Having an unfair advantage” vs “playing by the rules

Media discourses of trans women’s participation in the Olympics

Bibliographic Data

ID7154353
AuthorsAnna Kavoura (0000-0002-7994-6901, University of Brighton, corresponding author), Olu Jenzen (0000-0002-0792-6135, University of Southampton)
Year2025
Volume25
Issue8
Pages1804-1819
Publication date2025-11-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Media Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-0777 • E-ISSN: 1471-5902
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14680777.2024.2395965
OpenAlexW4402340069
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited35

This study reviews UK news media discourses surrounding New Zealand’s weightlifter Laurel Hubbard’s participation in the 2020 Olympics as the first ever publicly open transgender woman to compete at the Olympic Games. Discourse analysis of 94 news and opinion articles published in the UK press before and after the Olympics, reveals contradictory portrayals of Hubbard as both having an unfair biological advantage and playing by the rules. While these discursive constructions appear contradictory on the surface, both draw on wider cisgenderist discourses to produce and police normative understandings of gender. We argue that sports media is a heightened site for the production of gendered bodies (in sport and in general), contributing to the production of ignorance around trans people, and influencing policy debates around the topic of trans inclusion

Advertising · Business · Political science · Sociology · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Psychology · Social Psychology · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Sports, Gender, and Society

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