Caster Semenya - Gender Challenge
Over the past few weeks the media has been full of articles focusing on Caster and the specifics of her case. In my opinion, this approach is both flawed, demeaning and disrespectful of Caster Semenya as a human being.
Evolving an answer to the Caster Semenya scenario will not find an acceptable outcome for all future cases.
Caster Semenya is as totally natural as each and every person reading this:
This is NOT a challenge that is of her making, nor is it her responsibility any more than it is for any one of us.
The challenge is to use our INTELLECT to find a better solution, and a new classification to this problem.
Although the perpetrators may not admit it, Semenya was by no means the first of what has become an increasing number of athletes that fall outside the man-made rules and definitions of what is male and female, who previously were simply coerced by the ‘threat’ of public disclosure out of the sport.
Ironically questions were asked regarding the current “'female” world record holder for the 800m held since 1983.
It was the leaked documents in 2009 that made it impossible for Caster Semenya to be dealt with in the same cloak and dagger fashion, particularly having won the gold medal in the Berlin World Championships.
Since 2009 suggested solutions for ‘conformity’ have been around medication and surgery.
Nature, (equaling Natural), can never be over-ridden!
We, the population, have simply got it wrong!
The challenge should, and must, not be to the athlete, the challenge is to US.
We claim to be the only species with intellect – Now is the time to prove and use it!
It is our moral duty to look at this challenge from a different angle.
It begins with acknowledging the FACT that gender is a spectrum.
We seem intent on defining our competition on gender.. Why must this be the case?
Have we been oblivious to the lessons we have been dealt while blindly following this approach over decades?
Women were first introduced to Olympic athletics in 1928, but after many collapses in the 800m, that and all longer events were banned for females until 1960. Many women have shown that in longer events such as ultra-distance they may actually be better suited than men.
The times set in all distances show that females are more than capable of competing in sport. We accept that times, and distances may not be at the same level as men, but surely the question is why?
Clearly it is not simply because of their assumed gender. The difference is presumably the link to testosterone levels.
I certainly am not a medical professional, and I do not profess to have the answer, but perhaps the following is an off-the wall concept which could address the current challenge? (It’s just one idea).
Perhaps if testosterone levels defined sports categories it would provide equality of competition. Competitions could be in differing categories.
In many combat and strength sports, the categories are defined by body weight. In some cases they are also categorised on experience and ability using belt colours.
Most sports already acknowledge the need to have age groups, and again surely this links to the diminishing performance abilities as testosterone levels drop with age.
In Paralympic sport, groups of people are linked together to create equality of the playing field and create comparable performances.
Such re-classification requires a major mind-shift, change of perceptions, and social norms – but that is what is required if the challenge is going to be conquered.
The point is that this challenge of gender is not going to disappear.
If anything the numbers not conforming to current inappropriate rules will increase as more people, and women in particular, lose the cultural chains that held the fairer sex from participating in sport, and as the financial and social rewards of being a top sportsperson increase.
Promotion of “sport for all” requires that we kill the hypocrisy and find a categories system that is inclusive, not one that attempts to force people in to unnatural actions (medication/surgery) to meet man-made norms.
A further benefit would be the reduced need to supplement/use doping, as the athlete would be on an even keel in terms of the most critical hormone for strength production.
This may not be the only nor the eventual solution, but clearly what exists does not work, so unless we look from a different angle we will continue to get the same unworkable outcome!
However, don't make this personal – Play the ball and not the person.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre
Caster Semenya is as totally natural as each and every person reading this:
This is NOT a challenge that is of her making, nor is it her responsibility any more than it is for any one of us.
The challenge is to use our INTELLECT to find a better solution, and a new classification to this problem.
Although the perpetrators may not admit it, Semenya was by no means the first of what has become an increasing number of athletes that fall outside the man-made rules and definitions of what is male and female, who previously were simply coerced by the ‘threat’ of public disclosure out of the sport.
Ironically questions were asked regarding the current “'female” world record holder for the 800m held since 1983.
It was the leaked documents in 2009 that made it impossible for Caster Semenya to be dealt with in the same cloak and dagger fashion, particularly having won the gold medal in the Berlin World Championships.
Since 2009 suggested solutions for ‘conformity’ have been around medication and surgery.
Nature, (equaling Natural), can never be over-ridden!
We, the population, have simply got it wrong!
The challenge should, and must, not be to the athlete, the challenge is to US.
We claim to be the only species with intellect – Now is the time to prove and use it!
It is our moral duty to look at this challenge from a different angle.
It begins with acknowledging the FACT that gender is a spectrum.
We seem intent on defining our competition on gender.. Why must this be the case?
Have we been oblivious to the lessons we have been dealt while blindly following this approach over decades?
Women were first introduced to Olympic athletics in 1928, but after many collapses in the 800m, that and all longer events were banned for females until 1960. Many women have shown that in longer events such as ultra-distance they may actually be better suited than men.
The times set in all distances show that females are more than capable of competing in sport. We accept that times, and distances may not be at the same level as men, but surely the question is why?
Clearly it is not simply because of their assumed gender. The difference is presumably the link to testosterone levels.
I certainly am not a medical professional, and I do not profess to have the answer, but perhaps the following is an off-the wall concept which could address the current challenge? (It’s just one idea).
Perhaps if testosterone levels defined sports categories it would provide equality of competition. Competitions could be in differing categories.
In many combat and strength sports, the categories are defined by body weight. In some cases they are also categorised on experience and ability using belt colours.
Most sports already acknowledge the need to have age groups, and again surely this links to the diminishing performance abilities as testosterone levels drop with age.
In Paralympic sport, groups of people are linked together to create equality of the playing field and create comparable performances.
Such re-classification requires a major mind-shift, change of perceptions, and social norms – but that is what is required if the challenge is going to be conquered.
The point is that this challenge of gender is not going to disappear.
If anything the numbers not conforming to current inappropriate rules will increase as more people, and women in particular, lose the cultural chains that held the fairer sex from participating in sport, and as the financial and social rewards of being a top sportsperson increase.
Promotion of “sport for all” requires that we kill the hypocrisy and find a categories system that is inclusive, not one that attempts to force people in to unnatural actions (medication/surgery) to meet man-made norms.
A further benefit would be the reduced need to supplement/use doping, as the athlete would be on an even keel in terms of the most critical hormone for strength production.
This may not be the only nor the eventual solution, but clearly what exists does not work, so unless we look from a different angle we will continue to get the same unworkable outcome!
However, don't make this personal – Play the ball and not the person.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
Twitter - @SportswaveAndre