When I was a stupid insensitive teenager (please make me feel better and tell me we all went through that phase?), my friends and I used to play a game called ChickDude. The rules were simple: spot someone of an androgynous nature, elbow your friend while hissing chickdudechickdude until they decreed the person to be either a chick or a dude, and then commence giggling. I know. I’m apologizing now.
Having since outgrown ChickDude, I was somewhat surprised to see the media playing a higher-stakes version of that game with runner Caster Semenya this past week. She won a gold medal in the World Track Championships and her reward was to have her gender called into question because, well, she runs superfast and also has the gall to not look ultra girly. Check out my take on the controversy – and come play your own game of ChickDude – over at Never Say Diet where I’m filling in for our beloved Leslie who is taking a much-deserved vacay.
Update: While no official announcements have been made, according to reports by an Australian newspaper (thanks for the link, Tricia!!) it has been confirmed that Semenya is an official hermaphrodite with external female genitalia but internal testes that are producing a high amount of testosterone. The IAAF says that they have not made any announcements nor reviewed the results of the testing yet.
I have never heard of that game you played BUT I think we all have "talked it" in some way in our past. Yes, not pretty but truthful. I read your post over at the other site. And yes, I have heard all the controversy about the runner but I did not see her cover shoot.
I think it is an interesting commentary on our times not only for what you discuss but because drugs are really being widely used in all sports & it makes it tough for the true athlete as many are being questioned due to the use of sports enhancing performance drugs.
That's awesome that your guest blogging for Leslie!
I could yammer on about gender roles and the social construction of it yadda yadda yadda, but suffice it to say, people can be REALLY CRUEL for no reason. Urgh. It's maddening.
"Is it a he, or a she…it's PAT!" Anyone else remember that Saturday Night Live character? Now I feel really bad for laughing.
I always figure so long as the person in question is sure of the answer, the rest of us can guess until the cows come home 🙂
Why should we care about gender?
As long as they have something to be proud for right?
But people could be very rude, that's so awful.
I just read the report on yahoo news about her potentially being a hermaphrodite… I'm not sure what to make of all of it…
Oh, and Hello again by the way! 😀 I'm a bit of a failed Fitness blogger, reformed as a Foodie-Market blogger! I'm thinking of starting a brand new one now, as I'm about to embark on my University adventure! 😀
It breaks my heart. Can you imagine how she feels about it? That her gender is called into question like that. It's so cruel.
The one thing I can see for how mean teenagers can be about others…at least most of it was not overheard by the target. I know it's still mean, but I can't imagine how hurtful it'd be if they had actually heard it!
I feel that Caster is a woman. She was raised as an "obviou" female and that is the respect she deserves. As an athlete, however, it is a more difficult issue because of her internal structure.
According to msn/foxnews, Caster was a hermaphrodite who had been raised as a girl, but has testes. I thought that the issue might be biological, as she has much higher levels of testosterone than any other woman would, thanks to having testes. Essentially her hormone levels are closer to that of a woman on steroids, and nothing, not even the fact that she was raised as a girl is going to change that.
Here's the link:
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/10051660/Report:-Semenya-has-male,-female-sex-organs
I didn't mean to imply that the media's treatment of her is okay: she is a girl and should be treated as such. It's just that it's tough for officials to figure out if the record should be counted or not, given the extenuating circumstances.
Well, with short hair and tomboyish looks, I've been "sirred" before myself. But I've also played versions of chickdude, not to be mean, but just because there's something kind of fascinating about not being quite sure if someone's male or female or in some transition state.
Our culture is so gendered, that when the lines get blurry it's hard not to notice! As long as one is careful not to be obvious about it and hurt the feelings of the "Pat" in question, I don't think speculation is necessarily a sign of cruelty.
It is sad how judgmental we are as a species and most of us don't have the 'i'm an immature teenager' excuse…sheesh! I guess some kids never grow up…
Don't worry, we all have moments like that. This whole Castor thing has been so poorly handled by the media that I'm angry on her behalf.
We played foreign, gay or clueless with guys who wore Speedos at the beach. I dunno. I don't feel like that one is that bad.
Honestly, I feel like she's been used by the South African government. This should have been dealt with way before she came to a national stage. I feel sorry for her because she has to get this very private news so publicly.
I'll read those links later this PM. But your update about the hermaphrodite status implies that if you were to play ChickDude about that person, the answer is an unequivocal "YES!!" 🙂
I think we (the Royal "we" meaning society, planet, etc.) need to be very careful when we scrutinize someone the way Semenya is being scrutinized. She was born with the external genitalia that would decree her as female. She didn't take performance enhancers; she has undecended testes instead of ovaries. Does this make her less of a woman? Does a woman who undergoes a hysterectomy become less of a woman? Michael Phelps has double-jointed ankles which allows him greater and faster range of motion while swimming. Should he be disqualified and stripped of medals for this genetic advantage? Until proven otherwise, I'm sticking behind Lance Armstrong, too. Phelps, Armstrong, and indeed Semenya have a genetic advantage over thir competitors. They should not be penalized because they were born with a genetic composition that makes them superior athletes. If they ban Semenya indefinitely for her genetic superiority, at what point does genetic testing become the equivalent of a field sobriety test? Suddenly, if you're a woman and a certain hormone is over X.XX you're banned from competition? I could see that if you're taking something to do it, that's the problem, but if your body is built that way, it's not something you can necessarily control. Or does it depend on what she knew about her body before competition? If she knew she had this advantage and exploited it…is that grounds? Or is she simply doing what Michael Phelps has done with his feet?
That designer guy that is always on Access Hollywood and those shows. Steve Wojo something. Flat-ironed hair. You all know him.
I blame my wife that I know him.
