During the winter quarter, CSULA's Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality put together a very informative panel discussion about the South African middle-distance runner and world champion Mokgadi Caster Semenya. After winning gold in the women's 800 meters at the 2009 World Championships in the finals, she was subjected to several gender tests. She considers herself a woman and has been running as a woman all of her life without scrutiny until this win.
Many discussions took place regarding the racial component of mass media's portrayal of Semenya and her "true" gender. An Australian newspaper was especially cruel about this issue. The results of her gender ambiguity was "leaked" by the newspaper before it was reported by the IAAF. Many believed that her privacy was violated and she had been humiliated in front of millions . I think this is an interesting topic because it encompasses a female who is in the domain of men's world, sports, and it also questions our notions of true gender in terms of biology. We often think of gender as inherent and natural rather than something artificial and socialized. Semenya was pictured a couple of weeks after her gender test wearing a dress, makeup, and a weave. She was posing on the front cover of a tabloid to prove that she really is a woman. It made me wonder if the message of the magazine is to say that her womanhood is her attire, her aesthetic quality, and her appearance rather than her talent, sheer power, and determination.
Many discussions took place regarding the racial component of mass media's portrayal of Semenya and her "true" gender. An Australian newspaper was especially cruel about this issue. The results of her gender ambiguity was "leaked" by the newspaper before it was reported by the IAAF. Many believed that her privacy was violated and she had been humiliated in front of millions . I think this is an interesting topic because it encompasses a female who is in the domain of men's world, sports, and it also questions our notions of true gender in terms of biology. We often think of gender as inherent and natural rather than something artificial and socialized. Semenya was pictured a couple of weeks after her gender test wearing a dress, makeup, and a weave. She was posing on the front cover of a tabloid to prove that she really is a woman. It made me wonder if the message of the magazine is to say that her womanhood is her attire, her aesthetic quality, and her appearance rather than her talent, sheer power, and determination.
Professor Talia Bettcher of the Philosopher department spoke about people's need to uncover a deep reality. As if Semenya's gender, boy or girl, would say something about her that is somehow more "real." Semenya as a human, as an athlete, as a world champion is somehow inadequate or simply questionable. She had to be understood by looking underneath, at her chromosomes, xx/xy for a "true" gender: Her "real" identity.
Now, some argue that the IAAF is performing the gender verification test for the fairness of the sport, much like it would perform doping tests. In the panel we had a biologist and a Kinesiologist who looked at Semenya's preliminary results and both concluded that she would not have any physical advantage over the other athletes due to the complications testosterone has on her system. If this is in fact the case, then her gender would be irrelevant.
I would like to attach a PDF of a long but worthy article about Gender verification. It is from the book: Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. The article is called Dueling Dualism. I studied it in my Gender and Science class here at CSULA. It really puts things into perspective. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the subject of gender. I can give it to you if you come ask me or if you teach me how to put it up. The link is the amazon of the book.
I feel it is cruel how media will devour such a story and spit out victims without a second thought of how they would feel, but it is sadder that they do this because it is the only thing we watch. It is like those kidnapping reports or mystery murders on the news. I have never seen one for a common person missing or killed just rich people get that privilege.
ReplyDelete