It takes courage to make a stand publicly about one’s private opinion. Martina Navratilova, J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk embody this. All weighed in last week on the controversy surrounding the boxing match between Olympians Imane Khelif of Algeria and Angela Carini of Italy. The bout lasted only 46 seconds after the Algerian landed a blow to the face of the Italian. The latter, in apparent severe pain, threw down her helmet and cried out -- “this is unjust.” Under normal circumstances that should have been the end of it. But we are all still talking about it today.

The Algerian boxer was born male, the Italian female. And that is where the controversy began and remains. The three notables mentioned above claim an injustice has been committed by the IOC and on the person of Angela Carini, the Italian competitor. And while the IOC is claiming innocence, our three celebs are suggesting more testing is needed (DNA, testosterone etc.) to ensure fairness in competition, and this just to determine who is and who is not female. Tests may not be the answer, but genetics is.

Our three notables just mentioned have offered more than a few comments, often laced with colorful metaphors. While I will forego mentioning any of them specifically, I will say in the spirit in which they were delivered that I couldn’t agree more. A man hits a woman and the IOC thinks it was right. I don’t -- neither do they. 

One would think the French would get a simple raising of the Olympic flag right, but then they haven’t got a lot of things right lately. One need only consider the chaos of the last election if more proof is needed. The last legislative debacle bypassed western values and ideals for social justice -- but the precursor of social justice is equality not fairness. After more than two centuries following the Age of Reason, the people of France were on the path of self-determination, but it did not eventuate. Instead, they are losing their cultural identity, a sense of who they are, drifting into a globalization haze where the effects of postmodern relativism highlight the neurasthenic malaise which hovers over its modern politics.

Unfortunately, the consequences for the Olympian Angela Carini are devastating. The blow received to her face was not intersubjective but brought into specific relief the injustice of the event, notwithstanding its discernible effects. Although the Italian Olympian was concerned about a broken nose, the damage is immortalized by the breach of trust the IOC committed by fostering the injury upon her -- allowing a greater body mass to offend the lesser -- a blatant disregard by the institution for her physical safety.

The punchline (pun intended) and the force behind it is a simple matter of physics (Force=Mass x Acceleration). In this instance, the force was greater because the muscle mass was greater -- about 43% for males and 35% for females -- not to mention males having twice the number of muscle cells by the onset of puberty. The above is a function of genetics, not culture. 

Today, a male needs only to masquerade as a female to become one. But, without a public to condone and applaud his theatrics, privately, the only one fooled would be his own reflection on his mirror -- no applause there. This writer asserts the actor represented himself as a female instead of a male to prevail in this demanding discipline with the full knowledge of his own physical strength. The boxer did not train arduously only to restrain the force of his punch in competition. That answers the question as to why he chose pugilistics. Sadly, this make-belief was no farce for Angela -- it caused physical pain and trauma.

Maybe, instead of reaching for gold, the male should have settled for cash by making a real contribution to the world -- just being himself.

Let’s consider ourselves warned. The IOC mocked Angela Carini’s womanhood -- imposing upon her their own callous subjectivity -- where “everyone and therefore no one” in the name of equity (not equality) matters. Achieving equity and therefore fairness seeking justice would have meant the male would not have been allowed to compete against a female because of the implied advantage and thus bias regarding his much greater muscle mass. Such a match was inherently unfair and counter to the definition of equity which states: “we must recognize that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances.” Perhaps, lead weights in her gloves to equal the punching force of his greater muscle mass? After the disrespectful theatrics of the opening ceremonies, I guess anything is to be expected -- no matter how ridiculous the idea.

The IOC is the ultimate transgressor here, they have no excuse -- they allowed it to occur.

A political pandemic is festering -- omnipresent, more invidious and more lethal than any virus. Instead of wearing masks, a cultural gag order suppresses individualism creating an atmosphere of unease. Unfortunately, it took a “cry of pain” to distinguish a young woman’s aria to hopefully change the status quo.

After the massive energy spent on listening to the myriads of voices and their atrophied visions of the future -- in the secrecy of one’s conscience -- let us not forsake this soloist. Let us hum along and rally toward a much-needed tangible leadership, otherwise, the critical mass will continue to serve those solely invested in the corporate self and its interests, imposing upon us its own agenda.

As for the French, they should remember the words of the Baron de Montesquieu in his, The Spirit of Laws:

“An injustice committed against anyone is a threat against everyone.”

Image: AT via Magic Studio