스포츠 성판별 분석의 딜레마: 의과학기술 진보와 성별 이분법의 줄다리기

The study analyzes the historical evolution of sex verification in sports and the role of medical science as a power that reinforces the sex binary, from the perspective of Foucault’s archaeology of knowledge. The transition from visual inspection to chromosomal analysis, PCR testing, and hormonal analysis reflects the dual nature of efforts to maintain fairness in sports, balancing the pursuit of fair competition with the exclusion or regulation of certain groups. Medical science has functioned as a knowledge-power that defines gender categorization, and this has constantly clashed with new epistemes that seek to reflect the complexity of gender. The findings show that scientific approaches to gender verification have consistently reinforced the gender binary, often serving as a tool to exclude or regulate specific groups. However, the adherence to the gender binary in sports has its limitations, as it fails to fully account for the complex nature of sex. Despite the continuous introduction of scientific techniques, attempts to confine the natural diversity and complexity of sex within the male-female binary framework have faced fundamental dilemmas. The conflict between such regulations and the sporting goal of fairness has further highlighted the inadequacy of defining sex through a simple binary.