Caster Semenya

In my introduction blog I briefly mentioned my outrage at (as it is now being referred to) Caster-gate. Call me naïve when it comes to sensationalism, but I honestly thought things would’ve calmed down by now, my outrage amongst them. But new kindling keeps being chucked on the raging Semenya fire, and each new twig irks me more than the last.

Now it must be made clear that I am no sports journalist. In fact my interest in sports is limited to World Cup soccer, cricket and rugby, and the occasional Chelsea game that my little brother forces me to sit through. Athletics does nothing for me. Watching people run round and round a track is as about as stimulating for me as staring into the oven watching cupcakes rise. In fact the cupcakes are slightly more enticing as I get to eat those when they’re done. But what’s happening with Caster Semenya goes beyond the business of sports journalism. This is a matter of human interest. There have been scams in athletics in the past where men try to pass as female athletes, so it is understandable that suspicions would peak when a woman as muscular and thick-voiced as Caster Semenya comes out of nowhere and takes the gold. But once it’s been established that she doesn’t have a penis, that should be the end of it. The tests the IAAF put Semenya through are scarily reminiscent of the tests Nazis would perform to find out whether the test takers were Jews. Is this really our level of sophistication as a society?

So the tests were done and a statement made on the news that they need to scrutinise their findings and talk to her before making a statement to the public. As an inquisitive member of society with a background in journalism, albeit fluffy journalism, this was understandable even to me. No matter what the results, the last thing Caster needed was to hear on CNN whether she was a boy or a girl. But thanks to some (pardon my Afrikaans) doos of an excuse of an Aussie journalist, that’s exactly what happened. She heard, along with the rest of the world, that she’s a hermaphrodite with inner testes. Good one dude. You got the scoop and ruined a teenage superstar’s life. How do you sleep at night?

As yet, nothing is confirmed. Despite the Australians claims, the IAAF is still waiting until the end of November to make their official statement. But in the meantime (assuming you care, and if you’ve read this far I’m guessing you do) here is my official statement. So what if she has inner testes? Who cares if her testosterone levels are higher than that of the average woman? Most female athletes have high testosterone levels. If hers are naturally higher than most female athletes, this is her advantage, and good on her for it. Should Ian Thorpe not be able to compete because of his flipper-esque feet? Should Shaquille O’Neil have been banned from the court because of his bizarre height? No, of course not. Having an advantage over the average person is what professional sport is about. And if you have an advantage over the average athlete, then that just makes you a great athlete.

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Fraser
Gender Bender
written by Fraser, September 18, 2009
When does the presence of both male and female traits become skewed in the athlete's favour? Bizarre that they have taken a woman and seem intent on making her a man. Michael Jackson seemed to go the other way, but then he isn't the best example to use now, is he. If the outward appearence of being male is that much of a marker, then I reckon all the women's shot-put and hammer throw contestants should be ruled out with immediate effect and replaced by Victoria's Secret models.

Now that is sport I could get into, especially if they were forced to wear their runway garb while competing.
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The ultimate human race
written by sleaze, September 14, 2009
Maybe we should just kick out all the distinctions, liberate the playing fields,let the ladies compete with the men (and maybe the para's too for the human interest factor) and unban all performance enhancing drugs, lets face it they all they probably taking at least something anyway, as the tests get better so do the drugs, beast and nature and all that. We can create a super race of uber-athletes that have bugger all in common with us mere mortals. Then we can all park off on our couches consuming vast quantities of beer and popcorn while we marvel at them pushing themselves to the limit, incrementally killing themselves for our viewing pleasure on our flat screen hi defs. Put them in a compound perhaps - District Number One! Now that's something I might pay for view!
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written by Brett Schewitz, September 13, 2009
Nice one! I like your example of Shaquille O'Neal. Makes perfect sense.

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