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New York, 4:32 PM
Thu Nov 26
42 posts in the last 24 hours
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08/19/09
08/20/09
They are athletes. In my experience, athletes tend to be less self-conscious.
08/25/09
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08/19/09
Well done, Caster.
08/19/09
08/19/09
A couple things:
While there is precedent for men competing as women (google Stella Walsh, among others), there are also documented instances of careers being ruined for what may have been no good reason (google Santhi Soundarajan). If this is indeed a case of a man competing as a woman, clearly...that's not right. But from what I've read, I tend to doubt that's the case.
We're talking about an 18 year old from a rural village in South Africa who apparently has TRIED to contact the South African athletics federation (ASA) to get them to comment...but they hadn't as recently as a couple weeks ago. She happens to run an exceptionally fast time and suddenly ends up in the spotlight. A lot of the commentary on the track boards includes people wondering why she wouldn't try and do more to "pass" as a woman if she is in fact, a teenage boy as theorized. Which makes me wonder, as I've noted a couple other people point out, if these people realize she may not even REALIZE that she doesn't "look" female. Someone from rural south africa is probably does not think about Western standards of beauty on a day to day basis. lets-run.com has an interview up with her where she says she might not stick with running. As the interviewer noted on a message board, you'd wonder why she'd walk away with her talent...but if people all over the world was questioning my gender, I might not want to stick around either.
ETA: she just won worlds...pretty easily (1:55.45 !!!), and not far of the world junior record. So this situation isn't going to go away in the press.
08/19/09
I think it is a really, really tough conundrum. If she has a chromosomal condition where she is genetically male but has the body of a female (this exists), then athletically I don't think she'd have any advantage and should be able to compete as a female.
But what if she is genetically female, but has male physical traits? She *would* have advantages over females athletically, and what do we do then? If she's always identified as female, it seems so wrong to not let her compete as one, but it also doesn't seem entirely fair to other competitors either if she does...
08/19/09
It'll be interesting.
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
Of course, that's just a sub-text to this story. She's never (that I know of) had a positive drug test.
08/19/09
B. If she has been training vigorously since a very young age, she probably has never had a regular period and thus her body hasn't been exposed to the same amount of estrogen as other women her age.
Neither of these things make it okay to open her up to ridicule and publicize very private questions. If the ruling commissions are skeptical, they should test and interview her discretely. This is not a public matter and it's disgusting that they are being so blase and public about it.
08/19/09
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08/19/09
I'm sorry if I'm missing something, but why on earth would it matter if she's male or female?
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08/19/09
Even by your logic, it would "matter" if Obama wasn't born in the US - his presidency would be illegal. In either case, that doesn't make the accusations less ridiculous and insulting.
08/19/09
08/19/09
08/19/09
I suppose I meant that this issue "matters" because the IAAF does not yet have an answer yet. We affirmatively know that Obama was born in Hawaii, so I don't think the Birthers' accusations "matter," but I see how that wasn't the clearest word to use. I should have said that her gender is relevant to the fairness of the competition. My point was that the IAAF has a duty to the other competitors to ensure that Semenya is chromosomally female. The women she is racing against have worked very hard to get to where they are, and they deserve a fair and square competition (as you put it). I think the IAAF also has a duty to create a workable definition of female for its purposes and to handle any disputes on the matter discreetly and confidentially.
08/19/09
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08/19/09
the South African's physique and powerful style have sparked speculation in recent months that she might not be entirely female. IAAF rules state that competitors must be entirely female to compete in women's races but some people are born with a mixture of chromosomes and display both male and female characteristics.
08/19/09
ETA: Plus there has been a problem in the running community about runners lying about ages in the past as well in order to dominate in a certain age bracket.
08/19/09
Yes, I was coming here to say this. And while I understand that it's upsetting to be testing her based on her appearance, appearance DOES matter. With the Chinese gymnasts, most of the suspicions about them being underage came from the fact that they looked far too young. So how far do we go in terms of being sensitive and politically correct, when there is a concern about cheating?
08/19/09
08/19/09
However, the debate over the chinese gymnasts was sparked because they looked so young in a field dominated by already young women. So the problem was actually the opposite, in that the women fit the bill of youthful athletes too well.
08/19/09
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08/19/09
This is bullshit.
08/19/09
08/19/09
FWIW: I don't think there are easy answers, I don't think someone should be not allowed to compete because of their hormones or sexual characteristics, but sports are based on rules and an appearance of fair play so anything that disrupts that should be addressed.