FOR THOSE of us enjoying the Olympic Games from the comfort of our sofas, it has so far been a mainly enjoyable celebration of human physical and mental prowess.

We thrill at the feats of skill, speed and endurance while admiring — and for many of us envying — the superbly toned forms and rippling muscles that dash, leap or swim across our screens.

The bulging muscles of French swimmer Florent Manaudou sent US commentator and former Olympic swimmer, Rowdy Gaines, into paroxysms of awe. A number of male athletes on Italy’s Olympic team may have boosted tourism among single women.

But, as always, there is a double standard in play here. Extreme muscularity in men is to be admired; on women, muscles are nice, but not too many muscles because then you might, heaven forfend, start to look like a man.

Cue the inquisition around two Olympic women boxers — Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu Ting.

The International Boxing Association (IBA), which has refused to divulge the actual results or describe what kind of test it administered, says the pair failed gender eligibility tests last year, leading to their disqualification from the Women’s World Boxing Championships.

This is the same IBA that is so scandal-ridden it was decertified last year by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in a resounding 69-1 vote. It’s why the Olympic boxing events are being overseen by the IOC and not the IBA.

In a statement after the current controversy flared up, the IBA was quick to point out that Khelif and Lin “did not undergo a testosterone examination.” Instead, it was some vague, undisclosed test whose “specifics remain confidential.”

That set the internet ablaze with accusations that women were being unfairly and dangerously pummelled in the Olympic ring by men.

“You need to open your eyes and pay attention to facts,” posted former tennis great Martina Navratilova on X. Navratilova campaigns against allowing trans women to compete in women’s sports.

“There are 4 DSD male athletes at the Olympics competing as women — two boxers and two soccer players. They are not female,” she wrote. (DSD stands for “differences in sex development,” previously referred to as intersex).

But are these facts or assumptions, given the IBA’s refusal to release actual data?

Granted, it is equally discriminatory against women to ask them to compete against men, or those defined as “male” by legitimate testing and examination. But singling out athletes before they have been assessed in this way, simply due to their appearance and physical prowess, seems like a perverse form of feminism.

The frenzy in Paris ignited when Italian boxer, Angela Carini, quit her match against Khelif, sparking speculations that were not borne out later by what Carini actually had to say.

“All this controversy certainly made me sad, and I also felt sorry for my opponent, she had nothing to do with it and like me was only here to fight,” Carini told any reporters willing to listen objectively.

“I have nothing against Khelif and on the contrary, if I happened to meet her again I would give her a hug.”

The issue here is not just about the condemnation of female athletes who “look like men,” but the speed with which judgement is passed against them.

This feels like bullying. And it feels like misogyny. And it feels like a reflection of the erosion of women’s rights in the wider political scene.

That the Olympic boxing drama has become embroiled in a widespread witch hunt against trans people, and especially trans women, is not really a surprise. Trans women are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The rest of us are next.

US Republicans are already embracing Project 2025 — despite less than credible disavowals by the party’s presidential candidate, Donald Trump — a manifesto that would see women subordinated to breeders, cooks and cleaners.

Real women are mothers. The rest, “a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives,” according to Trump’s pick for vice president, JD Vance. The far right is redefining femininity. Trans women are just the worst offenders among us.

“For those who think transphobia is a myth, look at this latest boxing scandal of wicked imagination, where trans hate now extends to boxers who aren’t even trans,” wrote Washington Post sports columnist, Jerry Brewer, in decrying the persecution of Khelif and Lin.

“What happens,” he asked, “when others are permitted to discriminate openly against young girls and women who have done nothing wrong except have the nerve to be dominant?”

Linda Pentz Gunter is a writer based in Takoma Park, Maryland.