Covering a Topic Episode 1: Biased Olympics
The Dilemma of Caster Semenya’s Participation/categorization
Disclaimer: as a blogger, when I try to talk about a topic. I do it to not only enhance my knowledge on the subject but to also understand and be empathetic towards all viewpoints and perspectives, I have tried to be completely unbiased while presenting the facts on whether Caster Semenya should be allowed to participate in these athletic events.
Caster Semenya, an athlete who has shined as a beacon of hope and idolization despite all the controversy that she is constantly wrapped in, had this to say about the challenges that she had to face just in order to compete in something that she holds immensely dear, “I am Mokgadi Caster Semenya. I am a woman and I am fast. You try to be in front of me, I jump you, I keep running.”
I would also like to add that “gender” would be used to refer to the way she identifies herself, whereas the term “sex” would be used to discuss about the biological aspects of her identification.
Who exactly is Caster Semenya? And why is her Participation banned?
Caster Semenya is a South African athlete who majorly does track events, she has succeeded in getting recognition for her immensely fast speed and gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics. She has also gained notoriety for being “different” barring her from taking part in the next Olympics and other such big category races. It is a very complex issue and has become more of an ethical battle than about what is fair to the contestants or Semenya. The IAAF has been pretty biased in this issue and has caused an outburst of discrimination. Today I will try to tackle all the reasons to why she should be allowed or why she should not be:
Arguments for her participation in athletics:
Caster Semenya identifies as a female, not just identification on a gender level, but also on a biological level. Semenya has a higher level of testosterone, a chemical which is produced both by men and women, however is present more prominently in men, this chemical which all of us have studied about in junior high biology, is often said to be connected to the performance of an individual in physical aspects, long story short IAAF claims that a higher testosterone level is a clear indicator of having an “unfair” advantage in any athletic sport. These claims based on scientific study have been proven to be biased. Therefore it is clear that there are no studies verifying this belief. Therefore these are some of the major reasons that Semenya should be allowed to contest, without undergoing any drug treatment to reduce testosterone levels:
• Semenya hasn’t had any manipulation, she is naturally female,(though she does have DSD)
• Semenya hasn’t tried to increase her advantage by enforcing the use of performance enhancers; she is naturally gifted and hence is able to perform better.
• She has the right to be in the female category despite being falsely accused of being trans, she is intersex and it wasn’t a choice or something that could be modulated by her.
• She has defied gender norms and doesn’t conform to the beliefs of what a woman is “supposed to look like”
With the end of the last line, I would like to conclude that Semenya is clearly female based on identification, and her participation being barred just because of naturally occurring characteristics is discriminatory to say the least.
Arguments against her participation:
Caster Semenya has a biological condition known as DSD(Disorders of sex development). This condition means that she falls into a rather rare category of sex, as we all know testosterone is a chemical which is produced more by men as compared to women, but in Semenya’s case, she produces almost 3 times more testosterone and despite there being little evidence related to the correlation of testosterone levels and winning/better performance, there is still a stigma surrounding it. Something that most news outlets have mislabeled is her sexual identity, calling her “Transgender”, which isn’t exactly correct.
Caster Semenya’s condition also means that she isn’t entirely female or male (only in the aspects of sex, not gender) , as she does have an XY pair of chromosomes, something which is predominantly present in males. It can be argued that she doesn’t really qualify the biological traits that a “woman” is supposed to possess. That can however be counteracted as this shouldn’t be about what a woman should be but instead what a woman is biologically.
Let us look at some of the broad point arguments against her participation:
• She has a higher testosterone than most of her competitors, and despite the fact that there isn’t concrete scientific evidence relating to testosterone levels and better performance, there is still some practical evidence. This is proven by the fact that all three athletes who secured viable positions in the Rio Olympics 2016 were having higher levels of testosterone. Also most performance enhancers have testosterone boosting substances.
• The rules set by IAAF, as stated by IAAF themselves, “Is discriminatory for ethical reasons”, as it wouldn’t want to grant an unfair advantage to an individual such as Semenya, who can’t exactly be categorized under the simple descriptions of sex and gender that have become the norm in society.
• It is simply unfair for women who are comparatively having less testosterone and other attributes of Semenya to be put under the same category as her.
My Perspective on the situation:
It is clear that Caster Semenya’s case is indeed complex and hard to really decide upon. It becomes a case of fairness vs fair play. It would be just unethical to strip Caster Semenya’s pride over her sex identity, whereas if she is allowed to play it would be unfair to the other women who are comparatively different from Caster Semenya (i.e have lower testosterone).
