02 NEWS
Afghanistan’s Taliban passes new law to regulate numerous different acts in the country
New legislation outlines several restrictions for the people of Afghanistan, including the concealment of women’s bodies, faces, and voices.
Aaron Calpito Contributor
On August 21, the Taliban issued its new legislation in Afghanistan outlining various acts that are deemed either forbidden or mandatory. The new law, titled “The Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,” outlines restrictions on individuals’ appearance, behaviour, recreation, and the press in the country.
Some of the newly enacted restrictions include bans on the taking and publishing of pictures of animate objects and the act of men shaving their beards. Also, the law requires that media outlets, according to a report published by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Ministry of Justice, must “publish reports that do not contradict Islamic law and religion.”
The restrictions include over 70 decrees concerning the exclusion of women from public life, which according to a diplomat representing Afghanistan’s previous government, amounts to a “gender apartheid regime.”
Such laws state that women’s voices, whether speaking or singing, “should be concealed” and that it is “obligatory for Muslim and righteous women to cover themselves in front of non-believing or loose women.” It is also forbidden for men to look at a woman’s body or face and forbidden for women to look at “strange men,” according to the report.
Enforcement of the new restrictions falls under the purview of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Punishments for violating the restrictions range from admonishment to “any punishment that an enforcer considers appropriate, and which is not the exclusive prerogative of a court of law.”
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) convened on September 18 to discuss the new law.
In her briefing to the council, United Nations (UN) Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva acknowledged that the Taliban have brought about unprecedented stability to Afghanistan but also accused them of providing the country with “policies that focus insufficiently on the real needs of its people.”
Otunbayeva also criticized how the new law “was drafted among a small group of religious scholars and with no consultation with the population that it regulates.”
benefits all of the Afghan population, regardless of gender or ethnicity.”
However, the UNSC was not unanimous in its response to the morality law.
The council’s US delegate contended that the repressive policies in Afghanistan are “increasingly raising questions about the merits of engaging the Taliban” and that the international community must “hold the line on any actions that legitimize the Taliban as a government.”
The council’s US delegate contended that the repressive policies in Afghanistan are “increasingly raising questions about the merits of engaging the Taliban” and that the international community must “hold the line on any actions that legitimize the Taliban as a government.”
Guyana, Algeria, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, and France commended the Taliban’s presence at a UN meeting in Doha, Qatar and supported the fostering of stability through the group’s continued engagement with the international community.
China’s delegate took the opportunity to criticize the West’s “illegal unilateral sanctions,” according to the country’s diplomat, pointing to the reported 24 million Afghans needing humanitarian aid.
The delegate for Russia criticized Western countries’ approach of unequivocal condemnation of the Taliban, calling it a “road to nowhere.” He instead lauded the Taliban for stabilizing the country and poising it for future development and pointed to the potential hindering of progress caused by Western players.
Taliban government deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat defended the morality law in an interview with the BBC last month, stating that “the restrictions in the law are a code for ideal conduct, but if there is a necessity to do certain things, even what’s not permitted in Islam, [it] can be permitted if it’s driven out of necessity.”
France’s representative emphasized the need for keeping conversation with the Taliban “rooted in a unified strategy which
Speaking on the law to Al Jazeera, Afghan-American Mariam Solaimankhil, a member of the exiled Parliament of Afghanistan, asserted: “This isn’t a reflection of Afghan culture; this isn’t our identity.”
Recapping the Russo-Ukrainian war since May 2024
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes we are closer to the end of the Russo-Ukraine war than we think.
Celesta Maniatogianni Contributor
Monday, October 7, represents day 955 of the Russo-Ukrainian war since it began in February 2022. Since then, millions of Ukrainian families have been displaced, including more than five million people who have fled to neighbouring countries as a result of the war.
This year, Russia has continued its attacks on Ukraine while Ukraine tries to counter Russian advances.
May 2024
In early May of this year, Russian forces crossed the international border to the north of Kharkiv—Ukraine’s second-biggest city— capturing several villages and forcing thousands of civilians to flee.
Additionally, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said Russian forces dropped nearly 3,200 guided aerial bombs this month alone in Ukraine.
July 2024
This year, July became the deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine since October 2022, when 317 civilians were killed and 795 were injured. This month, at least 219 civilians were killed, and 1,018 were injured in total.
August 2024
In early August, Ukrainian troops launched a counter-offensive into Russian soil, reaching up to 30 kilometres into Russia’s Kursk region. The attack resulted in the evacuation of 200,000 people from areas along the border by the Russian government and is considered an attempt to relieve pressure on Ukraine’s eastern regions by forcing the redeployment of Russian troops.
Two weeks after the start of the offensive of the Kursk region, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated that his troops controlled over 93 villages and more than 1,200 square kilometres in Kursk, which is more territory than Russia has seized from Ukraine this year.
According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office, a strike on a shopping mall in Ukraine on August 9 killed at least 14 people and injured 43 others.
On August 25, Russia carried out what Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk described as “the most massive aerial attack” to date. The assault involved hundreds of drones, cruise missiles, and supersonic missiles, striking around 15 regions in Ukraine and focusing on energy infrastructure, leading to widespread blackouts. The attack killed at least seven people and wounded dozens of others.
September 2024
On September 1, Russian air strikes in Kharkiv, a city in Ukraine, injured at least 41 people, including five children. The strikes also resulted in damage to a supermarket and sports complex, which residents visit daily.
President Zelensky condemned the attacks, stating that “Russia is once again terrorizing Kharkiv, striking civilian infrastructure and the city itself.”
On September 3, at least 51 people were killed and 271 injured after a missile attack in the central Ukrainian city of Poltava hit a military academy and hospital. A strike on a Kharkiv apartment on September 15 killed one person and injured at least 40 others.
On September 12, the International Committee of the Red Cross reported that three of its workers and two others were injured in a strike in eastern Ukraine, which Zelensky called “another Russian war crime.”
A few days later, on September 14, Russia and Ukraine exchanged a total of 206 prisoners of war in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates.
In the last week of September, Zelensky visited the US to present his “victory plan” to American leaders, including President Joe Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. Zelensky also hinted at his wish to ease the weapon restrictions of allies like the US and Britain and told ABC News that Ukraine was “closer to the peace than we think.”
October 2024
On October 1, a shelling by Russian forces killed six people in a local market area in Kherson, a city in Ukraine.
On October 3, Russian forces carried out a major drone attack overnight, targeting 15 Ukrainian regions, which resulted in the damage to energy infrastructure and residential buildings.
