Pink Wallet: The Techno-making of Sexual Bodies in the Feminine Tests of the 1968 Olympics

Abstract

Sex and gender take a new shape after the scientific discovery of the hormones. It is the beginning of a period of technological and political investments that culminate in the artificial manipulation of hormones, which were assimilated by the sports doping to improve performance. Together with doping, there is the concern to prove the gender of the female athletes. The 1968 Olympics were a landmark in the early tests of femininity. This study, which is characterized as a historical documentary research, investigates the discourse of the newspapers of that time on the political conditions that lead to such tests. Our sources were the Sports Newspaper and the Brazil Newspaper, the period taken into account was the second half of 1968. The contemporary feminist theories were also used in order to keep a dialogue with the primary sources.