So far my take on the argument is that Caster Semenya is an anomaly, she is an immensely important figure as she has provided countless people with inspiration to be not afraid, she is fearless, and has been able to face all the controversy with complete honesty and strength and I respect her as an athlete for that. Being able to face a society so bent on invading her privacy and questioning her sexual identity must be impossible, yet she is able to handle all the criticism with nothing but grace. She has held her ground and even tried to fight the confusing and unjustified rulings set by the IAAF which has been supposedly targeting Semenya and other such athletes who are similar to her. The idea of a woman of colour and different sex biology facing society and gender norms so fiercely is extremely commendable and should be respected.
That being said, I still thing Semenya’s case should be studied further to decide whether she should be allowed to participate or not, I clearly support her participation but the idea of sports is to showcase that all of us have certain physical aspects and admirations which can be made plausible by immense hard work and training, having someone who is just physically superior due to certain anomalies would be to an extent, unfair to other women who are participating in the events.
The argument that “other sportsman too have physical abilities which give them an advantage (like Michael Phelps arms and feet being different)” doesn’t really apply here, as the foot size or arm length aren’t classifications or categories used to determine whether someone should be allowed to participate in a race or sports event, something that does determine this however is the Sex of the said individual.
In Conclusion, I’d say that sports aren’t about competition as much as they are about the spirit of the competition. Caster Semenya isn’t someone who holds any intent to brandish her superiority, she is just a discriminated woman who desires to be able to race and run faster than ever before. The way that IAAF has treated her is unjust and extremely upsetting. She symbolizes hope to people of color as well as non-binary people and intersex people, she is a beacon that actually holds credibility of the fact that equality still persists despite all the controversies and hardships. The court rulings of lately which have disallowed her from participation in the upcoming events unless she takes performance deterring drugs shows that there is clearly a moral and ethical lack in the judicial system. In one aspect they are doing right by the previously set gender norms and identification but on the other side they are just perpetuating the same problems of gender and sex identification that are supposed to be tackled by them. If Semenya isn’t allowed to compete the spirit of the games and competition can be considered to have been distorted.
Therefore she should be allowed. It is more than just that though and I compel you all to try and take a stand in this because this is clearly something which would decide the ideals about gender and identity that we are pushing and believing in.
Disclaimer: as a blogger, when I try to talk about a topic. I do it to not only enhance my knowledge on the subject but to also understand and be empathetic towards all viewpoints and perspectives, I have tried to be completely unbiased while presenting the facts on whether Caster Semenya should be allowed to participate in these athletic events.
Caster Semenya, an athlete who has shined as a beacon of hope and idolization despite all the controversy that she is constantly wrapped in, had this to say about the challenges that she had to face just in order to compete in something that she holds immensely dear, “I am Mokgadi Caster Semenya. I am a woman and I am fast. You try to be in front of me, I jump you, I keep running.”
I would also like to add that “gender” would be used to refer to the way she identifies herself, whereas the term “sex” would be used to discuss about the biological aspects of her identification.
Who exactly is Caster Semenya? And why is her Participation banned?
Caster Semenya is a South African athlete who majorly does track events, she has succeeded in getting recognition for her immensely fast speed and gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics. She has also gained notoriety for being “different” barring her from taking part in the next Olympics and other such big category races. It is a very complex issue and has become more of an ethical battle than about what is fair to the contestants or Semenya. The IAAF has been pretty biased in this issue and has caused an outburst of discrimination. Today I will try to tackle all the reasons to why she should be allowed or why she should not be:
Arguments for her participation in athletics:
Caster Semenya identifies as a female, not just identification on a gender level, but also on a biological level. Semenya has a higher level of testosterone, a chemical which is produced both by men and women, however is present more prominently in men, this chemical which all of us have studied about in junior high biology, is often said to be connected to the performance of an individual in physical aspects, long story short IAAF claims that a higher testosterone level is a clear indicator of having an “unfair” advantage in any athletic sport. These claims based on scientific study have been proven to be biased. Therefore it is clear that there are no studies verifying this belief. Therefore these are some of the major reasons that Semenya should be allowed to contest, without undergoing any drug treatment to reduce testosterone levels:
• Semenya hasn’t had any manipulation, she is naturally female,(though she does have DSD)
• Semenya hasn’t tried to increase her advantage by enforcing the use of performance enhancers; she is naturally gifted and hence is able to perform better.
