In Berlin a few weeks ago, newcomer Caster Semenya dominated the 800 meter run, beating the nearest competitor by a whopping 2.45 seconds. Apparently women can’t possibly run that fast so Caster Semenya must be a man, right?
Unfortunately, that’s what people are saying about her. Yes, she was a tomboy growing up and preferred pants to skirts. No, she doesn’t look like a supermodel. And when she first started training for the big leagues, she was not world class material. But now that she has worked hard to prove herself in a field where she has trained her whole life to achieve this status, she is met with accusations and disbelief.
So what do you think? Is this fair to Caster or any woman to be “tested” to prove their gender? The testing goes beyond the physical body parts and includes everything from chromosome testing to how her community treated and supported her growing up.
If you think this is controversial enough, take into consideration this is not the first time in sports history that a woman’s gender has been questioned publicly. Other women have had to deal with this same scrutiny and some have even been stripped of medals and awards when they didn’t “pass” the test.
Would love to hear your comments on this subject…
2 comments
Ima Mee
Of course this guy should be tested!
If he’s really a woman, then there’s no need to fear a test right??
Your blog post is ridiculous in my opinion. There is obviously a little more than mild suspicion around this person that very much warrants an investigation into whether it’s a girl or boy. Does everything need to be twisted into a defensive “Girls can do stuff too!!” kind of posturing? guess that’s the whole purpose of your website.
Luisa
Disgusting!
This is amazing! So in a male competition, if the biggest male loser lost by 2.45 seconds compared to the lesser loser, does that mean he’s not a man?!
Growing up, I won a lot of art (pencil art and short stories) and math awards from contests and competitions.
Very often, my name would be misspelled as Luis (male name), mine being Luisa (female name). And when the name WAS written down right, the person saying the winners name would do a double-take and hesitantly say, “….Luis?” anyway, and I’d have to correct them.
And I’ve had trophies sent back because they said Luis, not Luisa! Even though the paperwork clearly states “Luisa”!
And I’m only 20!