Never knew it by that name but of course, it's just curiosity to discuss something that catches your eye as "notnormal". Being firmly in the chick category with my long hair and booooobs, I think transgender or androgynous people are really eye catching and unique and awesome.
The athletic thing – it's a slippery slope both ways. Not touching either side with a 10 foot pole. Just sorry that she had to go through this SO publicly and the media sucks for being so incredibly insensitive.
Great Article. I linked to it from my Twitter Profile (Sea__Breeze), but it won't appear until tomorrow because I scheduled it.
As a South African I feel at the same time very protective over Caster and desperately sorry that she has to be under such scrutiny. I'm mad at Athletics South Africa for handling this issue so poorly…
I feel great discomfort for Caster and cannot imagine how painful it must be for the entire world to discuss something so intimate as your gender. But human sexuality and reproduction are the most basic human biological drives and therefore we need to be able to identify who is an appropriate sexual mate. It is simple human nature to notice when a person is not obviously male or female. It is basic adolescent confusion and discomfort with their own bodies and how they fit into sexual roles that makes them mock those who are outside traditional gender roles. Plenty of gays and lesbians have the same reaction that straights have to people with indeterminate gender. It seems like we should extend a little sociological understanding to all human behavior. I say all of this as a person who has always advocated for LGBT rights, even before doing so was mainstream. That said, I can see why there is a little confusion in the world of sports about what to do with transsexual athletes because the world of sports is rigidly divided by gender. In a world of women's lacrosse and men's football and men's and women's basketball, what do you do with transathletes? It's not wrong to ask this question in a system that has very rigid rules about what is permitted in competition, including clothing, gender, supplements, equipment. What if Lance Armstrong began to self-identify as a woman joined Team Estrogen next year? What if Lance Armstrong underwent sex reassignment and joined Team Estrogen? These are hard issues but debating them isn't wrong.
I'm Intersexed. "Hermaphrodite" is deprecated, just as "Nigger" is deprecated.
And I'm human. I shouldn't have to remind people of that, but sometimes it doesn't hurt to.
We now return you to our usual program.
i think this is so sad. She should be whoever she wants not feel like she has to change to keep people happy and if she is a hermaphrodite- so what? this just might ruin her life having everyone know, possibly being disqualified and finding out she may never have children. I tried to post on never say diet and it wouldnt let me- do you know why?
Becky – NSD is weird with comments sometimes. I'm sorry yours didn't go through. I've found it's better to not create an account there but to make sure and fill in all the fields on the comment form. Good luck and thanks for trying!!
So you know, I've played that game too… in fact just this week when my 4-year-old put sticker earrings on my 7-month old son…
But as for Caster, it is awful how it was handled. You'd think sports organizations would have a better way to deal with this. Certainly she isn't the first. Maybe the first this good.
Joshua, Caster's "genetic advantage" means that she naturally produces enough testosterone for her to test positive for performance enhancers. IMO that's different from being double-jointed.
That said, I have no idea what the officials should do.
Oh geez. When I was that age, we called them "Pats." I wonder what the rules are surrounding the female and male sex in this case, or if there even ARE any?
From a guy who knows his onions:
Hi Zoe,
After reading the Daily Telegraph of London, I read some of the 299 comments and per usual everybody has an opinion about something they know nothing about. All speculative! As a Urologist, who lectures on this very subject to medical doctors, let me tell you what I think I know from reading the AP from Pretoria, SA. Caster Semenya has a probable genetic Disorder of Sexual Development known as Partial Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, probably Grade 5 or 6, where the external genitalia are female-like and the internal genitalia are vestigial testes, which produce Testosterone and Estrogen. I say probable because we cannot know if she has any ovarian tissue mixed with the testis tissue until these vestigial organs are examined under the microscope by a pathologist. This will probably never happen, unless it is presented to her as a condition for receiving female hormones. At this moment everyone is assuming she is an XY woman. Now somebody said she had three times the normal female Testosterone level, which according to this one lab gives her less than their normal male values. Now every lab has its own normal values and we have not seen any numbers. So here are the values from just one lab, not her testing lab.
http://www.bloodindex.org/normal_laboratory_values.php
Determination Normal Reference Value
Testosterone: Conventional units SI units
Female 6–86 ng/dl 0.21–3 nmol/L
Male 270–1070 ng/dl 9.3–37 nmol/L
But it doesn't matter what her serum Total or Free Testosterone is because the definition of PAIS implies that the cells which receive T cannot utilize it because their Androgen Receptors will not bind the T effectively. That's why she has female external genitalia at birth. Interestingly the research in this area is so complete that the Chromosomal mutation on the Androgen Receptor can be identified. Usually these women and I say women, because that is how they have been raised and gender identify as female, are diagnosed in their teens because they cannot menstruate or conceive. Now in truth I know no more about her physical condition than what I read in the newspapers. Is the London Daily Telegraph a tabloid or the cousin to the New York Daily News? Poor Girl !!!!
Testosterone doesn't work very well on her. Probably why she has more than other women, to get the same effect, pretty near.
First I want to say how sad it is for Semenya to be thrown into the spotlight like this. However, I believe that the topic of gender is completely relevant to whether she qualifies to compete. Why do you think that virtually all sporting competitions are split up by gender? Nowhere do men compete against women. Why do you think that is? If you think that it's because of a penis or lack thereof you are very much mistaken. It's about testosterone. Generally, people who have a penis have a large proportion of it and those without a penis have a small proportion of it. However, as is demonstrated by this case, penis or not does not always tell all.
If Semenya truly does have 3 times the normal amount of testosterone for a woman the debate of whether she should be allowed to compete is just as relevant as whether a man should be able to compete in a women's competition. I don't know what the right answer is but the debate is clearly relevant, sad though it is for this young woman.
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