Wednesday, November 18, the ethical issue was presented surrounding 18-year old South African Caster Semenya. I thought that the group did a good job creating class interaction because it is a very debatable subject. They presented a lot of good background information; however I was a little confused about some of the story. I decided, for my own personal knowledge to look up the story and try to get some of my questions answered. On behalf of Caster considering herself a female, I am going to address the terms in this blog in respect to that.
Caster Semenya has been competing in female running events for years. There had been speculation surrounding Semenya for years. However, these life-changing question/rumors were not brought to the front table until she won the 800-meter run at the World Championship in Berlin where she won the Gold Medal. After her win, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) requested she undergo gender verification testing to prove she was a female. Reports indicate that Semenya is categorized as a hermaphrodite; having both male and female reproductive organs.
What I am still confused about is what qualifications must be met to constitute that a person is a male or a female in these specific situations? As Dr. Spencer mentioned in class, there are issues in the way that gender verification test are conducted. To start, there is a difference between your gender and your sex. “Gender refers to how an individual portrays and perceives him or herself---for example male or female. It is more of a social construct than a biological one. Sex, on the other hand, is biological, and that is the essence of the debate in this case, whether or not Semenya is of male or female sex, not gender. An individual can have male sex but female gender, and vice versa” (Tucker, 2009).
According to the Science of Sports article link above, ones ‘private parts’ do not constitute male or female either. There are varying conditions that can cause, for example, male ‘private parts’ to develop without needing the male reproductive organs. There is no better way for me to say these next parts so it is straight from the article, “even genetic testing cannot confirm male or female. In fact, it is so complex that to do proper sex determination testing, you have to take a multi-disciplinary approach, and make use of internal medicine specialists, gynecologists, psychologists, geneticists and endocrinologists” (Tucker, 2009).
Definitions of the area of study of the above:
· Doctors of internal medicine treat the entire person, not only internal organs. These doctors are also called internist or general internist. http://medvotech.nurseuniverse.com/Medical-Vocational-Schools/3418.html
· A gynecologist is a physician who has a successfully completed specialized education and training in the health of the female reproductive system, including the diagnosis and treatment of disorders and diseases. http://www.womenshealthchannel.com/obgyn.shtml
· Psychologists study the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social aspects of behavior, and provide mental health care in hospitals, clinics, schools, and private practices. http://www.mentalhealthchannel.net/psychologist.shtml
· A geneticist is a scientist who studies genetics, the science of heredity and variation of organisms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneticists
· Endocrinologists are trained to diagnose and treat hormone imbalances and problems by helping to restore the normal balance of hormones in your system. http://www.hormone.org/public/endocrinologist.cfm
Even after reading all of the information and educating myself on the terminology, I am still not sure of what the IAAF will rule on her case. I do feel that this nightmare of a situation could have been taking care of ahead of time, before all the rumors began. If there were questions early on, which reports account for, then testing should have been conducted at that time. Not after she won the race and then humiliate her with accusations and chance that her Gold Medal will be taken away. As for the question of whether she should be allowed to run with females, my stance is yes. Until clear, comprehensive and universal testing can be determined, then it is unfair to not allow her to run. By science a hermaphrodite is both and neither. So if Caster is considered both and neither, how could anyone make a determination as to whom should she run with?
"I find sometimes it's easy to be myself sometimes I find it's better to be somebody else"
[davematthewsband : so much to say]
This is another great post, and I especially appreciate the detailed background that you included about the case of Caster Semenya. Dave Zirin, whose blog is included under External Links, had several articles on this topic. One of them can be found by going to:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.edgeofsports.com/2009-08-21-448/index.html
As I may have mentioned when we discussed this issue in class, we have talked extensively about this topic in the Sport & Gender class. One of the links that has proven useful in our discussions is this one that explains the condition of intersex:
http://www.isna.org/faq/what_is_intersex
According to this link, and other information, the incidence of intersex babies is approximately 1 in 2000. What happens to babies who are born with this condition? At one time, physicians made a decision at birth (often without consulting the parents) to assign the baby to one sex or the other. Today, parents are also included in the decision. The fact that our culture is divided in two distinct sexes complicates things since intersex babies do not fit neatly into either category.
What does all this mean for Semenya? What her case demonstrates more than anything is that it is not so simple to define what is the dividing line between man and woman. We have always thought it was clearcut, but the fact of intersex individuals reveals that it is not so clearcut. In sport, the fact of having two separate and distinct categories of competition further complicates things. So, perhaps the solution lies in having just one "open" category in which both males and females compete against each other?
Dr. Spencer- Thank you for sharing these links with me that addressed the controversy surrounding sex testing and Caster Semenya. Not only did it address this issue it mentioned other topics that we discussed in class such as my ethical presentation on the physical looks and attractiveness of female athletes. This is such a complex topic that it is difficult for me to wrap my thoughts around it all at once. I cannot even imagine how anyone could determine a person male or female in cases dealing with this. So many different professions have to be utilized to collect information and even then, there is not a clear-cut answer that places her in the ‘mold’ of being male or female. This leads to, as Dave Zirin put it, sex-segregated sports.
ReplyDeleteSex-segregated sport is another issue that needs to be addressed. As you know my dad was an Athletic Director, when I was writing this post and got to thinking about this side-issue and asked him why we have sexes separated for sports. For example, why can girl plays on the boy’s high school soccer team when a girl’s team is not available, but boys cannot play on the high school girl’s volleyball team when a boy’s team is not available? He went into some other details and I think there may be legal issues that could be involved in these cases. I think that one thing that I particularly liked about this class was how it made me think and expand on these issues and being able to find relating issues.
Back to the intersex topic, there are the issues of the physicians and parents ‘picking’ the sex of babies when they are born with this condition. This complicates things because the sex that is artificially given to them may not be the gender they identify with. Like I mentioned before it’s all very mind-blowing to think about. The suggestion of an ‘open’ event where everyone competes together is about the only thing that makes sense at this point. It’s the only fair way and it would render the use of sex-testing as obsolete. Maybe all sports should go to an open system; we live in a world that outlaws segregation and discrimination based on age, race, gender, etc… yet we segregate sports… Maybe just something to think about.
I think that Caster Semenya is a girl. The fact that it says she is a girl on her birth certificate makes her one. The only reason why this is an issue is because she won by so much. If Caster was in the middle of the pack this issue would have never came up. Also if she were to be put in a men's race and won I think some men would complain that she is a girl and should not be allowed to race in a men's race.
ReplyDeleteI think that since she has both male and female organs should allow her to choose her sex. I think once she chooses what sex she is she should not allow to change it back to the other sex. Overall this is just a very hard topic to discuss because everyone has a different view on the subject.
Actually, Shaun, the correct term for her condition is "intersex." Of course, she can choose which sex she prefers to be, but if she wants to be categorized as a female and compete as a female, I believe she would need to have surgery so that her genitalia matches the gender with which she has lived most of her life. According to the Stockholm Consensus, she would then be allowed to compete as a woman, but not until 2 years after having surgery.
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