Gender Policing In Sports, 1937

Gender policing in sport has been popping up all over my social media timeline, recently. Given the discourses of the day and the upcoming Olympics, I guess it’s not surprising. I have taken my cues from a distant observation of the discourse, and noticed that pretty much every cis white dude with Strong Opinions About Gender And Sports seems to be some sort of homophobe/transphobe, or else is just drunk on TERF memes. So me, I’m mostly resolved to shut up and stay that way.

But I do think it’s interesting and worthy of note to point out that there’s nothing at all new about these gender-policing conversations. In evidence, I offer the following full-page spread of three stories from the February 1937 issue of Look magazine, headlined “When Is A Woman Actually A Woman?” For the times, the language is not especially brutal (you can click the image or this link for a larger version to read the fine print), but the policing is brisk nonetheless:

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Breasting The Finish Line

Surely there’s something in the rule book prohibiting distracting your fellow competitors by breaking the finish line tape with your nipples? But somehow I don’t think we can rely on the referee today:

From Kinky Delight.

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The Coach Is Displeased

This very subtle punished-after-gym-class tableau (Is that a cane, or maybe a yard stick, on the desk behind her? And “punishment rules” on the notice board?) is from one of the vintage British spanking magazines, I’d wager. Don’t forget to click for the full length shot that shows her socks and gym shoes:

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Hello, Pretty Sports Fan

Sports events would get more of my time if there were more pretty fans like this:

From Dare Dorm.

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