Celebrating the Superstar Barbara Banda

I was thrilled, happy and beaming with pride when I learned that The Orlando Pride Zambian striker Barbara Banda was voted the BBC Women’s Footballer of The Year. This is after her performances in the 2024 Olympics, and in the National Women’s Soccer League after becoming the second most expensive women’s signing in history at over K20 million, $740,000.00 or £585,691. I began to scour and surf the internet for video clips so that I could just enjoy and review what this Zambian woman had to overcome to make this great achievement.

Once the reporter informed her about the BBC award in the middle of her team meeting, she was very surprised and happy. In the brief interview she was gracious and expressed humility and thanked the BBC, her teammates and coaches and the Orlando Pride football fans for their support in cheering for her and her teammates. She was very polite, respectful and humble as most of us Zambians are raised. I was not surprised that Wikipedia had already opened a page for her. She has already broken records in goal scoring during the last 12 months.

We Zambians and all Barbara Banda supporters around Africa and the world should celebrate this great achievement by the 24-year-old woman coming from societies where the cultures generally prohibit or discourage young girls and women from participating in sports. Let us encourage daughters and other young girls not only to play football or soccer but to participate in other sports.

When this thrilling news went viral around the globe, I was not surprised when the press reports suggested the Zambian star, according to one press report “was soon on the receiving end of a tidal wave of transphobic abuse, with some claiming her victory was ‘damaging to women’s sport’.” Leading the charge in vile insults in this hostile opposition was no other than the best-selling author of Harry Potter JK Rowling. “Harry Potter author JK Rowling was among those who criticized the BBC awarding Banda, saying the decision amounted to ‘spitting in women’s faces’.” according to one press report. The general opposition point of view is that Barbara Banda is a man playing on a girls’ or women’s sport or soccer team.

I have been a sociologist since 1972 or the last 52 years. I taught general anthropology for 31 years including understanding human sexuality and gender. I will first describe the variations in human sexuality. Second, I will state my assessment of Barbara Banda’s sexuality and what it is not. Lastly, I will appeal to you to understand and appreciate the natural complexity of human sexuality and gender that might be reflected in Barbara Banda and other gender-related sexual controversies today.

Over fifty to a hundred thousand years of human evolution, biological sex reproduction has had variety: Heterosexual males is sexual attraction to someone of the female sex; Heterosexual female is the sexual attraction to someone of the male sex; Homosexuality, gay or lesbian is the sexual attraction to someone of the same sex.

Intersexual are people whose bodies (including genitals) have both female and male characteristics; Hermaphrodites is the original Greek term refers to intersexual people who have both female ovary and male testis; Transsexuals or Transgender are people who feel they are one sex even though biologically they are the other sex; Bisexuality is sexual attraction to people of both sexes, and finally, Asexuality are people who lack sexual attraction to people of either sex.

My assessment from what I have explored from a distance is that Barbara is not a man but she is a girl or a woman. I will say some more about this after I describe what is called: According to one article, “5-alpha reductase deficiency (5ARD) is a genetic condition that affects sexual development in people with 46, XY chromosomes and testes.” People with 5ARD may produce normal amounts of testosterone, but what is crucial is that their bodies cannot convert the testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which is a hormone critical or very important for male sexual development. If any girl or woman has this condition, it is natural. It is not something they planned or like a drug that they decided to take in order to excel, beat. dominate or cheat other girls or women at sports.

There is a commonly accepted logical statement that says: “if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck then it is a duck.” Barbara Banda to me looks like a girl, runs like a girl, has a high-pitched voice like a girl, therefore she is a girl.” Barbara Banda is not transgender which seems to be a flash point for those angrily arguing: “men should not play in women’s sports teams”.

One argument one can make is that if Barbara Banda was a man, the Zambian Copper Queens women’s national soccer team could easily have won the 2023 women’s soccer world cup. If she was a man, she could have easily scored 30 goals. But instead, Japan women’s team beat Zambia women’s team 5 – 0. Spain beat Zambia 5 -0. In these 2 games, Barbara Banda did not score a single goal. In the women’s 2024 Olympic Football, the Zambia women team lost all the 3 games in the group matches. Barbara Banda scored a hat trick scoring 3 goals in Zambia’s 5 – 6 loss to Australia. Barbara Banda is a Zambian woman who loves football or soccer and works very hard and best of all she is on the rise and just about to reach her peak. The sky is the limit for this 24-year-old Zambian woman.

By Mwizenge S. Tembo, Ph. D

Emeritus Professor of Sociology