Gender Verification and the Making of the Female Body in Sport

The book examines the complex history of gender verification in sports, focusing on how cultural and scientific factors shape perceptions of femaleness.

This book critically explores the history of gender verification in international sport, illustrating how culture, politics, and science converge to shape the concept of femaleness and, consequently, the female body as we understand it today. By tracing the evolution of gender verification policies and practices in sports from the 1930s to the present, it reveals the motivations behind medical sex tests that have been employed to validate the femaleness of women athletes. These practices reflect and have influenced broader societal and scientific notions of what it means to be female.

In examining the interplay of geopolitics, gender, class, and race with scientific ideas about femaleness and womanhood, the book positions sports competitions as a battleground where traditional and contemporary ideas about sex differences clash. It highlights the social, historical, and material instability of sex and gender, providing insight into the significant investment society has made in differentiating femaleness from maleness within the realm of sports and beyond.

Gender Verification and the Making of the Female Body in Sport will appeal to researchers and upper-level undergraduate or graduate students across various disciplines, including gender studies, sports studies, and the social and historical analysis of science and medicine. Additionally, it offers valuable context for sports policy by historically and conceptually framing gender verification practices.