Two months ago, Caster Semenya shocked the world when she won the gold medal at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. In addition to winning the gold, the 18 year old track star achieved the fastest time of the year with her performance.
Instead of celebrating however, Caster Semenya immediately faced doubts and questions about her gender. Such critics looked at her astonishing performance with intense skepticism, largely due to their belief that her appearance was too manly. Due to her previous athletic accomplishments, the International Association of Athletics Federations, or IAAF, ordered Caster Semenya to undergo a gender test to verify that she is actually a woman. Instead of being kept discreet, the IAAF's decision leaked to the public, and Caster Semenya was immediately swept up in a global interest about her gender, rather than her athletic accomplishments.
With overwhelming scrutiny surrounding her gender, Caster Semenya caved in to appease her critics. Typically spotted wearing athletic attire and having her hair in cornrows, Caster Semenya posed on the cover of YOU magazine wearing a dress, jewelry, and with a different hair style. By agreeing to such an extreme makeover, Caster Semenya made the decision in hopes of somehow proving that she is in fact a woman. Unfortunately, she has only reinforced the stereotype that women must somehow prove their womanhood by appearing in dresses and jewelry, sending the wrong message to anyone following her situation. Despite this misstep, Caster's actions are entirely understandable. She is still a very young woman, and she wants to be viewed in a positive light, which is something that I believe almost anyone would want. The magazine cover is her attempt to show that she is a woman with good character, not this man-like freak that the media has attempted to portray her as.
While the official results have yet to be released, Caster Semenya's life has been turned upside down. Instead of being a highly motivated elite athlete, she is instead being traumatized by her new fame about whether she is actually a woman, instead of her many athletic achievements. Considering the publicity that her story has received, she must have an immense amount of distress and anxiety about what the world and other athletes think of her. Reportedly, she was unable to take her university exams because she is still too traumatized by the entire experience, which is still ongoing. She has also withdrawn from athletic events, due to these widespread concerns and issues involving her gender.
Being an athlete of color, Caster Semenya's trials and tribulations has resulted in many individuals contending that the IAAF's actions were racist, or improper and morally wrong at the very least. In response, the IAAF has contended that their actions were only to verify that Caster Semenya did not possess an unfair advantage over other athletes.
Caster Semenya's situation provides a good example of a reckless media, insensitive organizations, and ignorance at its finest. Caught up in the middle of it all, Caster Semenya struggles to cope in life and compete in the field of athletics, which she no doubt loves. While everyone focuses on the gender test, people fail to realize that she is a person and that such negative attention will only harm her.
Even if the tests reveal that she is intersex or has an abnormal level of testosterone, Caster Semenya is a woman. This whole ordeal only brings up the pertinent fact that society needs to reflect on how it treats individuals when they do not look like the stereotypical man or woman, or when individuals may contain both anatomical sex parts. These individuals are not somehow below the rest of us because of how they look or how they were born.
As a female athlete of color, Caster Semenya has the potential to be a great role model for many individuals. I hope that she can overcome this ordeal and participate in track competitions once more, triumphing over her competitors. Considering her strong will and personality, Caster has accomplished so much just by reaching her level of athleticism and ability, and I hope her strong mental profile will allow her to regain her standing in sport, overcoming the criticism and skepticism surrounding her.
Eric Harnden
Kin 339i
M 7 PM
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Eric, I agree with you on the basis of Caster's situation proving the media to be reckless, organizations to be insensitive, and people to be ignorant.
ReplyDeleteEven though Caster's situation may be different from the "norm", this does not mean that she should be publicly humiliated or denounced from her athletic achievements. If the organizations are so worried about Caster having an unfair advantage then they should have performed the tests, and depending on the results have a press conference. If it was proven that she does have an unfair advantage due to increased testosterone levels or something of the sort, then they would need to figure out some plan of action. If the results were negative, then nothing should be released and Caster should continue her career as she was.
For people in the public spotlight, whoever that may be, just because he or she made a mistake, or in Caster's situation was just being herself, he or she should not have to answer to the public. Everyone has the basic human right to privacy, and obviously Caster's privacy was violated, which in turn affected her personal life, socially and academically. Her situation is a good example of how the media and public expect to know every detail of a person’s life. Well the public may think she has this unfair advantage, and if she does then that matter should be dealt with behind clothes doors. Also, people should learn to be more respectful in general to those who are different, they are still human and have feelings as Eric said.
Cameron Rau