As of this month, the Russia-Ukraine war continues to take a heavy toll, with military operations from both sides intensifying, including Russian attacks and Ukrainian counter-offensives.
Sudanese Armed Forces
initiates new offensive as Sudan’s civil war continues to escalate
Experts predict the death toll in Sudan could be as high as 150,000 since the start of the war.
Samuel Kamalendran News Editor
On September 26, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) launched a major offensive in Sudan’s capital—Khartoum— during the country’s 17-month-long civil war.
The conflict, which has created one of the most significant humanitarian crises today, shows no sign of stopping despite international efforts to broker a ceasefire deal.
On September 26, the SAF pummeled positions of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum with artillery and airstrikes in an attempt to gain back the city.
The operation, which military sources say was in the works for months, was the SAF’s first major attempt in months to regain lost territory. The operation resulted in the taking of three key bridges and the redeployment of RSF troops to Khartoum.
According to the United Nations (UN), more than 14,000 people have been killed and 33,000 injured since the start of the war, while some analysts predict the death toll could be as high as 150,000 for reasons such as famine.
In his address to the UN General Assembly’s annual debate on September 26, Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan, the SAF’s head and de facto ruler of Sudan, said the RSF should be considered a terrorist group and even referred to their actions as “crimes, violations, and atrocities,” against Sudanese people and the Sudanese state.
Al-Burhan also called for the UN to fulfill its responsibility “to protect developing countries in the face of the efforts by some other States,” in a reference which most likely pointed to, among other players, the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—which has been accused of providing the RSF arms and even troops and support for the group’s public relations. According to the Middle East Eye, the UAE denies supplying weapons or ammunition to any parties involved in the Sudan war.
In a meeting with al-Burhan in New York, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres shared “deep concern about the escalation of the conflict in the Sudan, which continues to have a devastating impact on the Sudanese civilians.” The nation’s civil war has led to Sudan experiencing the world’s largest hunger crisis, with nearly 26 million people, over half the population, facing hunger.
The crisis has led to devastating outcomes, including approximately five million breastfeeding and pregnant women and children being malnourished.
In the town of Tawila, which is located in the country’s North Darfur state, it has been reported that at least 10 children die of hunger daily.
Since 2023, over 10 million people, half are children, have been displaced, with two million crossing into neighbouring countries.
A May 2024 report from Human Rights Watch documented the targeting of Massalit and non-Arab communities by the RSF and allied militias in Sudan’s West Darfur state in what is being called ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The violence included massacres during which the RSF opened fire on civilian convoys on multiple occasions and committed various serious human rights abuses.
Additionally, a report from the UN’s Independent Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan has documented attacks by both the SAF and RSF on civilians through “forms of sexual violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, as well as torture and ill-treatment.”
The civil war has left over 17 million children without access to an official education and seen over 110 schools and hospitals being attacked, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund Representative Sheldon Yett.
Additionally, a CNN investigation earlier this year discovered that the RSF forcibly recruited 700 men and 65 children over three months in the Jazira state, coercing them by withholding food and using torture and execution.
Sudan also experienced massive cholera outbreaks, killing over 430 people in the last month and infecting nearly 14,000. Due to the war, getting treatment has become increasingly difficult in the affected areas.
Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal
Israel invades Lebanon while launching attacks against the country
At least 37 people, including children, have been killed after thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in Lebanon.
Diana Fu Contributor
This month, Israel deployed ground troops for an invasion of southern Lebanon and has launched hundreds of airstrikes across the country.
The invasion followed weeks of escalations between Israel and Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim political party and armed group based in Lebanon that has supported Hamas against Israel in the war in Gaza.
Pager explosions
On September 17 and 18, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies across Lebanon exploded, killing at least 37 people, including children, and injuring nearly 3,000.
According to Lebanese officials, the explosive technology was virtually undetectable. While Israel has not directly commented on the explosions, CNN reports that the attacks stemmed from an operation by Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, and the Israeli military.
United Nations (UN) human rights experts have characterized the explosions as a violation of international law, citing the prohibition of booby traps, their indiscriminate nature, and the ability of the devices to spread widespread terror.
Mounting airstrikes
Following the pager explosions, Israel intensified its airstrikes on Lebanon, intending to target Hezbollah members. On September 28, one of these airstrikes struck a fortified compound, carrying out a decapitation strike which killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and instigated a promise of revenge from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Other airstrikes have hit residential areas in Beirut cited by Israel to contain Hezbollah fighters, with the bombardments killing 105 people in the capital on September 30.
Israeli strikes have hit hospitals and medical personnel in Lebanon, killing at least 50 paramedics over the last two weeks alone. More recently, an Israeli strike on October 3 killed nine people in a central Beirut hospital.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the strikes have caused the displacement of one million Lebanese.
Amnesty International has called for Israel to limit its strikes to military objectives only and take “all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians,” noting the death toll of at least 558 people on September 23. The organization also documented the carrying out of indiscriminate attacks on civilians by Hezbollah.
Israel has repelled these assertions, claiming that the Israel Defense Forces has to attack civilian targets due to Hezbollah embedding itself in these areas. The US has mediated talks for a ceasefire in an attempt to defuse these tensions, but on September 26, Israel firmly rejected ceasefire calls.
Invasion and retaliation
Israel has previously claimed that the increase in airstrike frequency served as a precursor to a future ground invasion by pre-emptively weakening Hezbollah’s positions.
On October 1, Israel confirmed these plans by launching a ground invasion into southern Lebanon, claiming that the invasion pre-emptively struck Hezbollah bases that were preparing their own offensive into Israeli territory.
In response to both the Israeli ground invasion of Israel and Nasrallah’s death, Iran has launched at least 180 missiles into Israel. As a result, Israel has vowed retaliation for the Iranian attack, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating that Israel is determined to retaliate against its enemies.
On September 27, Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly in New York and defended Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon, stating that Israel “is at war fighting for its life” and will attack Hezbollah until “all objectives are met.”
Israel also banned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres from entering the country on October 2 due to his perceived “failure to ‘unequivocally condemn’ Iran’s massive military attack on Israel,” according to Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
Guterres had previously stated on October 1 that he condemned “the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation” without naming any specific countries.
Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal
MASTHEAD
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor-in-Chief
Hannah Wang editor@themedium.ca
Managing Editor Aya Yafaoui managing@themedium.ca
News
Samuel Kamalendran news@themedium.ca
Opinion
Mashiyat Ahmed opinion@themedium.ca
Features
Madhav Ajayamohan features@themedium.ca
A&E
Keira Johannson arts@themedium.ca
Sports Joseph Falzata sports@themedium.ca
Photo Sara Li photos@themedium.ca
Design
Buket Simsek Baykal design@themedium.ca
Copy May Alsaigh may@themedium.ca
Maja Tingchaleun maja@themedium.ca
WRITE FOR US
TO CO NTRI BU TE & CONNECT: themedium.ca/contact
@themediumUTM @themediumUTM
@themediumUTM @themediumUTM
@themessageUTM @humansofUTM_
Editor | Mashiyat Ahmed opinion@themedium.ca
Institutions are doing what they’re intended to do
Institutions are their outcomes, so what does that mean for the state of our world?
Aya
Yafaoui Managing Editor
Afew months ago, my aunt was deciding between which preschool she should send her three-year-old son to. She called my mother for advice during our morning commute. I’ll never forget the sobering assessment my mother gave her younger sister that day. What was the deciding factor, you ask? It was not the educational programming, or the ratio of staff to children, or any of the other normal considerations that parents and caregivers contemplate before enrolling their child in a school. No. The factor that made one preschool stand out over the other was whether it was equipped with a bunker.
You see, my aunt and three-year-old cousin live in Lebanon. And if say — hypothetically — a genocidal apartheid state decided to start bombing the small, struggling country in a bid to maintain power, then my mother’s assessment makes perfect sense. A preschool with a bunker is a clear advantage to keeping my little cousin safe.
Of course, my little cousin still has to make it home from that day of preschool. And even being at home is no guarantee that he can wake up unharmed the next day. After all, Israel bombed six — SIX! — residential buildings just to assassinate one target, a tactic that is named the Dahiyeh Doctrine.
I watch as the family group chat fills with messages of: “Did you hear that bomb go off?” “That one sounded close.” “What are we going to do?” “Should we leave?” “Where would we go?” And there is no good answer. Do you stay and die in your home or become a refugee that no one will care for? Even worse, if you do decide to evacuate, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be safe since Israel is also bombing those evacuating and bombing escape routes. What would you pick in this situation, reader? Really contemplate it for a moment and appreciate the impossible decision my aunt has to make as she looks at her three-year-old son.
Now remember the even crueler circumstances and decisions Palestinians have had to face for a WHOLE YEAR. Genocide. One year of genocide. Do not gloss over that.
Documented and livestreamed. The annihilation of a people at your fingertips. Every journalist that documents the horrors ends up targeted. When you hear: “Hi everyone, it’s Bisan from Gaza and today is 365 days of the genocide.” Will you not feel shame? Does it not break your heart? More importantly, doesn’t it make you angry? We let our institutions continue to abuse the powers they’ve been given to murder and pillage. We believe it to be a corruption of the system, this thirst for blood and wealth. Yet, an institution is its outcome. And these systems are acting as intended, because colonialism and capitalism were the foundations for our world today, it never went away.
On September 24, Marcellus Williams was murdered by the state of Missouri supported by the U.S. Supreme Court. He was murdered. Murdered for a crime he was not proven to have committed. Murdered despite the prosecutors, the victim’s family, and numerous petitions pleading to save his life and stop him from receiving the death penalty. This was not a failure of the system. Not when a system still includes the death penalty as an option for prisoners despite it being a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that was adopted by the United Nations in 1966. Not when due process is blatantly ignored by multiple levels of the judicial system. Not when the criminal justice system of the United States has the 13th amendment imbedded in it, which states that: “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
The system that murdered Marcellus Williams, an innocent black man, also murdered six-year-old Hind, and now may also murder my family. These systems that have no value for human life have created our societies. The foundations of imperialism, colonization, capitalism, and white supremacy are at the very core of our countries. Nowhere is that more clear than in Canada, the country in which we live. The continued effects of genocide and ethnic cleansing have not been addressed substantially by either government or Canadian society. And we continue to see how the Canadian system has been intentionally set up to consistently disenfranchise Indigenous people in Canada.
So on the one-year mark of a genocide in Gaza, really sit with the fact that these systems are doing what they are meant to do: kill and pillage and profit. And remember that these systems are not set in stone nor are they human nature. They were created by people once, and so they can be torn down as well. Our history should not shackle our imagination for the future. And I will continue to fight for and imagine a world where a three-yearold boy does not have to go to a preschool with a bunker.
The abuse of historical tragedies is psychological warfare
The Holocaust’s legacy is weaponized for evil by the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Yasmine Benabderrahmane Contributor
Discourse on the occupation of Palestine by the Israeli government, even before October 7th and the subsequent military assault and genocide, is haunted by the memory of the Holocaust — and the historical parallels that arise from that are, in many ways, an intellectual and moral failing.
For Western establishments, the Holocaust has become a card dealt at the expense of Jewish people, and a reminder of historical Western failings and immorality. All the while, they relegate antisemitism to the past and ignore its hidden bloom in Western societies.
This sets the Holocaust as a frame of reference for all genocides, placed on a pedestal within a hierarchy of tragedies, a competition that inevitably ridicules the genocides of brown and black people. Where the Holocaust is rightfully met by an outcry of global grievances, brown and black struggles become historically innate and sidelined; a ticking bomb that was bound to explode. The Holocaust is uniquely horrific because every genocide is uniquely horrific. None have happened or will happen in humane circumstances.
Zionism is an ethno-cultural and political movement rooted in the establishment, protection, and expansion of a “Jewish nation” on native Palestinian land. The movement started in the late 19th Century and gained much traction due to the conflation of Judaism with Zionism, and the increasing precarity of Jews in Europe during the 20th Century. Antisemitism, on the other hand, is discrimination directed towards those of the Jewish faith, their beliefs, way of life, and communities.
In July, a controversy between two TikTok creators, @_madiswan_, also known as Madison, and @yuvaltheterrible, known as Yuval, saw precisely that. Madison, a Black content creator, stitched a video claiming that the Holocaust has been weaponized to equate Zionism with Judaism and serve Israeli propaganda. Yuval, a pro-Palestinian Jewish content creator, responded by claiming that such thought was bound in antisemitism. Yuval set the tragedy of the Holocaust above the trans-Atlantic slave trade and claimed that the Holocaust’s atrocity resides in the fact that “it happened in a civilized society [and] modern world.”
While Yuval followed the video with a series of nuanced apologies, the case rests that the West widely sympathizes with the Holocaust because its victims were white. Many on social media and wider discourse have pointed out that other crimes against humanity, such as Belgium’s colonial exploitation of Congo during 1885 and 1908 resulting in the deaths of an estimated 10 million enslaved workers, are not nearly as rampant in the public consciousness of the Global North as the Holocaust is.
