Educational Media Reviews Online

Suspicion and scrutiny of women’s bodies and the use of policies to determine competitive eligibility and prove “femininity” are not new to the world of sports. The history of invasive inspections by the International Amateur Athletics Federation, IAAF (now World Athletics) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are traced in Category: Woman. Filmmaker Phyllis Ellis examines the world of competitive track and in particular the targeting of four women athletes by the IAAF which decided that (female) athletes with naturally high levels of testosterone (using the term hyperandrogenism) have a performance advantage and thus must medically alter their bodies if they want to compete in order to prevent “unfair male-like competition.”

We see the scrutiny by the governing bodies and the public and how this does not apply to men and how it does not happen to all women athletes. Some women are allowed to be celebrated. Black and brown athletes, particularly from Global South nations, are particularly targeted.

Through the telling of the athletes’ stories, we get to see the humanity of their experiences and the real dangers to their lives, livelihoods, and mental health that have come about due to the public outing of their medical records and the determinations of ineligibility in their sport.

Category: Woman is about the fundamental human right to be who you are and how the use of policy and politics to exploit medicine to make a decision about what is normal or not normal in a human body is dehumanizing and dangerous.

While this film is highly recommended, it does miss the opportunity to also discuss the struggles of trans women athletes. Though transgender athletes’ experiences are not the same as those born with differences of sex development (DSD), they too are forced to be a part of the debate to define what makes someone female and eligible to compete.

This film would be especially useful in courses in sports medicine, sport psychology, women and gender studies, and human rights.

Awards:
Official Selection: Hot Docs, Official Selection: FIN Atlantic Film Festival

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