By Ash B.

To say that “men” in women’s sports is a hot-button issue would be an understatement. 

Many individuals have a knee-jerk emotional reaction to this topic; far fewer know the facts about transgender or intersex athletes. I’d bet even fewer know that gender anxieties in relation to sports are nothing new – in fact, they date back over a century. For example: mandatory medical exams, to ‘prove the womanhood’ of female athletes, were first popularized by a Nazi sports physician for the 1936 Olympics. Sex testing would become more prominent in the following decades, particularly in the context of the Cold War. Such is one bit of history unveiled in The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports by Michael Waters.

As indicated by its title, this nonfiction book addresses political, social, cultural, and scientific developments in the early twentieth century. Waters digs deep into the history of professional, international athletics, exploring the forces that impacted where, and by whom, sports could be played – particularly at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games in Nazi Germany. The idea of women playing sports, whether leisurely or professionally, was enough to cause public (primarily male) concern and outrage in this time period. The founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, declared that female athletes did not, “constitute a sight to be recommended before the crowds I gather for an Olympiad.” 

On a surface level, it’s not difficult to imagine why there’s a patriarchal bias regarding athletics – consider how current broadcasts of women’s sports get less viewership and the teams get fewer resources than their male counterparts. Dig a bit deeper, and you quickly run into norms about what a female body is ‘supposed’ to look like. Notice how women are ridiculed and called “manly” when they are seen as too muscular? Think about how many people now accuse female athletes with ‘masculine’ characteristics – a square jawline, a broad nose, wide shoulders, a small chest – of being male. 

This is the cruel irony of the anti-trans “defending women’s sports” issue; it doesn’t just target trans people. It significantly harms cisgender women by policing their bodies and appearances, too, especially women of color and intersex women. This fixation on gender conformity in sports – specifically women being ‘feminine’ enough – can be traced back decades, to when women were discouraged from playing sports at all. Fear-mongering abounded regarding the ‘masculinizing’ effects that playing sports, especially sports that were accessible to working-class women. As Waters paraphrases the British paper The Daily Herald, “women who participated in ‘masculine’ sports like soccer or track and field risked creating a third category of sex.”

These cultural fears were elevated by news of Zdeněk Koubek and Mark Weston – each assigned female at birth and raised as girls – publicly transitioning to living as men, in 1935 and 1936 respectively. Because both Koubek and Weston had formerly won titles in the Women’s World Games, an international competition similar to the Olympics, their gender revelations had significant influence on discourse regarding women’s sports, including paranoia that male athletes could ‘pose’ as women to win professional competitions.

With an engrossing narrative approach, Waters traces the histories of Koubek and Weston along with the stories of key bureaucrats in the sports world, such as Alice Milliat, founder of the Women’s World Games, and Avery Brundage, an American sports administrator who climbed his way to Olympic leadership. Whether you’re interested in athletics, politics, or gender, you’re sure to glean knowledge from Waters’ depth of research. This is a great read for all history lovers who relish in learning little-known facts, woven together in personal and national narratives, as well as anyone who is concerned (or simply confused) about the culture wars around gender and women’s sports.

The Other Olympians is available in print and as an e-audiobook from Libby.

Interested in a brighter side of queer history? Learn about drag history and makeup on June 17, 7 – 8:30 pm at HCLS Central Branch for You Betta Werk! The Art & History of Drag. Free makeup will be given to attendees, while supplies last, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Ash is an Instructor and Research Specialist at HCLS Central Branch with a passion for information literacy and community engagement. They love music, gardening, hiking, and cuddling with their golden retriever.