This hierarchy also harms Jewish people, many of whose identities intersect beyond the European continent and Western history. Mizrahi, Ethiopian, and Sephardic Jews become identities whose struggles are only partially validated and fully politicized.
The abuse of the Holocaust’s history is only amplified in the case of Zionism. In the Israeli narrative, one of the factors for the establishment of the state was to protect the Jewish population in Europe from the rising extreme persecution during the early twentieth century. However, by claiming that the only solution for the “Jewish Question” in Europe is to occupy Palestinian lands painted the narrative that Palestinians owed reparations for the Holocaust. The narrative works to disregard the accountability of European persecution of Jewish communities and intensifies baseless anti-Arab racism.
The Holocaust is thus used as a fear-mongering machine to strengthen the Zionist state — a weapon that isolates Jewish communities around the world and alienates the Jewish population in the Middle East. It becomes a psychological threat to all.
The hypocrisy of the Holocaust’s weaponization by Zionism only intensifies when one notes the conditions in which Holocaust survivors live in Israel. One third of Holocaust survivors in Israel live in poverty, two thirds live in lonely conditions, and lobbies for increased financial aid have been overlooked by the Israeli government.
How is it, then, that a government so willing to frame the Holocaust as central to nationalist collective memory deems its very survivors as mere pawns in a game of Oppression Olympics?
All the while, they perpetuate a dangerous myth: that antiZionism is antisemitic. This allows them to conveniently target anti-Zionists as “Holocaust-deniers” and limit any forms of legitimate criticism again Israeli occupation, violence, and apartheid. It is then that the Holocaust is reduced to nothing more than a vehicle to instill fear and guilt.
But as Zionism abuses the Holocaust, Palestinians invoke the tragedy in defense. On numerous accounts, Palestinians and other pro-Palestinian voices have drawn parallels between the genocide in Gaza and the Nakba to the Holocaust. For example, some have labelled the Israeli government as the “new Nazi Germany”, and the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, equated the ongoing Nakba to “50 Holocausts” in 2022.
And while parallels exist, they are just that: parallels, not mirrors.
Both Palestinians’ and Israelis’ usage of the Holocaust mechanizes it as a constant point of reference for struggle. It deems it as a standard of genocide and dismisses its reality as a systematic murder of Jews that stems from a history of persecution.
But it must then be understood that the misrepresentation of the Holocaust by Palestinians is done to gain the sympathy of the West. It is a conscious effort assumed by a community’s cries that are actively dismissed in the wake of a genocide.
The Holocaust’s memory within the Israeli occupation of Palestine lives as a disproportionate analogy, weaponized for evil by one side and as a call for help by the latter. Regardless, such a misuse is as an intellectual and moral failure for both.
Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal
The forgotten struggle of Muslim women under the Taliban
The global apathy and lack of international outcry against recent Taliban laws reinforces gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
Makayla Kelly Contributor
When the Taliban—the Islamic fundamentalist political group—gained control of Afghanistan in 2021, many of us held our breath, waiting for a prompt and firm response from the international community to protect Afghan women’s rights.
We anticipated a global outcry, substantial sanctions, and on-the-ground intervention. Instead, we’ve seen a disconcerting and discouraging silence. Diplomatic efforts have stalled, humanitarian aid has decreased, and Afghan women’s voices have been effectively stifled.
Since taking power, the Taliban continues to enact regressive laws that ensure women live constrained lives: girls are prevented from attending school after the sixth grade, women are banned from working in most fields, and even simple recreational activities like park visits are prohibited. They are prisoners in their own homes, denied the civil right to exist outside of the domestic sphere.
This is nothing short of gender apartheid. Girls and women are made invisible, outcast, and eventually erased by the Taliban’s system. This is not a cultural or religious issue; it is widespread gender persecution. The phrase “gender apartheid” has already been used to characterize the Taliban’s conduct, but the international response is shamefully inadequate. If the Taliban were targeting people based on race
or another creed, the entire world would be appalled. However, because the victims are women—particularly Muslim women—the world turns a blind eye.
So, what has the world said? Almost nothing. The international response, specifically from the Western powers, have acted as if the diplomatic and political rights of Afghan women are not worthy of protection.
One of the most obvious failings in this disaster has been Western feminists’ near-complete silence. We often hear about the significance of intersectionality and fighting for all women’s rights, but where is that passion when it comes to Afghan women? Many of the same Western feminists who are quick to rally around domes tic issues seem to fall short when it comes to some of the human rights violations against Muslim women. Global feminism has overlooked Muslim women living under oppressive re gimes.
What we are witnessing from world leaders is not passive indifference, but complicity. The unwill ingness to confront the Taliban or impose mean ingful sanctions consti tutes tacit approval of what is happening.
We have tools at our disposal—diplomatic pressure, economic sanctions, and legal
accountability through international courts—but none of them have been fully implemented.
Why? Because it is easier to look away than to confront this challenge head-on.
While some countries and organizations have imposed symbolic sanctions, these are insufficient to combat the widespread gender-based persecution of Afghan women. Similarly, while various feminist and international organizations have released condemnatory statements, the overall response has been inadequate and uneven when compared to other serious human rights issues. Holding the Taliban accountable for “gender apartheid” and other atrocities is difficult due to a lack of political will and a weak international legal framework. These meager efforts demonstrate how the world continues to disregard the systematic erasure of Afghan women.
The international community must work harder to support Afghan women. Global leaders must prioritize Afghan women’s rights in diplomatic conversations, and we need action, not just words. Gender apartheid must be taken as seriously as racial apartheid. If not, Afghan women will continue to suffer. Until the international community takes significant action, the message will be clear: under Taliban rule, Muslim women are not worth defending.
Illustration credit: Buket S. Baykal
Language is civilization’s first weapon
Words are powerful, and we get to decide whether they are weapons of pain or tools for peace.
In all my psychology classes, language’s role in shaping the course of human existence, everything from our minds to society itself, cannot be underscored enough. In our evolutionary history, the advent of language — whether spoken or written or signed — marks the pivotal realization that certain words stitched together to form sentences could bridge otherwise insurmountable barriers between minds, tribes (or nations), and creeds.
People know words have weight. The conversation about Israel’s illegal occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is reduced to a palatable afterthought for many, especially those that have a robust social media presence and feel the pressure to comment on such matters.
