Sex/Gender Testing at the Olympics and the Desire to Uphold the Sex/Gender Binary in the World of Sports

In this thesis, I argue that, in a state of constant reaction to the athletes on the part of the sports federations, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), while claiming to protect women and ensure fairness through sex/gender testing, look to use a plethora of standards, such as appearance, performance, and testosterone levels, to uphold a Western ideal of femininity, adjudicate the sex/gender of female athletes, and above all, maintain a sex/gender binary in the world of sports.