Gender
On 19th August 2009, South African runner, Caster Semenya came to the world’s attention, when she won the 800 metres World Athletics Championship in Berlin. For any 18 years old athletics, it will be a day of pride and glory, both for your country and for yourself. A day when you are expected to be drowned in unending praise and be blinded by the media limelight. And yes, 18 years old, Caster Semenya, did receive the latter, but for all the wrong reasons. She was heavily scrutinized due to suspicions about her gender, which was a result of her superior race timing, and masculine physique. And was suspected by many as being a hermaphrodite.
Hermaphrodites basically has elements of both sexes and in some cases, they may have both ovaries and testicles. For most hermaphrodites, they are assigned their gender at birth, based on the appearance of their genitals, which are often not very accurate. And such conditions are extremely rare, nearly close to one in a million.
Whatever the definition of hermaphrodite is, I am deeply upset by how the world has reacted to such unpleasant news. Just because someone does not fit into our traditional/ stereotyped mold of what a person is supposed to look like, does not give us the right to cast her straight into exile. Where in this case, a science laboratory, where multiple test are done, just to determine her gender. Yes. HER gender
I am honestly quite skeptical on human interpretation on many situations today. Subjective interpretations are basically norms and association of meaning, shaped by the culture, social world and a minimal amount of our past experience. And often, we would come to a mutual understanding or consensus about a word, action, subject, which are generally accepted by the masses within our culture. Well, I have to agree that in a way, it helps by making things or situations more comprehensible when they are mutually categorized and agreed on. However, there is a fine line between being overly judgmental and rigid, and simply following a set of interpretation, while exercising flexibility.
In the context of genders, I will have to agree that there is nothing wrong for us to categorize or define females as species with breast, female genital and species who possess feminine attributes, such as gentleness, being more loving and sentimental etc. Such gender classifications are basically subjective interpretations shaped by the social world today. However, when such interpretations become too rigid, its consequences are often clear and critical. For instance, a female who possess a single masculine attribute, such as being more muscular, deviates away from our social interpretation of a female, and is then cast into a category of abnormalities. Extreme as it seems, we are shaped to interpret many situations with such extreme views today. Like how Semenya was made to suffer publicly, just because she does not fit into our social and traditional mold of what a woman is expected to look like.
As quoted in a recent interview, the chair of South Africa’s sports committee reportedly said that Semenya is “like a raped person” because of the brutal, public humiliation she has endured. What started out as a competition and a chance to represent her country has turned into a public struggle of trying to fit people into specific gender categories.
South Africa’s Minister for Women, Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya also mentioned in a letter sent to the U.N Division for the Advancement of Women that the questioning of her gender is based on a stereotypic view of the physical features and abilities attributable to women and that such stereotypes demonstrate the extent of patriarchy within the world’s sporting community.
“This is a woman who was raised a female. She will always be female, no matter what people say.” – Lesiba Rammaabi, Semenya’s uncle.
And yes, no matter how she looks like, she is still a female afterall.
All that I’m curious now is how she decided to become an athlete in the first place. Being very clear of her hermaphroditic sexuality she should know very well that she would not fall into either the male or the female category. It gives me an impression that she had intended to have her sexuality hidden all along her formative years in the athletics industry. Why did she choose to compete in the women’s? Did it affect her choice of gender? Did she think that there was a better chance of winning? (I’m using She because i respect her wishes to be identified as a female)
Noname
September 20, 2009 at 4:27 pm
i find it ironic that her name is SEMEN-ya. but on a more serious, albeit irrelevant, note, i find it rather tragic that hermaphrodites are assigned their gender at birth. while at the moment, probably nobody may have a better solution to this, it is a poignant case of how society works to bring order and stability into the lives of her members, and in the process, the individual’s choices and freedom ends up repressed.
Chao
September 21, 2009 at 7:48 am
WOW! I didn’t know that you would be assigned a gender in such a situation. Shouldn’t it be the parents’ choice?
Anyway, I think its very curious as to why they questioned her gender after her win? Why didn’t the officials choose to persue this matter when she joined the competition?
There is no wrong in judging or questioning her gender as it is quite a complicated issue. However I believe they could have handled the situation with more thought and sensitivity.
St1ck
September 21, 2009 at 9:38 am
poor thang… this issue is very sujective.for me,my definition of a female is somemone who has female body parts. that simple. i feel that people should not probe into this topic so much. just accept it and appreciate her God given talent! i believe she is not the one person in the world who is a hermaphrodite. it really so unfair to her.. such private affair should not be made public. utmost pity for her..
vanessa
September 26, 2009 at 4:36 am
the society has always reacted negatively to anything or anyone that doesnt conform to the norms. i guess thats because society as a whole takes really long to change its views. and people suffer as a result. it is nothing wrong to categorise genders according to one’s physical organs but then again, we all know men who are horribly girly… and women who are manly then men. in semenya’s case, i think as long as she knew who she was, then she dont need to give a damn about what the media says.
yunshan
November 2, 2009 at 2:10 am
“the society has always reacted negatively to anything or anyone that doesnt conform to the norms”
-Deviance huh?
And yes, its just her gender! there’s nothing much she can do about it right? She isnt given much choice, is she? She will probably appear in the headlines and be scrutinized all over again if she decides to compete in the men’s category right? Hence, why shouldnt we give her some space and let her pursue her passion for running?
whatisadriansblog
November 9, 2009 at 10:16 am
She looks absolutely powerful with those abs of steel! Haha.