With the power of communication at our tongues, diverse perspectives and abstract ideas galvanized humanity towards a newfound sophistication, allowing us to transmit culture, nurture collective identities, and form alliances. But, somewhere between sharing stories around the campfire to creating new writing systems, words slowly transformed into the art of rhetoric, the rules of persuasion, and the basis of deception.
Words as weapons
Words are critical to our evolutionary past. But they are even more important to our current moment. We live in an age where insults can be hurled across continents within mere seconds (if one’s Internet speed allows); where governments, institutions, leaders, and even community members can wield language to dehumanize victims of colonial and imperial violence and, in turn, celebrate the systems of oppression they are positioned to benefit from.
So, how exactly is language abused to distort the realities of our world?
Sure, the history of the Middle East is “complicated,” but not more or less complicated than any other history. You see, in using words such as “controversial” or “complicated,” to describe the “situation” in the Middle East, language becomes an instrument to minimize and deflect the suffering and colonial violence inflicted on Palestine. And for what? To protect our conscience?
Words leave an impression, and the impression left by our current discourse surrounding the Middle East is that colonialism is a thing of the past. We can use words to distance ourselves from the direct realities of the colonial violence our governments enable. But that does not mean we are spared of the moral weight of living in an interconnected world of our making, where our actions—or lack thereof—are indirectly tied to the oppression of others not very different from us.
And let’s not forget the “civil wars and famines” raging on in Sudan and the aftermath “humanitarian crises” of Tigray in Ethiopia. These are technically correct terms, but in my
opinion, they fail to acknowledge the political and economic realities of these countries. Unsurprisingly, these are tied to the colonial canvass of Africa, as well as the proxy nature of many of these so called “civil wars.”
My main concern is why we feel the need to use such covert and depoliticizing language to describe and understand something that is indeed deeply and irrevocably political. By depoliticizing, I mean using language that hides or distracts from the fact that these are manmade wars, genocides, famines, and conflicts. The suffering and, by extension, resilience of oppressed communities is political because it didn’t happen in a vacuum. In fact, the very act of using depoliticizing language is itself political because it could signify cultural ignorance, which, in my opinion, if carried on, is siding with the oppressor.
The science of dehumanization
Multiple research studies in psychology and even neuroscience have observed the influence dehumanizing words has on how individuals are treated. We all know what dehumanization means in colloquial terms. But what does science tell us?
It is easy to spot dehumanizing language, such as animalistic descriptions of people. Psy-
chologist Florence Enock, in her analysis of historical data, found that during historically salient periods like the persecution and extermination of Jews in Nazi Germany, humanizing language was three times more common than overtly dehumanizing language.
This is a contradiction because, normally, we’d think dehumanization is obviously morally depraved and easily recognizable.
But Enock suggests otherwise and illuminates the exact insidious nature of dehumanization. There is no causal link between dehumanization and the explicit and violent harm endured by so many around the world. Instead, dehumanization “increases people’s willingness to endorse harm,” says Enock. A cultural script for dehumanizing certain people over others simply makes it easier for some to sit on the sidelines and watch as others suffer an entirely avoidable onslaught of massacres, famines, genocides, and other countless forms of violence, direct and indirect. It’s essentially the by-stander effect on steroids.
Through her work, Enock suggests that the reason humanizing language is more common in times of oppression is because “dehumanization needs to be understood as something much broader than animalistic name-calling or objectifying. It’s a philosophically wider blindness to the fact that someone may be a human being with subjective experiences [...] it’s a fundamental ‘moral misrecognition.’”
A responsibility to each other
Language is not the enemy. And it’s more than just an asset. It’s a tool to chisel out the reality that we want for each other and our shared future.
In 2022 during a public talk, the Indian-British novelist Salman Rushdie was stabbed fifteen times, which left him severely wounded and in hospital for months. Rushdie, through his provocative criticism of militant and fundamentalist religion, has come to symbolize the intellectual freedom and the power of stories in times of division and uncertainty.
In his Masterclass, Rushdie says that “we are the only creatures who does this unusual thing of telling each other stories to try and understand the kind of creatures we are.” As such, we have an immense and often overlooked responsibility to harness the potential of this power. We can choose to use language to erupt in anger and to affirm our echo chambers. Or we can harness its unifying power.
We forget the people less fortunate than us are also mothers, fathers, daughters, sisters, sons, brothers, lovers, and friends. We forget that what separates us from them is sometimes mere geographical luck, or something equally arbitrary. It’s time that the language we use and the stories we tell remind us of our shared humanity.
Mashiyat Ahmed Opinion Editor
Illustration credit: Ramiya Sureshhkumar
09 features
A Better Day Tomorrow: What
started as a university club grows into something more
Konopny encourages students to get involved in as many things as possible during their time at university, stating, “Be bold and network!”
Alexis Konopny shares her experience in starting a club while discussing her aim to address homelessness in Toronto.
Milica Samardzic Contributor
As Canada continues to confront its ongoing homelessness crisis, a determined graduate student is taking the initiative to make a difference.
Alexis Konopny—a graduate student at the University of Toronto’s (U of T) St. George campus and an alumnus from the Mississauga campus (UTM)—has always been involved in volunteering and charity.
Currently, Konopny is pursuing a master’s degree at U of T’s Department of Nutritional Sciences and aspires to become a physician while researching to improve the quality of life in vulnerable communities, including those experiencing homelessness.
Her passion for helping the community propelled her to found A Better Day Tomorrow (ABDT) in 2021.
In an interview with The Medium, Konopny shares her experience starting the club, how it’s grown, and her advice for undergraduate students.
ABDT is a club at UTM that aims to raise awareness about homelessness in Canada while supporting disadvantaged and marginalized communities. The club stemmed from Konopny’s research into topics such as mental health, homelessness and food insecurity. Konopny was inspired to create a club that brought awareness to these issues while finding a way to help people affected by them.
“At the start, we only had three executives, and we had to fill multiple positions at once,” Konopny shared. However, as the club started gaining public attention, it garnered more public support. The group of three executives grew to ten, along with general members from all three campuses.
Konopny and the club have raised money for homeless people in Toronto, which they would use to distribute items to homeless individuals and shelters, such as hygiene and menstrual products. Currently, in response to the shelter’s demands, the club is focusing on making hygiene care kits for men.
The club has also introduced some programs to help the community. Currently, ABDT is hosting mentorship and leadership activities for youth living in low-income communities while working to destigmatize homelessness.
