crotch-grabbing is not sports

the logical result of transvestigations

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Crotch-grabbing is not sports

In early 2023, I wrote about how women’s swimming had been ground zero for the current wave of transphobia in women’s sport. The real real ground zero is, of course, track and field (and if you haven’t read Michael Waters’ excellent book on the subject, The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports, I highly recommend it¹). But if we want to talk about the current anti-trans movement in sport, women’s swimming is the place to look first.

And while transphobic sentiment has infiltrated nearly all women’s sports at this point (including chess), women’s soccer is a place we should be watching very closely.

Earlier this week, Barcelona's Mapi León was accused of “violating the intimacy” of Espanyol player Daniela Caracas during a match in Spain’s Liga F league. During a moment on the field in which the two players appear to be exchanging heated words, León reaches towards Caracas’s crotch and seems to grab at it. From all appearances, León looks to be “checking” Caracas’ genitals.

@jcubedhaxthis is NOT football #woso #womenssports #soccer #football

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“Espanyol wish to express total condemnation at events which took place during the game which we consider unacceptable and should not pass unnoticed,” Espanyol said in a statement.

“During the match, Barça player León, in a struggle with our player, Caracas, made a gesture which violated the privacy of said player.

“At the time, Caracas did not react because of the impact caused by the situation. Later, after assimilating what happened, she became aware of the seriousness of the gesture, but chose not to react angrily to avoid a disciplinary sanction and harming the team.”

Since the incident occurred, Caracas has been receiving harassment on social media. For her part, León has said that she did not “violate” her opponent and says she may take legal action against people she claims are “defaming” her. Last fall, after Zambian soccer player Barbra Banda won BBC Women's Footballer of the Year, everyone’s favorite mold-poisoned transphobe, J.K. Rowling, publicly questioned Banda’s gender.

It is worth noting that both Banda and Caracas are Black women.

In the U.S., the NWSL Players’ Association spoke out in support of Banda following the speculation about her gender, as did her NWSL team, the Orlando Pride. The NWSLPA is also the only (as far as I can tell) U.S. pro women’s athletes who have condemned Trump’s executive order banning trans women from playing women’s sports (before I get yelled at again, I know roller derby has put out a statement! Roller derby has ALWAYS been great about including trans women and other leagues should take note. On the other hand, the Women’s National Basketball Players’ Union’s silence is QUITE LOUD).

But while the U.S. players’ union has been supportive of trans athletes, the NWSL itself has been silent. As I’ve written before, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman told The Athletic reporter Meg Linehan that the league was “going to continually live by our values and support everyone in our ecosystem” after Linehan asked her if she was prepared to support her players following the most recent election.

And yet, Berman and the NWSL put out no statement defending Banda’s right to play in their league, nor celebrating her accomplishments during the 2024 season. They’ve said nothing about the nationwide attack on trans women athletes. And the gender panic that’s ongoing in the U.S. is an international witch hunt, as well. Liga F has so far taken no disciplinary action against León. Earlier this week, World Athletics, the international governing body for track and field, essentially just re-instated sex testing.

When, as a culture, we believe that women’s gender should be policed, the human cost is real. It empowers others to be cruel in the most visceral way, as women like León—a feminine, white passing queer woman—feel emboldened to grab (or gesture towards) the crotch of women like Caracas—a masculine-presenting Afro-Latina woman. It creates an atmosphere in which more feminine women feel entitled to grab at and mock the bodies of more masculine women. And it makes the pitch an infinitely less safe space for the players.

“For a long time, women’s football has been able to exist in somewhat of a bubble audience-wise… Simply, because it took a certain level of political liberalism or progressiveness to buck the trend and back women playing football,” Suzanne Wrack writes at The Guardian. “In that climate, those responsible for the game could get away with a lack of a plan for tackling online abuse and its causes and be solely reactive to isolated incidents that occurred. However, the climate has changed and it’s time to get on the front foot and be proactive.”

If the sport won’t do it proactively, maybe their hand will be forced. Last week, the NWSL was ordered to pay $5 million to players who were abused, and submit regular accounts detailing how it is addressing reports of harassment and discrimination—all while their workplaces abuse crisis is ongoing.

“Support women” really rings hollow if we’re not tangibly supporting all women, no?

What else?