Too Much Testosterone: Why Differences in Bodily Testosterone Levels are Insufficient to Fairly Exclude Trans Women and Girl Athletes from Competition with their Gender

Abstract: Trans women and girl athletes are often excluded from competition with their gender because it is claimed they have an athletic advantage to their cisgender competitors. This claim is structured on the gender binary and generalizes that men, trans women, and trans girls have, or at one point had, higher levels of bodily testosterone than cisgender women and girls. Since testosterone augments physical characteristics that are athletically advantageous, trans women and girl athletes are expected to have an unfair athletic advantage to cisgender women and girl athletes. I refer to this argument as the Athletic Advantage Argument and, while is relied on often, I question the strength of its conclusion.
By applying a feminist critique to the physiological functions and social norms surrounding testosterone, I suggest it maintains a normative “manly” value that reinforces the patriarchal norms of the gender binary. Then, I assess how these patriarchal norms are mapped onto gender in athletics, such that testosterone reinforces the narrative that cisgender women and girl athletes are inferior to men, trans women, and trans girl athletes. While I grant that testosterone can augment physical athletic advantages, I argue testosterone should not be the sole determinant of one’s athletic ability through examples demonstrating why testosterone is an insufficient sole predictor of athletic superiority. By clarifying how the normative “manly” value of testosterone functions in the Athletic Advantage Argument, I argue its conclusion is not strong enough to fairly exclude all trans women and girl athletes from competition with their gender.