General members and volunteers of the club will be invited to view mentor eligibility for the programs as well as any students who may be interested. “We are thinking of recruiting 20 to 30 students depending on interest, and tutoring and mentorship would cover grades six to 12,” stated Konopny. “Students from the [Peel] Youth Village that houses youth experiencing homelessness will be paired with another student from ABDT, with the intended goal of receiving mentorship and guidance and a space where they can go to meet other students, mentor, tutor and lead.”
Currently, ABDT is working to obtain an official non-profit status from the Ontario government so it can evolve from a university club to a recognized group. However, obtaining the certification may take some time as the club will be required to recruit a board of directors, develop a marketing team, and write a constitution.
For students interested in starting a club, Konopny shared some advice. She recommends finding a solid executive team you can trust. Her time at UTM inspired her to find other people who also shared a goal of supporting homeless communities.
Konopny stated it is important to create a plan and ask yourself: what is the purpose of the club, and who do you want to pass it on to after you leave? She also suggested asking other clubs about their experience and doing your research.
“Don’t overdo it with the number of executives,” Konopny said. “Try to have two in each position—having another partner to work with is extremely helpful!”
As for undergraduate students, Konopny advises them to step out of their comfort zone. “Find what interests you and do what you have a passion for. Find yourself doing passion projects. They might not be paid, but you will feel like you impacted the community.”
Lastly, Konopny encourages students to get involved in as many things as possible during their time at university, stating, “Be bold and network!”
Photo credit: Alexis Konopny
10 Arts
A deeper look at celebrity political endorsements
With the American presidential election just around the corner, how much of an influence do celebrity endorsements have on a candidate’s success?
Skyler Piskoroski Contributor
Celebrity political endorsements are not a new phenomenon. In 1920, Al Jolson endorsed Warren Harding, and Frank Sinatra openly supported John F. Kennedy. Recently, artists such as Billie Eilish, Finneas, and Taylor Swift have publicly endorsed candidate Kamala Harris. Fans have been vocal about wanting their “fave” to endorse one party, with some criticizing those who do not make a clear statement. However, how much of an impact do celebrity endorsements really have on elections?
Well, it’s hard to tell. In cases where an election is close, some believe endorsements can shift results by encouraging populations who may not regularly vote to do so. One of the only recorded instances believed to have influenced an election is Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement of Barack Obama in 2007, which is believed to have won him over one million votes.
In 2018, Taylor Swift endorsed democratic candidates on Instagram, encouraging her followers to vote as well. Within 24 hours, voter registration increased by 65,000. However, it is hard to pinpoint causality in this increase as Swift’s post occurred the same day as
Keira Johannson arts@themedium.ca
“At last…Another’s heartbeat”: A reflection on Marcellus Williams’ final poem
the debate, another strong factor in voter registration. On September 10 of this year, Swift publicly endorsed the Democratic candidates, and shortly after, more than 400,000 people visited the voting website. However, like her 2018 post, this occurred shortly after the presidential debate. Overall, it is hard to measure how much celebrity endorsements influence the results of a vote. While increased voter registration could be the result of a celebrity endorsement, it could also be a coincidence, especially when they occur at the same time as a major political event.
Despite this lack of evidence, many fans believe celebrities should use their platform for endorsements. The most recent example would be that of Chappell Roan, who chose not to endorse either party. Roan received tremendous backlash, with many claiming she was taking a neutral stance within politics. Roan has since made her stance clear, stating that although she will vote Democratic, she does not agree with everything the party stands for and thus cannot fully support them.
The controversy surrounding Roan’s statements has made clear the situation that many voters face: they are forced to choose the better of two less-than-ideal candidates, rather than someone they truly support. Roan’s criticism of the current candidates, particularly from her perspective as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, is important as rather than simply accepting this “lesser of two evils”, she is encouraging others to be more critical of their options in hopes of a better future candidate.
While celebrities need to use their platform for good, it seems unfair to criticize those who do not publicly support one party, especially considering the lack of concrete evidence on the impact of these endorsements. However, it is also important to be critical of politicians in any election and thus push celebrities to endorse these critical thinking skills to push for greater change.
A tribute to the power of words, this article contemplates the intersection of love and loss within the context of Williams’ tragic story.
Debbie
Wong Contributor
On September 24, 2o24, Marcellus Williams, a devout Muslim Black man, was executed by lethal injection in Missouri. In 2001, Williams was convicted for the murder of Felicia Gayle, a woman who was found stabbed to death in her home in 1998. Despite the lack of evidence connecting Williams to the crime scene, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. During the 23 years he spent in prison before his execution, he spent much of his time studying Islam and writing poetry. One of those poems was the beloved “At last… Another’s heartbeat.”
The execution of Marcellus Williams ignited controversy due to questions surrounding his conviction. His defence argued that no forensic evidence connected him to the crime, with mishandled DNA on the murder weapon belonging to prosecutors rather than Williams. Moreover, key witnesses (both with criminal records) were tempted by financial rewards, raising concerns about their credibility. A no-contest plea agreement was reached in 2023, but Missouri’s Attorney General blocked it, leading to Williams’ death sen-
tence. The exclusion of Black jurors and allegations of racial bias further enraged the public, prompting huge support for Williams and the viral sharing of his poem.
In Williams’ poem “At last…Another’s heartbeat”, we see a serene moment of human connection. His words evoke a tender stillness with imagery of fireflies, wind, and moonlight, painting a scene of quiet beauty. Being in tune with another’s heartbeat while losing awareness of one’s own suggests deep empathy and unity. The poem invites readers to pause, reflect, and appreciate the simplicity of life. The peacefulness conveyed through nature contrasts with the tragic reality of Williams’ fate, executed by the state despite ongoing doubts about his conviction. His words leave behind a legacy of resilience and serve as a reminder that humanity is often overlooked in a deeply flawed system.
Williams’ poem is an influential account of the power of words, particularly those written from a place of confinement. In “At last…Another’s heartbeat,” Williams’ delicate observations of nature — chirps, crickets, the dance of fireflies — illuminate a moment of peace and love, even from within the harshest realities. His ability to transform the simple experience into a profound reflection on human connection and existence underscores the importance of poetry in giving voice to the voiceless. It gives us insights into what Williams valued: peaceful times together, affection, and nature. This poem serves as a gloomy reminder of the beauty that can be found even in the darkest of places.
Illustration credit: Ramiya Sureshhkumar
Photo credit: Sara Li
No catharsis with capitalist corruption:
Theatre Erindale’s playful and risqué take on “The Threepenny Opera”
Theatre Erindale’s production of the bleak and satirical Brechtian masterpiece “The Threepenny Opera” is a grungy, cynical, and exuberant interpretation of this anti-capitalist classic—a must-see for theatre-goers everywhere.
