Genes, Gender, Sport, and Justice

Genes, Gender, Hormones, and Doping in Sport: A Convoluted Tale

We are writing this piece in the aftermath of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Each of the words in the title plays a role(s) in deciding who may compete, especially who may compete as a woman. We shall be careful to disentangle the issues of genes and gender from hormonal levels of the potent androgen testosterone, and very clearly demarcate these natural occurrences from thos...

Reproductive Genetics and Gender Justice

In recent years, the use of gender neutral-terminology has become commonplace. At times, the practice is awkward, as when a writer or speaker avoids generic terms that are also used exclusively for males. "Human" or "person" then replaces "man," and "he or she" is often used instead of merely "he." Despite the awkwardness, this practice may have the positive effect of reminding readers or liste...

Gender verification in sport.

Genes in Sport and Doping

Genes control biological processes such as muscle production of energy, mitochondria biogenesis, bone formation, erythropoiesis, angiogenesis, vasodilation, neurogenesis, etc. DNA profiling for athletes reveals genetic variations that may be associated with endurance ability, muscle performance and power exercise, tendon susceptibility to injuries and psychological aptitude. Already, over 200 g...

Justice, gender and the politics of multiculturalism

Arguably, the greatest recent contributions to the (somewhat exhausted) political philosophy of multiculturalism have come from feminists. The debate was famously sparked by Susan Okin’s warning that multicultural accommodation could legitimize and aggravate the oppression of women within traditional, cultural and religious groups (Okin, 1999). Critics retorted that the ‘internal minorities’ ob...