News Flash: Male ☐ Female ☐ (Check One and Only One)
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/sports/25intersex.html?_r=1)
Is she a woman? Is she a man? Rather than people focusing on her athletic achievements, Caster Semenya, a 18 year old mid-distance runner from South Africa, has been bombarded with questions about gender. In August 2009, Semenya competed in Berlin at the world championships. She was victorious and won the gold in the women’s 800-meter race (Dreger 2009). However, both the media and general public, instead of congratulating her, scrutinized her physical appearance and hypothesized that she was actually a he. How can someone with such a low octave, virtually no womanly curves and lightening quick speed possibly be a woman? These were the things that lead people to believe that Semenya was actually a man. We are stuck between a rock and a hard place here, with no solutions.
The International Association of Athletics Federation (I.A.A.F) is the governing body for track and field. I.A.A.F. is forced to deal with two difficult topics: the first, determining what athletes should go through the sex verification process and second, should those athletes who are classified as an intersex person be allowed to compete in athletic competitions, and if so as what sex.
According to Jere Longman’s article, “as soon as Semenya posted the fastest time of the year as the 800 meters, track officials said they began sex verification testing on her.” The basis for this testing is the belief that women are incapable of running this fast. However, other factors and reasons to conduct the testing was due to Semenya’s physical appearance and her drastic improvement. Not only would the results from I.A.A.F test determine whether or not Semenya could continue to compete as a woman, but also it decided if she was allowed to keep her gold medal from the world championships.
Like most secrets, the sex verification test results for Semenya were leaked, and the public was almost relieved to find out that their assumptions were true: Semenya was transsexual. However, neither Semenya nor her coach, Michael Seme, would comment on the results of the testing or her future as a runner. However, Seme did mention that “Caster will retain her title as the fastest 800-meter runner in the world” (Longman 2009). Thus, I am left wondering what was discussed beyond these closed doors. Why was there a statement about her 800-meter gold medal, but no news about her racing future? If she were allowed to continue to compete as a woman, it would only seem logical that Seme would announce that terrific news as well, but he does not. Semenya’s case shows me that the I.A.A.F does not know how to deal with intersex athletes.
“Disputes in sports over athletes’ sex are rare, and perhaps never has such a case been as volatile as the one that emerged at the world championships, when it became apparent how unprepared her sport was to handle cases of athletes who may have both male and female characteristics” (Longman 2009). Longman’s article states that “sex-determination testing was once obligatory for female athletes at the Olympics because of persistent allegations that some competitors were not really women.” However, this is no longer the case and as in the case of Semenya, sex verification is done on an individual basis.
In my opinion, if all female athletes were mandated to partake in a sex-verification test prior to any significant athletic event, like the Olympics, the public would not question an athlete’s sex because it would already be established. Also, it would be performed on all athletes, which would than be less discriminatory and thus, would not do physiological or emotional damage to an athlete as a result of being singled out. Further, since “the genes involved with intersexuality are very frequent…and the incidence of intersexuality may be on the rise” the I.A.A.F has sufficient reasoning to mandate sex-verification testing (Fausto-Sterling 53-54). However, once the I.A.A.F determines that an athlete is transgendered what happens next?
There are different levels and cases of intersexuality (Fausto-Sterling 52). In regards to Semenya, her body is producing as much testosterone as a man. However, the levels of testosterone vary and technically her sex can vary on a daily basis. One day she might have a higher level and thus, be classified as a man, and the next, her levels may drop down and she can be considered a female. As a result of the influx of intersex cases how can the I.A.A.F decipher who is allowed to compete and who is not? Ultimately, while I still stand behind my previous statement and believe that all athletes should undergo sex verification for the purpose of not exiling and further discriminating against those individuals who are transsexual, I do not know what happens next for transgendered athletes. Mandating all athletes to undergo sex verification testing does not solve the problem of what happens to the intersex athletes’ athletic careers. Thus, it seems that once again the I.A.A.F is stuck in a rut.
I would be quick to say that it would be best to just adopt Fausto-Sterling’s “five-sex system” instead of our two-sex system. “In addition to males and females, I argued, we should also accept the categories herms (named after ‘true hermaphrodites’), merms (names after male ‘pseudo-hermaphrodites’), and ferms (names after female ‘pseudo-hermaphrodites’)” (Fausto-Sterling 78). However, lets be realistic, we do not live in a very accepting and open world. If the US cannot even pass same-sex marriage laws, there is no chance that it will accept a five-sex system. Thus, I firmly believe that the majority of society will not accept Fausto-Sterling’s five-sex system.
Thus, since it seems that the I.A.A.F is left to group athletes into only two categories, male or female, they are left with many possibilities, but no real solutions. With that being said, should the I.A.A.F measure an intersex’s levels of testosterone on the day of testing to see whether or not the individual is a woman that day, and if so allow her to compete in female events? This technique would prove to be very emotional and detrimental for an athlete because it would further alienate the athlete from being able to identify with one gender, for the athlete might be told that she is a female one race day and the next race, her testosterone levels label her as a man. Thus, with that being said, does the I.A.A.F just say that if an intersex athlete can be a identifies with her female sex and has some physical or biological attributes of a female, then she should just be allowed to compete as a woman? However, according to Dreger, an intersex will dominate the women’s events because she has an excess amount of testosterone, which ultimately puts her above the rest of her female counterparts. Being an athlete, I have always believed that women can challenge men, but I have concluded and fully admit that while us women can challenge men, men will ultimately prevail ahead of women in the world of track and field. Men are faster than women. It is not because women do not put in as much hard work as men, but rather it is physiological. Eric Vilain, a professor of human genetics and pediatrics at UCLA, who specializes in sex development acknowledges that “there is a good correlation between functional testosterone and muscle mass” (Dreger 2009). Thus, men are able to compete at a higher-level then women. So, is it really fair to allow a female athlete, who produces as much testosterone as her male counterpart, to compete in a female event? This is one of the main concerns surrounding Semenya. People fear that she will just dominate her events because of her physiology. Thus, I have no solution and can understand the troubles that the I.A.A.F is faced with when it comes to the topic of intersex competitors.
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