On Thursday night of October 3, 2024, the performers of Theatre Erindale put on their opening showcase of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera, a play-withmusic (not a musical). Set in the dark, grimy underworld of Victorian London, the tale unfolds amongst the destitute and deplorable: conniving thieves, devious businessmen, corrupt cops, and the desperate souls trapped in between.
The production begins with an ingenious “cinema in-silhouette,” skillfully blending puppetry, shadowgraphy using human bodies, and coloured shadows to introduce the notorious criminal, Macheath (Jacob Klick-McMahon), also known as “Mack the Knife,” a menacing Jack-the-Ripper figure. His elopement with Polly Peachum (Madison Buchanan), daughter of the unscrupulous capitalist JJ Peachum (Liam Armstrong), who exploits London’s vagrants, triggers a series of betrayals, arrests, and narrow escapes.
Right from the start, the production makes clear that this is not a play that moralizes; rather, it illustrates the complete absence of morality. As the performance unfolds, it highlights the inherent corruption that capitalism harbours, where ethics and humanity become unaffordable luxuries. The production unflinchingly portrays unpunished rape and murder, revealing that no part of the justice system is
immune to the distorting effects of money and power. There is no cathartic resolution; while it serves as an anti-capitalist critique, the play offers no definitive socialist message either—just a stark depiction of a broken, venal world.
Staying true to Brechtian forms, the play frequently breaks the fourth wall to connect directly with the audience, resulting in a truly immersive feel. Theatre Erindale’s production leaned into a strong comedic tone, filled with crude and vulgar humor that prioritized fun over drawing attention to the political undertones. Each performer truly hammed up the silliness of the social archetypes they played without descending into crude caricature.
The performance features an incredibly impressive cast of strong singers, all with incredible vocal dexterity that truly highlighted the desperateness of the characters they played. With no cast members mic’d up, the unamplified voices, accompanied by live piano, created a raw and authentic sound. Additionally, Theatre Erindale’s choice to queer the production was an absolute delight, not only in its disruption of normative gender roles and sexuality but also in its bold portrayal of same-sex desire through the complex, queered relationship between corrupt Chief Inspector “Tiger” (Maggie Tavaras) and the criminal, Mack.
The stage design of the production stays true to the grungy atmospheric integrity of the play. Fogs and haze permeate the performance, enhancing the overall gritty mood. The set features wooden scaffolding, a clever wooden gate with a moving mechanism, and an inventive moving platform designed to evoke the effect of a two-story stage. The lighting is strategical-
Word On The Street is...
Out of all the experiences I’ve written about for The Medium, I have to say that Word On The Street was a favourite. Anyone who loves anything to do with the written word should check this event out next year because I had a blast.
Word On The Street is an annual celebration of literacy and Canadian literature. The outdoor festival took place at Queen’s Park and was a long winding path of booths filled with writers, publishers, and literary enthusiasts. Stalls boasted wide selections of books across genres for people to buy, opportunities to interact with writers and publishers, and a variety of workshops and freebies.
Catching my eye among these displays was the Our Public Library stall, which handed out free picket signs that you could design to your liking to spread awareness of the government’s reduction in funding school libraries. Further down, Poesy was handing out personalized typewriter poems at a pay-what-youcan rate, and MET Radio allowed visitors to make zines. A shout out also to the University of Toronto Bookshop, who was tabling there, as well as the Toronto Public Library Bookmobile.
Interspersed between the displays were four tents where authors came to talk about their work. Titled individually as “Contemporary”, “Across the Universe”, “Vibrant Voices of Ontario”, and “Kids Literature”, each tent hosted Canadian writers who read excerpts out loud of their works, discussed their writing processes, and spoke in depth about the aspects of their lives that influenced their writing. I had the pleasure of attending multiple seminars, including, “The Horror in The Home,”
ly manipulated during integral moments, with the overall design leaning toward darker tones to drill in that strong sense of poverty and drudgery. All in all, Theatre Erindale’s version of this anti-capitalist classic truly is a must-see production.
You can find more information about upcoming showtimes for The Threepenny Opera here.
Acknowledgment is awarded to the cast and crew who made The Threepenny Opera the success that it is: Rylie Abbots, Arielle Abrazaldo, Christine Annett, Joana Ariola, Liam Armstrong, Hasti Asarizadeh, Peter N. Bailey, Leah Boccanfuso, Elia Borges, Jasmine Brough, Madison Buchanan, Caitlin Campbell, Mads Carrick, Katrina Carrier, Mikey De Carolis, Yixuan Chen, Ethan Clayton, Maya Conejo, Aria DeCastro, Alexa Deighton, Bree Dey, Winton Daum, Juno Elliott, Steven Feng, Tia Girolametto, Eden Gisondi, Laura Grandfield, Noah Grittani, Isabella Harper, Justin Hiscox, Cameron Hlemkay, Hafsa Hoosaney, Maya Jain, Jasmine Jenkinson, Jacob Klick-McMahon, Kaden Klodt, Anita La Selva, Shian Li, Rachel Liness, Melinda Little, Nicole Lynch, Lillian Ma, Cordelia Macdonald, Vandana Maharaj, Ella MayoBuray, Tinniyah McIntosh, Samantha Miller-Vidal, Rhys Parker, Bryan Pasic, Olivia Phillips, Zack Radford, Siobhan Richardson, Ember Ross, Joelle Salsa, Zoe Saum, Emma Scoble, Sarah Scroggie, Mike Slater, Maggie Tavares, Joseph Taylor, Colleen Tournay, Lucy Treleaven, Michelle Vanderheyden, Teodora Vekovic, Emma Waller, Veronica Watkins, Meredith Watt, Andrew Wright, and Leslie Wright.
“How Imaginary Worlds Influence Our Own,” and the “Indigenous Horror Spotlight”. At these seminars, common themes arose of power dynamics in writing echoing power dynamics of society, horrors of daily life interweaving within the genre of horror itself, and how every piece of writing is an establishment of a perspective that may be stifled in society. Listening to these seminars made it clear that writing is a form of activism to push against the boundaries we find ourselves confined to.
All in all, the entire experience was a wonderful way to connect with the people around us over our differences, similarities, and shared love of the written word. I cannot wait to attend again next year.
You can learn more about Word On The Street and ways for you to support at toronto. thewordonthestreet.ca.
