PART I
Context
1 Introduction
Cathy Devine
2 The impact of sex and gender in the history of women’s sport participation
Carol A. Osborne
3 Bridging the gap between the sexes in physical activity
Marie Murphy and Nanette Mutrie
PART II
Biology
4 The biological life phases of active and athletic women
Kerry McGawley, Claire Badenhorst and Georgina K. Stebbings
5 The physiological basis of sex differences in sports performance and the effects of testosterone suppression and supplementation
Georgina K. Stebbings and Kerry McGawley
6 Athletes with disorders/differences of sex development
Cathy Devine
PART III
Theory
7 Materialist feminism, gender identity theory and sport: Irreconcilable differences
Jane Clare Jones and Cathy Devine
8 The sex category in sport
Irena Martínková, Taryn Knox, Lynley Anderson and Jim Parry
9 Human rights, goods and preferences in sport
Leslie A. Howe
PART IV
Policy, law and human rights
10 International sport policy
Cathy Devine
11 National sport policy
Cathy Devine
12 Sport and UK law
Naomi Cunningham and Michael Foran
13 Human rights, sex, gender identity and sport
Cathy Devine
Female athletes’ voices and conclusions
14 Centring the female athlete voice on sex, gender identity and sport: An in-depth survey of 25 current and former female Canadian high-performance athletes
Cathy Devine
15 Ten elite female Canadian current and former athletes’ perspectives on transgender eligibility for elite sport: A qualitative analysis using semi-structured interviews
Cathy Devine
16 Conclusions
Cathy Devine
Biography
Cathy Devine is an independent researcher, former senior lecturer at the University of Cumbria, UK (1995–2017), and erstwhile secretary of the British Philosophy of Sport Association. She previously worked at the National Coaching Foundation, and at the National Federation of Women’s Institutes as Head of Sport. Her research focuses on the human rights of girls and women in sport.
‘Cathy's edited collection on sex and gender in sport is the first of its kind in providing a detailed and accurate analysis of the impact that gender ideology has had on female participation and surrounding attitudes in recent years. Protecting the female category in sport is of the utmost importance for fairness and safety. Cathy and her authors expertly examine how the law, biology and recent history is informing the policies of sporting bodies both at home and internationally.’
Tonia Antoniazzi is the Labour MP for Gower, UK, and advocate for women and girls' sex-based rights. A former rugby international - front row forward for Wales - she has spoken frequently on women in sport and the need to protect the female category.
‘This collection, edited by Cathy Devine, brilliantly, patiently and with great clarity exposes how extreme ideology has distorted sports and sporting policies to the great detriment of women and girls. The contributors - all experts in their fields - provide us with powerful evidence and compelling arguments across the many dimensions of sports - from history and science to policy, law and politics. With clarity and a compassionate approach, the book helps us chart a way back to fairness, equality and the integrity of sport for everyone. The book is a courageous, intellectually powerful intervention into the often deliberately created confusion that surrounds the participation of transwomen and males with differences of sex development in women's sports. It is compulsory reading for policymakers, lawyers, athletes, and feminist and sports academics.’
Chetan Bhatt is the Anthony Giddens Professor of Social Theory in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.
‘I've known Cathy for a long time in our joint fight for fair and safe sport for women and girls based on simple facts. It’s a pleasure to endorse her new book untangling the mess we have got ourselves into by not using the peer reviewed science.’
Sharron Davies MBE is a British Olympic silver medallist. She has since become a leading BBC sports pundit having attended 13 Olympics and counting.
‘There could not be a more appropriate time for this book. Unbiased, cold hard science underpinning the fact that sport is played with biological bodies not feelings. We needed this book, thank you.’
Tracy Edwards MBE skippered the first all-female crew to ever sail/race around the world and is the Founder of The Maiden Factor Foundation, UK, supporting girls into education.
‘Cathy Devine’s edited collection accomplishes what should have been sport’s starting point: centering girls and women in determining eligibility for competing in “female” sport categories. Devine’s excellent book covers the map: history, science, the law, and human rights - from girls’ and women’s perspectives. Most importantly, the final chapters give voice to elite female athletes who have been silenced in this policy debate. A triumph. I highly recommend it.’
Nancy Hogshead is a three-time Olympic champion, a civil rights lawyer, and the founder and CEO of Champion Women, USA, a non-profit providing legal advocacy for girls and women in sports.
‘Women and girls have had to fight for their place in sport and to be treated equally as sports participants and world class athletes in their own right. This book details the history, science, theory, policy, human rights and law underpinning the female sport category. Most importantly it places women and girls at the heart of deliberations about eligibility for their own categories. A breath of fresh air in an often heated, confused and ill-informed debate.’
Martina Navratilova is a former professional tennis player and coach.
‘Sport provides a reductio ad absurdum of the idea that sex doesn’t matter. In Sex, Gender Identity and Sport, Cathy Devine and others sweep away the cobwebs of post-truth myth-making and obfuscation to provide a scholarly and wide-ranging analysis encompassing biology, sociology, philosophy and law.’
Alice Sullivan is Professor of Sociology at the University College London Social Research Institute, UK. She is a member of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies and Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
‘In recent years the push back on unsporting policies has proved very challenging, with the upside that it has led to the production of much excellent thinking and evidence to defend the female sporting category. This book and its chapters add another top resource. If only the IOC had as thoroughly considered the interests of female athletes and the very integrity of sport itself when they voted to suspend sex verification testing for the female category in 1999.’
Alison Sydor is a Former Elite/Professional Athlete, 4 x Olympian, 1996 Olympic Silver Medallist, 3x World Champion, 3x World Cup Overall Champion.
‘For too long, women’s sport was compromised by misinformation, secrecy, and the influence of those whose interests lay in enabling males to enter women’s sport, thus eroding fairness and safety. The only antidote is knowledge — and Cathy Devine provides it. This book illuminates the biology, exposes the policy manipulations, and gives voice to those who were silenced — an essential read for anyone shaping sport’s future.’
Ross Tucker is an Extraordinary Associate Professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, a science and research consultant for World Rugby and co-presenter of the Real Science of Sport Podcast.
‘This book is a tour de force. Devine and her co-authors cover every aspect of the sex and gender debate in sport - the law, policy, historical context, language, the physiological differences between the two sexes, DSDs and more. With its use of facts, precise language and clear explanations, this book is essential reading for everyone trying to understand the ongoing assault on fair and safe sport for women and girls wrought by gender identity ideology. An informative, comprehensive and much-needed book.’
Mara Yamauchi is a British former elite athlete in endurance running, and former diplomat. She is a two-time Olympian, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, and winner of the Osaka International Ladies' Marathon.
