe either Lin or Khelif are not women, show me the evidence.

    “I know a woman when I see one” isn’t evidence and neither is “the Russian judge says otherwise.”