I think it’s very unfair to say that a person’s natural ability is due to the person taking performance enhancing drugs, especially if he or she is completely natural! At the same time, you can say it is a form of compliment as well, especially if no one can compete with you on your level.
I especially hate keyboard warriors who talk shit on the internet with nothing to back them up! Many people on forums and message boards bash other people who put their reputations at stake in the real world, while they are hiding behind the cover of the internet to put these courageous people down!
For many women athletes, it is sad to see that many people say unkind things about them when they have suffered so much from their hard lifestyle as a professional athlete.
ghostwiththemost
November 6, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I think this issue highlights how gender roles and norms are used to structure our daily lives and constructs social order. The result of this whole controversy has a lot to do with how we have been socialized to perceive gender and sex roles. Most of us think that there are only two genders in this world, male and female, when there are more than two categories in the first place. As such, in order for such individuals to fit into society, they are assigned a sex role at birth, like what you have mentioned, and more often than not, individual’s rights and choices are neglected in the process.
HuiLin
November 8, 2009 at 8:38 am
i’m thinking she must really feel horrible about it, with the world scrutinising her so badly. but then again she should have expected such reaction from the masses the day she decided to go for the championship.
minzhi
November 8, 2009 at 12:51 pm
I think this issue draws us to see how receptive our society is to the minority not of social norms. I dont understand why should there be a debate over caster’s issue. She has won the title for herself, it is evidence of her sweat and hardwork. She should not be stripped off from the title just because she has testosterone flowing in her blood. It would be un fair and unjust. I dont think althetes can slacken on their training and depend on that boost of testosterone to produce results.
Just cos’ she’s a hermaphrodite doesnt give us the reason to stop her from pursuing her passion and dreams afterwhile it’s not by her choice that she is born a hermaphrodite. We should really be more sensitive towards these people.
happycookies
November 9, 2009 at 9:25 am
I refuse to be drawn into the debate of whether Caster Semenya is a male or female but according to your definition of hermaphrodite, it means biologically, Caster Semenya has an unfair advantage over the other contestants.
Personally, i presume a test is done so as to pacify the other contestants and not allow the world to ridiculate the sporting council(or whatever it is called). Imagine the kind of implications it can bring if they allowed Caster Semenya to hold on to the title. But i do agree it all boils down to social issues.
zhihao
November 8, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Woah, she looks so different in both pictures! Definitely more feminine in the magazine! But yes, it must have really been very torturing for her to have the world humiliating her. She is being suspected as a hermaphrodite, but is she one? She’s not right?
Yes, our stereotypes of how a woman should be is that they are feminine, with boobs blah blah… But i think people should look out of their stereotypes. Not everyone is born the same… And just because Semenya is more masculine, it doesn’t mean that she might just be a male! And why did they even have to put her through all the torture and humiliation to do tests on her?!
I believe she just wants to do what she loves, which is running. Little does she know, it will cause her so much negative news. Whatever it is… to me, she is still a beautiful ladyyyy!
EDWINA
November 8, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Let’s see, we have special cases in the human race like shemales and whatnot already. If a female can grow a male reproduction organ by natural genetics, what right do we have to outcast Caster Semenya just because she is different from us? Well, there’s always the bias from others because something that weighs heavy is on the line (national glory/pride, awards) etc.
Sins of human nature at work. Nothing new nor amazing.
Darryl
November 8, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Actually, Semenya IS a hermaphrodite, at least biologically – which means in most cases that she has both female and male sex organs / hormones. As much as the term is derogatory in a way, we cannot deny this fact. Also, many studies have shown that being a male (being able to produce the hormone testosterone) does in fact produce certain “male” characteristics like aggression, strength, etc. I am not saying this to promote sexism, rather I am stating the fact that there is scientific and objective evidence that there is a certain advantage that the “male-ness” bestows that makes for unfair competition.
Consider this: if injecting testosterone is banned from the competition, then it logically follows that Semenya would be barred too due to the reason given above.
The question is whether she knew about her hermaphroditism beforehand – if she did then she would be in the wrong. If she didn’t then she has suffered some unfortunate humiliation by the media. I feel the greater problem here is the prejudice behind the thought processes – does this mean that everyone who displays “masculine” characteristics should be suspected of being a male/hermaphrodite? Where do we draw the line?
Helloadrian
November 8, 2009 at 4:57 pm
“The question is whether she knew about her hermaphroditism beforehand – if she did then she would be in the wrong. ”
- I do agree with most of the points you made but not this.
As there’s nothing much she can do even she knew about her hermaphroditism right? To withdraw from the race and give up her passion for running? Well, I believe that we should be more understanding towards her, given her condition, and give her the benefit of doubt.
Well, Have Serena William ever been put such gender test? Cos she seems so much bigger than Semenya – yes, thoughts of prejudice at work. The culture we are constantly exposed to shapes my thoughts and perceptions, hence it is not my fault that i am thinking this way.
Yes, the blame game is culturally taught too!
whatisadriansblog
November 9, 2009 at 10:26 am
soon the athletics world will start producing this type of athletes. they will be highly in demand cause after all, its all about winning isn’t it? who cares if you a male with female parts or a female with male parts, you still get to compete in the race.
Faith
November 8, 2009 at 5:06 pm