The Sports Issue

This special issue of Transgender Studies explores the role of modern sports in policing bodies and deviance, utilizing critical trans theory to reveal the social, political, cultural, and economic implications of sports, particularly in relation to white supremacist and colonial forces.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 03 July 2023
Publisher: Duke University Press

This special issue delves into the realm of trans theory and studies to explore the complex dynamics of modern sports, which the authors argue serve as a powerful mechanism for policing bodies and deviance. While governing bodies in sports assert that their regulatory practices, such as femininity certificates and a capped threshold of testosterone for female eligibility in elite sports, are neutral and aimed at eliminating unfair advantages, the contributors critically examine and challenge these practices. Through the lens of critical trans theory, the authors unveil the social, political, cultural, and economic implications of modern and elite sports, particularly in relation to white supremacist and colonial forces. Instead of solely focusing on gender normativity, the contributors center feminist and queer studies to understand the role of sports and physical recreation as a powerful social force, and to deepen our understanding of gender and sex within critical sports studies. The essay topics covered in this issue range from transfeminine exclusion from sports and dating to creating a nongender binary sports space and epistemic violence in trans inclusion debates.

Anima Adjepong, Jennifer Doyle, C. J. Jones Henrique Martins, Madeleine Pape, Erica Rand, Elizabeth Sharrow, Cara K. Snyder, Travers, Valentina Venturi, Pedro C. Vieira, and Jinsun Yang are the contributors to this special issue.

Weight: 240g
Dimension: 178 x 254 x 9 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478024736