We’ve all heard about the need for a “course correction” in the development of certain affairs, but rarely, especially when it comes to the most crucial aspects of a culture, of a “thought correction.” This is certainly true of one of the most damaging ideological deformities of the modern West, namely, feminism. When it comes to feminism, whether as a practice or a theory, even its most astute and honorable adversaries do not tend to think clearly, as I hope to show.

If it should turn out that Khelif is indeed female, then there is no argument. She is just a very big girl with a competitive advantage over others of her sex. If her chromosomal packet remains disputable and it turns out that Khelif is a bivalent creature, there is ample room for suspicion and disbelief of those who claim that Khelif is a woman. Khalif not only looks like a man, is built like a man, and may well possess x/y chromosomes, but is a man in effect and action and not a woman or a hermaphrodite. In which case, sympathy and concern for the young woman whose nose he broke in the ring is precisely what any decent person would feel—as many have. But caution is required about the real issue.

There is everything to be said for helping women who have been brutalized or unconscionably hurt. But the thinking is often, as in this case, wildly off the mark. If one really wishes to help victims like Angela Carini or to establish both a social and athletic arena of fairness in the matter, one must first put a check on one’s sentimental feelings and expressions of fury or indignation, and determine where the septicemia actually lies. And any objective assessment will reveal precisely where the fault is to be found. It’s called feminism.