Imane Khelif Situation.

Bit of a yap session so sorry in advance but this entire situation has pissed me off SO much.

For those of you who aren't chronically online, Imane Khelif is a CIS woman boxer from Algeria who competed in the Paris Olympics. She competed against Angela Carini from Italy. Long story short they begin the match and it lasts a whole 46 seconds. Angela took a hit from Imane, started crying in the ring, and Angela said it was the hardest punch she had ever felt.

Imane is a cis woman, she was born a woman, she has female reproductive/ sex organs, she has never identified as trans in any way. Imane did get disqualified in the past for the 2023 Women's World Boxing Championship, organized by the International Boxing Association after she failed unspecified gender eligibility tests. 

Okay here comes the ranting and yapping so prepare yourself.

 Firstly, the people claiming she's a trans woman or a male at birth are completely wrong and to accuse someone of being trans is really frustrating for the trans community, not that being called trans is an insult, it's the fact that some people are going as far as to say "well he looks like a man and has high testosterone so he's a man." Not only is this built on misinformation since there's been no report published (at least to my knowledge) that she has high testosterone levels but the way these groups just bend their opinions to meet their narrow minded, tunnel visioned views on the world is so strange. It's just so frustrating for the trans community that we've been trying to get this reaction for YEARS or even bare minimum to be seen as human beings but when it fits their narrative all the sudden their opinions change. 

Argument number two, which is still built on misinformation, is that if she has high testosterone levels she should be allowed to compete with women. My stance on this may be a little skewed as I'm not very into sports and have limited knowledge of boxing. I was under the impression the boxers are separated into weight classes which means you would not only have to keep your body weight in a specific range but also your muscle mass? So even if she has a higher T level they still ensured it's a fair fight. 

And lastly, the stance that she somehow has an unfair physical advantage. Again I'm no expert on sports but isn't a physical advantage kinda what they're training for? Like if they were all exactly the same with the same skill set, wouldn't that make it pretty boring? not to mention the bias when it comes to mens sports, a great example being Micheal Phelps wingspan of 6'7"!

In my opinion, it just seems like Angela took the lose really poorly and the public ran with it and through Imane into the trans community which is already villainized by a large portion of society. Imane won that fight fairly and we need to stand up for ALL women no matter what they look like or the special case may be. 

If anyone wants to share their opinion I'd love to hear it!