Gender Regulation: Renée Richards Revisited

Abstract

In 1976, a reporter at a tennis tournament identified the rookie standout Renée Clarke as Renée Richards, the former male professional tennis player Richard Raskind. The discovery of Richards, a male-to-female transsexual, immediately caused protest. While Richards’ very presence disrupted the socially constructed conceptions of ‘male’ and ‘female’ in sport – and her successful legal suit for inclusion into women's professional tennis challenged the long-standing system of segregation in athletics – she has continuously embraced societal understandings of gender difference. Building on previous research, the author utilises Richards’ two autobiographies and a 2009 oral history to analyse her embodiment of stereotypical femininity and later opposition to the International Olympic Committee's Stockholm Consensus. In addition, a comparison of the New York Supreme Court case – which ruled Richards eligible to compete professionally as a woman – and the Stockholm Consensus demonstrates the widespread concern with gender malleability. Both decisions extended classification to include transsexual athletes, yet each preserved a two-sexed model. This article illustrates an individual and institutional conviction in the naturalness of two separate and polar gender categories.

Keywords:

• Renée Richards
• transgender
• tennis
• International Olympic Committee

Notes

 1. Richards, Second Serve, 315.

 2. Richards registered under the name Renée Clarke in hopes of avoiding discovery. Because the English language requires gendered pronouns, I have opted to follow the guidelines established by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and use feminine pronouns when referring to Richards due to her self-identification as female. See GLAAD, ‘Media Reference Guide’.

 3. In the early twentieth century, sport developed in the United States as a strictly masculine space. When women demanded increased opportunities, the tradition of the female participation model of sport enabled a competitive distinction between men and women. The enactment of Title IX further cemented gender categorization in US competitions by legislatively separating men and women. For a complete history of gender separation in the USA, see Cahn, Coming on Strong.

 4. Certain sports instituted policies as a result of individual transsexual athletes. For example, the Canadian Cycling Association permitted male-to-female cyclist Michelle Dumaresq inclusion in female competition in 2002 because legal documents indicated her status as ‘female’. Conversely, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) instituted a ‘female at birth’ policy in 1991; however, the clause was dropped to be more inclusive in 2010 after a transgender woman threatened to file suit against the LPGA. The IOC decision thus serves as the first overarching, multi-sport policy. See The International Olympic Committee, ‘Statement of Stockholm Consensus on Sex Reassignment in Sports’ (28 October 2003). Accessed April 1, 2012 from http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reports/EN/en_report_905.pdf.

 5. Birrell and Cole, ‘Double Fault’, 1–21.

 6. In both Second Serve and No Way Renée, Richards changes the names of private people whenever possible, including those of her family members. The names, however, differ in each book. I have therefore opted to implement the names that Richards uses in Second Serve.

 7. Renée Richards, interview with author, 9 July 2009, oral interview for Renée documentary directed by Eric Drath (New York: Live Star Entertainment, 2011).

 8. Autobiographies present contrived accounts of history and memory and can never be free from author interpretation and censorship. Interviews similarly elicit manufactured narratives. Nonetheless, Richards' books and interviews prove useful as a noticeable theme of gender performance emerges. For an example of an academic use of autobiography see Sparkes, ‘Bodies, Narratives, Selves and Autobiography’.

 9. Richards proclaimed the oddity of her mother's employment as a psychiatrist at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center's Neurological Institute both in her autobiographies and when interviewed. She recalled that ‘to me it seemed like women could do anything when I was little, but if you asked my best friends in the neighborhood they would have a totally different picture because their mothers mostly were homemakers and mothers. Their mothers weren't physicians’ (Richards, interview with author). Such postulations suggest Richards personally embraced the stereotypical gendered expectations of the time, when society sought a return to conventional, domestic patterns.

10.  Following the Great Depression and the Second World War, American society sought a return to traditional gender roles that positioned men as breadwinners and women as homemakers. For more information on the push to return to traditional gender roles, and examples of those who resisted, see Cott, No Small Courage; and Meyerowitz, Not June Cleaver.

11. ‘Michael’ is the name Richards gave her sister in Second Serve and explained that growing up, people called her ‘Mike.’

12. Richards, Second Serve, 6.

13. Richards, Second Serve, 11.

14. Richards, interview with author.

15. Richards, Second Serve, 111.

16. In particular, Richards explained that she enjoyed the company of Len and Joel, two team-mates whom she described as possessing ‘strong masculinity’. When in their company, Richards explained she felt a ‘new surge of masculine energy’ and fell 'under their powerful masculine influence. See Richards, Second Serve, 77 and 103.

17. Ibid., 127.

18. Equestrian events and sailing are the only Olympic sports in which men and women compete against each other, side by side. In other sports, like doubles figure skating and badminton, men and women compete in pairs.

19. Wushanley, Playing Nice and Losing, 23–24.

20. Cahn, Coming on Strong.

21. Ritchie, ‘Sex Tested, Gender Verified’, 87.

22. Although enacted, the IOC never officially published the aims of implementing sex testing. See de la Chapelle, ‘The Use and Misuse of Sex Chromatin Screening’.

