Caster Semenya (SumBlog 2)

In honor of the on going Olympics, this blog will focus on a controversy that rocked one of the shining stars of the competitive track and field world a few years ago.  Caster Semenya is a female intermediate distance runner from South Africa who burst onto the scene by winning a World Championship gold medal in the 800 meter in August of 2009.  After a drug screening proved negative, competition began to question Semenya's gender due to both her sudden success and her muscular build (amongst other things).  The IAAF ordered a gender test to be done in order to end the controversy.  The results showed that Semenya was indeed a female, but that she was also a male.  In other words, the tests found Semenya to be a hermaphrodite (she had both male and female organs).  Semenya was born with no womb, ovaries, or penis.  Instead, she has had internal testes since birth as well as three times the "normal" amount of testosterone for a female.  Upon hearing the results, many thought that she should have her medal and her winnings revoked and that she should be banned from competing against women.  However, Semenya was raised as a female and has always considered herself to be a female regardless of the test results.  This case caused a multitude of controversy surrounding ethics and sex in sports.
We learned in class that sex is the "biological distinction between females and males."  Regardless of what the definition implies, sex as we understand it is socially constructed.  Biology does not support a bifurcate model of sex, rather it supports a spectrum with male on one end and female on the other.  Individuals like Caster Semenya are perfect examples of the middle of the spectrum.  However, our society is so entrenched in the idea of someone being either female or male that the concept of anything in between makes most people uncomfortable.  It is important for this naivety to stop, regardless of how engrained it is into our culture.  People that don't fit the current model are often socially marginalized in far more serious ways than just athletically.  In fact, doctors often pick the gender of children that falls in the middle of the spectrum (creating a sense of undesirability surrounding being a hermaphrodite).  For being so advanced medically and technologically, our society has a long way to go in terms of social acceptance. 
In the end, Caster Semenya was allowed to continue to compete as a female in the 2012 Olympic games.  She went on to rise above the controversy and adversity to win the silver medal in the 800 meters.  Though she is still shrouded in controversy, allowing her to compete as whatever sex she personally identified with was a big step in the right direction.  The fact that she was allowed to compete as a woman gives hope that we may one day have a more accurate model of sex in society.  I chose Semenya's story because it provided a rather uplifting story in a topic full of dark and upsetting stories.


Photo of Caster Semenya:
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120808074115-semenya-story-top.jpg