Many sports have body classes - heavyweight, bantam and so on (powerlifting, wrestling). This is to have fair competition within a body class.
The problem well-documented in this writing is not going to end until the rules are that male-bodied individuals cannot compete in female-bodied sports because it’s dangerous, unfair and specifically unsporting. Able bodied people don’t compete in paralympics even if they resolutely believe they are disabled (NIH: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19132621/ ) the same logic should apply to other body classes.
Any person literally bathed in Y-Chromosome induced testosterone 9 weeks from conception onwards, and at mini-puberty within a few month after birth should be considered irreversibly male-bodied as a sports class irrespective of their (possibly manipulated) testosterone levels or genitals at adulthood.
It’s about bodies, it’s always been about bodies and it always will be.
My understanding is that early in life Semenya assumed he was female -- one of those times when a person actually was "assigned" a gender at birth because his genitals superficially appeared female. But once he was tested, the truth was discovered: XY chromosomes, a partial vagina, no uterus or ovaries, and internal testes that produce T in the normal male range. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Semenya is gaming the system with the blessings of the sports authorities. He is doping.
From what I read, early on Semenya, his parents, teachers, other people in the village all knew something was off with the whole female thing. Contrary to what he writes and says, he was raised as a boy, not a girl. Boy clothes, boy chores, hung out with boys. I have heard Semenya didn't have a birth certificate until he had to produce one at age 18 to go overseas to the World Championships. Not sure about that. But at some point in his school years an agent saw a fantastic opportunity, and Semenya is very savvy, saw a way out of his village. Even at age 18 he was working the press like a pro, has gaslit the entire world and lived a very good life without a thought to the women whose careers he was trashing. He is gaming the system. Doping? What he did is certainly unethical but I don't know if it fits the definition of doping
Thanks for the clarification. I was unaware of his early history.
I consider Semenya’s naturally circulating testosterone to be the equivalent of doping. He doesn’t have to ingest exogenous hormones, his body produces them, but the effect is the same: an unfair advantage over his female competitors.
Since the discovery of doping disqualifies a competitor, then Semenya should similarly be banned from competing.
I'm so tired of these mediocre male athletes disrupting women's sports, and all the politicians and sports officials that go along with it. A big thank you to Peter Eriksson for speaking up. I find it disturbing that seemingly many men (and a few women) are working to destroy female sports.
Many sports have body classes - heavyweight, bantam and so on (powerlifting, wrestling). This is to have fair competition within a body class.
The problem well-documented in this writing is not going to end until the rules are that male-bodied individuals cannot compete in female-bodied sports because it’s dangerous, unfair and specifically unsporting. Able bodied people don’t compete in paralympics even if they resolutely believe they are disabled (NIH: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19132621/ ) the same logic should apply to other body classes.
Any person literally bathed in Y-Chromosome induced testosterone 9 weeks from conception onwards, and at mini-puberty within a few month after birth should be considered irreversibly male-bodied as a sports class irrespective of their (possibly manipulated) testosterone levels or genitals at adulthood.
It’s about bodies, it’s always been about bodies and it always will be.
My understanding is that early in life Semenya assumed he was female -- one of those times when a person actually was "assigned" a gender at birth because his genitals superficially appeared female. But once he was tested, the truth was discovered: XY chromosomes, a partial vagina, no uterus or ovaries, and internal testes that produce T in the normal male range. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Semenya is gaming the system with the blessings of the sports authorities. He is doping.
From what I read, early on Semenya, his parents, teachers, other people in the village all knew something was off with the whole female thing. Contrary to what he writes and says, he was raised as a boy, not a girl. Boy clothes, boy chores, hung out with boys. I have heard Semenya didn't have a birth certificate until he had to produce one at age 18 to go overseas to the World Championships. Not sure about that. But at some point in his school years an agent saw a fantastic opportunity, and Semenya is very savvy, saw a way out of his village. Even at age 18 he was working the press like a pro, has gaslit the entire world and lived a very good life without a thought to the women whose careers he was trashing. He is gaming the system. Doping? What he did is certainly unethical but I don't know if it fits the definition of doping
Thanks for the clarification. I was unaware of his early history.
I consider Semenya’s naturally circulating testosterone to be the equivalent of doping. He doesn’t have to ingest exogenous hormones, his body produces them, but the effect is the same: an unfair advantage over his female competitors.
Since the discovery of doping disqualifies a competitor, then Semenya should similarly be banned from competing.
I had the same thought that this is one of the exceedingly rare times when "assigned male / female at birth" informs instead of obfuscates.
You accidentally referred to Mr. Semenya as “she” multiple times. He is a male. In English we use the pronouns he/him/his to refer to males.
By using “she” to refer to him you are inadvertently reinforcing the idea that him racing against women is justified.
I'm so tired of these mediocre male athletes disrupting women's sports, and all the politicians and sports officials that go along with it. A big thank you to Peter Eriksson for speaking up. I find it disturbing that seemingly many men (and a few women) are working to destroy female sports.
The comment from the lawyer is unbelievable. Well, not really. But it is still shocking. And Caster Semenya is just shameless.