23. Washington Post, ‘At Grenoble: 1-in–5 Test of Sex said ‘Ludicrous’’ 3 February 1968, D1.

24. While doping originated as the primary concern, gender verification quickly became conflated.

25. Schweinbenz and Cronk, ‘Femininity Control.’

26. Cavanagh and Sykes, ‘Transsexual Bodies at the Olympics’, 81.

27. While male professionals received pay packets and stipends, female amateurs earned under-the-table payments and typically had to fund all travel and boarding expenses. See King, Billie Jean.

28. Festle, Playing Nice.

29. Lichtenstein, A Long Way Baby.

30. Steve Nidels, ‘Tennis, Anyperson?’, Chicago Tribune, 15 August 1976, C6.

31. ‘Touching all Bases – Sex Test for Renée’, New York Times, 15 August 1976, B10.

32. Richards, Second Serve, 337.

33. Richards, No Way Renée, 31.

34. Richards, interview with author.

35. Evert's balance of femininity and athleticism was successful until the arrival of Martina Navratilova. Navratilova, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, disregarded labels and incorporated weightlifting into her workouts. She defeated Evert in Wimbledon in 1978 and took over the World No. 1 ranking, forcing the Floridian ‘Golden Girl’ to alter her beliefs and style of play to resume dominance. See Festle, Playing Nice. For an account of Evert's femininity, see Lichtenstein, A Long Way, Baby.

36. ‘Renee Richards Pursuing Tennis Career for a Cause’, New York Times, 19 August 1976, 45.

37. Birrell and Cole, ‘Double Fault’, 1–3.

38. Neil Amdur, ‘Dr. Richards Beats Miss Beene in Tennis Week Open, 6-0, 6-2’, New York Times, 22 August 1976, 149.

39. ‘Letters to the Editor, Renée Richards Controversy: What is a Woman?’, New York Times, 5 September 1976, 118.

40. Richards, No Way Renée, 249.

41. Ibid., 288–289.

42. See Blumin, The Emergence of the Middle Class or Norton, Liberty‘s Daughters.

43. Richards, No Way Renée, 235.

44. Richards, Second Serve, 238.

45. Ibid., 139.

46. Ibid., 345.

47. Leonard, Sexuality and Law, 400.

48. Primary sex characteristics refer to reproductive organs while secondary sex characteristics describe features unrelated to organs that are believed to differentiate sexes.

49. Richards v. United States Tennis Assn., 93 Misc.2d 713 (1977) New York Supreme Court,3.

50. In the midst of the cold war, Western views discouraged female athletes from appearing too muscular. When Eastern European women, not burdened by these societal views, defeated US females in international competitions, many claimed the Eastern European teams were comprised of male masqueraders. For more information see Ritchie, ‘Sex Tested, Gender Verified’.

51. John Money, one of the founders of the John Hopkins Gender Identity Clinic that performed sex-reassignments surgeries in the United States, notably dismissed psychoanalytical and biological models of gender. Instead, he argued that social learning shaped gender roles. Money also believed that infants remained gender-free and therefore could be assigned a sex without psychological damage. While this helped eradicate a wholesale belief in a genetic binary, it also led to his problematic recommendation for David Reimer's reassignment surgery. Money suggested Reimer, a toddler who experienced a botched circumcision, live life as a woman. Reimer committed suicide in 2004. For more information on Money, see Meyerowitz, How Sex Changed. On Reimer, see Colapinto, As Nature Made Him.

52. Richards v. United States Tennis Assn., 93 Misc.2d 713 (1977) New York Supreme Court, 4.

53. Vicki Berner was a women's professional tennis player in the 1970s. Françoise Durr, a French competitor, reached world number three in 1967 and remained in the top 10 consistently until 1976. Janet Newberry, an American tennis player, turned professional in 1971 and reached world number 17. Kristien K. Shaw was also a highly-ranked American player.

54. Richards v. United States Tennis Assn., 93 Misc.2d 713 (1977) New York Supreme Court, 6.

55. Ibid., 1.

56. Ibid., 1.

57. Leonard, Sexuality and Law, 402.

58. Robin Herman, ‘Issue and Debate–Controversy over Renée Richards Adds Dimension to Sex Role in Sports’, New York Times, 31 August 1976, 31.

59. International Olympic Committee, ‘The 109^th IOC Session in Seoul’, 6–7.

60. The International Olympic Committee, 'Statement of Stockholm Consensus on Sex Reassignment in Sports', 1. and ‘IOC Embraces Transsexuals’, China Daily, 18 May 2004, Accessed 31 March 2011 from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-05/18/content_ 331620.htm.

61. The International Olympic Committee, 'Statement of Stockholm Consensus on Sex Reassignment in Sports', 1.

62. Ibid., 1.

63. Cavanagh and Sykes, ‘Transsexual Bodies at the Olympics’, 78.

64. For more information see Sykes, ‘Transsexual and Transgender Policies in Sport’.

65. International Tennis Federation, ‘Pro Circuit Rulebook 2011’, Appendix A. 27, Accessed 31 March 2011 from http://beta.itftennis.com/media/64115/64115.pdf.

66. ‘Richards to Fight Chromosome Test’, Washington Post, 19 August 1976, 76.

67. ‘Renee Richards Pursuing Tennis Career for a Cause’, New York Times, 19 August 1976, 45.

68. Michael Giltz, ‘Second Set’, The Advocate, 27 March 2007, 47.

69. Richards, interview with author.

70. Ibid.

71. Ibid.

72. Richards, No Way Renée, 239–240.

73. Schultz, ‘Caster Semenya and the ‘Question of Too’’.