Ramiya Sureshkumar Contributor
Zainab Hassan Contributor
Photo credit: Mike Slater
Photo credit: Eddy Perez
12 sports & health
Eagles grab massive win on the road and remain top of standings
Men’s remain undefeated after three games, both teams look for important wins next week.
Pietro Arrigoni Columnist
Under the floodlights of Varsity Stadium, in the heart of Downtown Toronto, our Eagles took the field for their first away game of the season against UTSG Reds. Coming off two decisive victories over UTSC in the last matchday, both teams were ready to put up a fight for the points.
Men’s keep winning streak alive
The men’s team began the game on the front foot, drawing first blood early through the right-foot of in-form Aidan Gideon. However, a well-taken penalty kick would see Reds level the score only minutes later. Driven by their momentum, Reds pushed for a goal before the end of the half, but Eagles goalkeeper Sami Moheisen made a number of important saves and carried the game into the halftime all-square.
Reds grabbed the lead early in the second half and looked in control of the game, but the Tri-Campus Athlete of the Week, Cedric Ngounou, brought the score level with an outside of the foot finish after a neat combination with Krish Chavan at the edge of the box.
Aidan Gideon would then add his second of the night to give UTM the lead. Minutes later, Chavan combined with Pietro Arrigoni to break free of the defense, adding a brace, and making the score 4-2. As Reds committed players forward in search of a goal, more space opened up for quick counter attacks. The Eagles dug deep and held their ground against the Reds’ attacking force, exploiting Red’s high press with a late goal from Arrigoni, assisted beautifully by rookie Nart Machfj.
UTM captain Erik Selvaggi called the match “a game of two halves” following his team’s comeback win. “We started a little slow,” admitted Selvaggi, “but we regrouped, we were able to find our composure and play our game, and we have the result to show for it.”
Selvaggi also commented on his team’s first away match of the year. “It was great to play away to test our character, especially at the newly renovated Varsity Stadium. The bus ride also allows for team bonding, which is always a great time!”
An important win for the men’s side by a score of 5-2 concludes the first half of the season. With three wins from three games, the Eagles stand undefeated at the top of the table.
Momentum dries out for UTM women’s
Following a huge win last week, UTM women’s were unlucky to come up short against a fierce Red team in an intense fixture. Despite training hard all week, a string of injuries to key defensive players meant the women’s would have to change their gameplan heading into the match.
The girls gave it their all nonetheless, trying for a goal until the very last kick of the game. Jordan Pawlowski, after scoring a record-breaking six goals last week, was unable to find the net this week. She and Amelia Caron both had good efforts from dead balls, but saw their freekicks narrowly fly over the crossbar.
The Eagles had a few more opportunities from corner kicks, but couldn’t pick the lock of Red’s defensive machine. At the other end of the field, Reds were clinical, putting six goals past the Eagles, and taking all three points.
The Eagles now sit on three points. They’ll be looking to bounce back next week, as they host UTSG Blue for their first encounter of the season.
UTM women’s kick off at the South Field at 12:00 p.m. and the men’s side follows at 2:00 p.m. Tune in next week for the results and match coverage. As always, go Eagles!
Editor | Joseph Falzata sports@themedium.ca
I’m a woman in sport, but numbers tell me otherwise
Progress has been made towards inclusivity, but there’s still a long way to go.
The 2024 Paris
Olympics marked a historic milestone for intersectionality in sports, featuring nearly 200 openly LGBTQ+ athletes across numerous nations. Competitive sports have made positive strides towards promoting equality and recognition, but significant challenges remain.
Audiences were pleased with the expansive number of openly queer athletes seen throughout the Olympic field. Quinn, a dominant midfielder of the Canadian women’s soccer team, made their second appearance at the Olympics after becoming one of the first transgender, non-binary athletes to compete in Tokyo 2020. Nikki Hiltz, who describes themselves as “gender fluid,” represented the USA in the Women’s 1500m run, finishing seventh. Germany’s Timo Cavelius also made history, becoming the first openly gay man to compete in men’s judo.
While the LGBTQ+ representation in Paris was noteworthy, it didn’t go without controversy. Shortly after Algerian boxer Imane Khelif won gold in the Women’s 66kg boxing, social media tabloids surfaced and questioned the athlete’s eligibility to compete. While Khelif identifies as a cisgender woman, she showed signs of increased testosterone levels in unspecified gender eligibility tests administered by the International Boxing Association (IBA). This drew extensive criticism regarding whether Khelif should be allowed to compete in the female category.
Testosterone levels are the primary criterion for gender eligibility for female athletes in the Olympics. The sex hormone is produced in the testicles and the ovaries, and contributes to bone mass, fat distribution, muscle mass, and strength. Testicles typically produce a much higher level of testosterone, but ovaries also produce the hormone, meaning some females can show increased testosterone levels.
As a female athlete with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), this all hits close to home. In 2020, when I was first diagnosed by my doctor, I was told that I was producing increased levels of testosterone, resulting in weight gain, acne, and hair growth. PCOS, a mild form of hyperandrogenism, affects up to 1 in 10 females of reproductive age. Even though I’m not an Olympian-level athlete, I can still imagine the serious challenges that many female competitors face when it comes to hormonal health. Some studies have shown that females with PCOS perform better in physical tests than females who do not have PCOS. Despite this being a natural occurrence, the physical advantage attributed to high testosterone levels in women’s sports is why some athletes, like Khelif, have had their womanhood scrutinized.
Disorders of sexual development (DSD) are a set of common conditions that also impact testosterone in females. Some policies claim that athletes with DSD, such as Track-and-field athlete Christine Mboma, possess an unfair advantage. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Mboma was barred from running the women’s 400m because of high testosterone. She decided to compete in the women’s 200m instead – an event that focuses on speed rather than endurance, and where high testosterone has less of an impact. Although Mboma brought home the silver medal, the rules and regulations inevitably left a shadow over her Olympic games.
While World Athletic rulemakers argue that increased levels of testosterone provide an unfair advantage through improved strength, muscle mass, and oxygen-carrying capacity, I argue that it’s unfair to restrict women based on genetic conditions. Imagine the outrage if NBA basketball players were banned from the league if they were over a certain height. The average league height is 6 foot 6 inches, putting the average NBA player well into tallest 1% of all Americans.
And yet, even though it’s more common for a woman to be born with a DSD than for a man to be the average height of an NBA player, nobody will ever argue for limits to the NBA’s most advantageous genetic gift.
So I say let women compete, and let’s stop using outdated forms of gatekeeping and testing for determining who can compete.
Keira Johannson Arts & Entertainment Editor
Photo credit: Sara Li