• She has the right to be in the female category despite being falsely accused of being trans, she is intersex and it wasn’t a choice or something that could be modulated by her.
• She has defied gender norms and doesn’t conform to the beliefs of what a woman is “supposed to look like”
With the end of the last line, I would like to conclude that Semenya is clearly female based on identification, and her participation being barred just because of naturally occurring characteristics is discriminatory to say the least.
Arguments against her participation:
Caster Semenya has a biological condition known as DSD(Disorders of sex development). This condition means that she falls into a rather rare category of sex, as we all know testosterone is a chemical which is produced more by men as compared to women, but in Semenya’s case, she produces almost 3 times more testosterone and despite there being little evidence related to the correlation of testosterone levels and winning/better performance, there is still a stigma surrounding it. Something that most news outlets have mislabeled is her sexual identity, calling her “Transgender”, which isn’t exactly correct.
Caster Semenya’s condition also means that she isn’t entirely female or male (only in the aspects of sex, not gender) , as she does have an XY pair of chromosomes, something which is predominantly present in males. It can be argued that she doesn’t really qualify the biological traits that a “woman” is supposed to possess. That can however be counteracted as this shouldn’t be about what a woman should be but instead what a woman is biologically.
Let us look at some of the broad point arguments against her participation:
• She has a higher testosterone than most of her competitors, and despite the fact that there isn’t concrete scientific evidence relating to testosterone levels and better performance, there is still some practical evidence. This is proven by the fact that all three athletes who secured viable positions in the Rio Olympics 2016 were having higher levels of testosterone. Also most performance enhancers have testosterone boosting substances.
• The rules set by IAAF, as stated by IAAF themselves, “Is discriminatory for ethical reasons”, as it wouldn’t want to grant an unfair advantage to an individual such as Semenya, who can’t exactly be categorized under the simple descriptions of sex and gender that have become the norm in society.
• It is simply unfair for women who are comparatively having less testosterone and other attributes of Semenya to be put under the same category as her.
My Perspective on the situation:
It is clear that Caster Semenya’s case is indeed complex and hard to really decide upon. It becomes a case of fairness vs fair play. It would be just unethical to strip Caster Semenya’s pride over her sex identity, whereas if she is allowed to play it would be unfair to the other women who are comparatively different from Caster Semenya (i.e have lower testosterone).
So far my take on the argument is that Caster Semenya is an anomaly, she is an immensely important figure as she has provided countless people with inspiration to be not afraid, she is fearless, and has been able to face all the controversy with complete honesty and strength and I respect her as an athlete for that. Being able to face a society so bent on invading her privacy and questioning her sexual identity must be impossible, yet she is able to handle all the criticism with nothing but grace. She has held her ground and even tried to fight the confusing and unjustified rulings set by the IAAF which has been supposedly targeting Semenya and other such athletes who are similar to her. The idea of a woman of colour and different sex biology facing society and gender norms so fiercely is extremely commendable and should be respected.
That being said, I still thing Semenya’s case should be studied further to decide whether she should be allowed to participate or not, I clearly support her participation but the idea of sports is to showcase that all of us have certain physical aspects and admirations which can be made plausible by immense hard work and training, having someone who is just physically superior due to certain anomalies would be to an extent, unfair to other women who are participating in the events.
The argument that “other sportsman too have physical abilities which give them an advantage (like Michael Phelps arms and feet being different)” doesn’t really apply here, as the foot size or arm length aren’t classifications or categories used to determine whether someone should be allowed to participate in a race or sports event, something that does determine this however is the Sex of the said individual.
In Conclusion, I’d say that sports aren’t about competition as much as they are about the spirit of the competition. Caster Semenya isn’t someone who holds any intent to brandish her superiority, she is just a discriminated woman who desires to be able to race and run faster than ever before. The way that IAAF has treated her is unjust and extremely upsetting. She symbolizes hope to people of color as well as non-binary people and intersex people, she is a beacon that actually holds credibility of the fact that equality still persists despite all the controversies and hardships. The court rulings of lately which have disallowed her from participation in the upcoming events unless she takes performance deterring drugs shows that there is clearly a moral and ethical lack in the judicial system. In one aspect they are doing right by the previously set gender norms and identification but on the other side they are just perpetuating the same problems of gender and sex identification that are supposed to be tackled by them. If Semenya isn’t allowed to compete the spirit of the games and competition can be considered to have been distorted.
Therefore she should be allowed. It is more than just that though and I compel you all to try and take a stand in this because this is clearly something which would decide the ideals about gender and identity that we are pushing and believing in.
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