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Tuesday, 08 September 2009

¿WHAT MAKES A REAL WOMAN?


Have you been following the story of Caster Semenya, the South African track star whose sex is being questioned after she won the 800 meters in the World Track and Field Championships about two weeks ago? Although she won the race, the 18 year old is being made to undergo "sex-determination testing" to see if she is indeed a woman. As someone who has been mistaken for a female a few times, I can certainly empathize with Semenya and as far as I know, I am ALL MAN! But this does brings up the question, "What makes someone female?" I don't know the kind of testing they are going to do on Semenya, but I can assume it's more complicated than looking under her track suit. Why? Because gender and sex are more complicated than that. In fact, the Intersex Society of North American estimates that in 1 in 1500-2000 births, children are born with "ambiguous genitalia" and doctors determine which sex to assign a child. But they also say there are even subtler forms of gender variance. Semenya has been subject to all kinds of media attention and some pretty mean things said about her. One of her competitors was quoted in the New York Times as saying, “These kind of people should not run with us. For me, she’s not a woman. She’s a man.” But this isn't simple homophobia. It is treading into much murkier water: the idea that what makes a man and what makes a woman is not black and white as they would like to believe. I can't claim any knowledge of her genetic makeup, but what if Semenya does have one of the naturally occurring variations of human chromosomes other than XX? This should not disqualify her from competing. Would this variance give her an unfair advantage? If so, then shouldn't Michael Phelps be disqualified for his "perfect body for swimming?" The International Olympic Committee has determined that transsexual athletes can compete in the Olympics. If Caster Semenya identifies as female, then she should be allowed compete as such. END OF STORY! WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

7 comments:

  1. Yeah I heard about this when it first broke. I thought it was just a simple matter of dropping the pants and checking, lol. But apparently there is an issue of hormone production that could give an unfair advantage and technically classify you as male. I am assuiming it is something that you would not see in a post op tran so yeah that would be a difference. I am going to have to agree this not sexual orientation it's about defining the lines of gender.

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  2. I feel like in this day and age, where we have the technology to change our physical composition to be that of the male sex, or that of female sex, I feel like true gender identity is completely a mental issue. I am not a man because I have a penis and testicles. I am a man because that's what my brain and my heart tells me I am. There are so many people who's brain and heart tell them that they are born in the wrong body.

    I remember watching this 20/20 special on kids who felt like they had been born in the wrong body, and it was so saddening to see the way these kids rejected the fact.

    Whether Caster was born a male, or born a female, she is most certainly identifying herself as female now, and we as humans have to grow the respect and compassion and understanding for her that that is what she is regardless of her physical structure at birth. I believe she won that race as a female fair and square and that it is complete and utter bullshit that they would question her sex now!

    They let her enter the race as a female, they should let her win the race as one as well.

    ReplyDelete
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  4. What's disgusting is the way in which this whole episode was handled - it should have been kept confidential until they carried out their tests.

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  5. If I started questioning someone if they told me they were female or male, would I be knowing something that they, the owners of the body, don't?

    If she identifies as female, then she is female. That's really as far as it should go.

    I don't know if the lady (I assume it's a lady) who talked about 'these kind of people' realised aftewards how cruel, insensitive and full of hatred she sounded.Which kind of people are those?

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  6. I hope getting a make over made her feel good.

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  7. CLNMIKE - THIS IS SO ABOUT DEFINING THE LINES OF GENDER...

    MIKEL - I AGREE THAT SHE SHOULD BE SEEN AS A FEMALE...

    GARCON - IT DEFINITELY SHOULD HAVE BEEN KEPT QUIET...

    MISS SHALLOTTE - GREAT QUESTION, IF SHE SAYS SHE IS FEMALE, THEN LET HER IDENTIFY AS SUCH...I READ SOMEWHERE THAT HER PROBLEM IS THAT SHE IS TOO FAST TO RUN WITH THE OTHER FEMALES, BUT TOO SLOW TO RUN WITH THE MALES...

    AMY - I HOPE IT DOES AS WELL...

    ReplyDelete

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