Over the last several weeks, the International Association of Athletics Federations and the mainstream media have shocked the world with the barbaric and ethically questionable treatment of Women’s middle-distance runner Caster Semenya of South Africa. Last month, Semenya set a world record in the Women’s 800 meter at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Shortly after, her sex and gender were called into question by runners who had lost the race, and Semenya was forced to undergo an invasive barrage of physical, psychological, and gynecological tests to “prove” she was a women.
The IAAF and MSM then proceeded to ignorantly spout off about the results of the tests, which imply that she may be Intersex, a person whose reproductive or sexual anatomy doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male. She is now at risk of losing her medal and being barred from further competition. If this happens, I believe the justification will be that because she produces greater levels of testosterone than non-Intersex women do, she has an “unnatural” or “unfair” advantage.
There are so many things wrong with this situation and the treatment of this gifted athlete that its hard to know where to begin (I will be following up with future posts). For more information about Intersexuality, please visit The Intersex Society of North America. As a Transgender man (born female, now physically transitioning to male) who played women’s softball in college, Caster’s plight hit me pretty hard. I am not Intersex, but my gender has always been in question and it was a source of extreme embarrassment and emotional pain, especially in the context of athletics, where gender roles are already highlighted. The overwhelming emotions she’s feeling right now must be unbearable, and I send my admiration and solidarity to her. I also wonder if those who have mocked this great athlete, seen her as less than human or rejoiced in her persecution have any idea how vile and repugnant they seem.
But you do not need to be Intersex or Trans or even an ally to understand why Caster Semenya deserves to keep her medal and be allowed to compete. We simply need to look to other circumstances in which competitors have excelled because of a natural-born talent.
Yao Ming is the tallest basketball player in the NBA at 7′6″ tall, almost a foot taller than the NBA average, 6′7″. Should Yao Ming be robbed of past accomplishments and barred from competition because his height gives him an “unnatural” advantage over his competitors? Would his height advantage be considered more unfair over Nate Robinson, who at 5′9″ is the NBA’s shortest player, than over Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who is 7′3″? What if Yao Ming were over 8 feet tall? Where would we draw the line?
The answer is, we wouldn’t. In fact, it would seem ludicrous, punishing a world-class basketball player for being too tall. So, why is it okay to punish a sprinter because she is too fast?
Since its hard to think about physical sports without bringing in all kinds of preconceived notions about gender, lets consider a non-physical sport; would it be okay to ban a chess player from competition because he was too smart? Bobby Fischer, the most dominant chess player in modern history, was once described as ‘the greatest genius to have descended from the chess heavens.”
At 13, he won…the Game of the Century. Starting at age 14, he played in eight United States Championships, winning each by at least a point. At 15½, he became both the youngest Grandmaster and the youngest Candidate for the World Championship up until that time. He won the 1963-64 US championship 11-0, the only perfect in the history of the tournament. In the early 1970s he became the most dominant player in modern history—winning the 1970 Interzonal by a record 3½-point margin and winning 20 consecutive games, including two unprecedented 6-0 sweeps in the Candidates Matches.
There continues to be speculation about what specific mental abilities allowed Fischer to completely dominate the sport, but he was never banned from competition or punished because he was “too talented.” His IQ was described as “astronomical.” This is certainly not typical, and without a doubt it gave him a diabolical advantage over virtually every person to ever play the game. But this is not worthy of persecution. Rather, the chess community has been fascinated by him, and many players have scrutinized his ability in order to improve their own. He made enormous contributions, shattering records and enhancing people’s appreciation of the game and expectations for what is possible. Think about what a loss it would have been to the sport if Bobby Fischer would have been diagnosed at 18 as having an ability that gave him an “unfair advantage” over other competitors, making him ineligible to compete.
Making the most of your advantages and overcoming disadvantages is what sports are all about – it is the very essence of competition. Some pitchers throw a better curveball, some point guards drive faster to the hoop and some runners are just faster than others. Some players are trained and primed for Olympic competition shortly after exiting the womb and others have to virtually teach themselves. Some are bigger and stronger, some are smaller and more agile, and many succeed on pure drive and the love of their sport.
And lets not pretend that strength and physical ability are the only advantages some athletes have over others. Regional popularity of a sport, talent of the competition, quality of facilities, coaching ability and funding are all factors that could either advantage or disadvantage an athlete.
Funding. Yes, lets talk about funding. Although I don’t have exact numbers to cite, I’m sure we can all agree that some countries pour quite a bit more money into their sports teams than others, so it follows that countries with powerful economies are more likely to spend more on their athletes, giving them an economic advantage. Since it was Elisa Piccione from Italy who has been most vocal about Caster Semenya’s “advantage” over her, lets compare the GDPs of Italy and South Africa – Italy’s is over 8 times greater than South Africa’s – certainly an advantage. The GDP of the United States is 52 times that of South Africa. Is this a “fair” or “natural” advantage? Should all American athletes be banned from competition because of an unfair economic advantage?
I’m not intending to justify the gigantic economic disparity across the world, but rather to point out the hypocrisy of saying that, of all the advantages to be had by athletes, Caster Semenya’s is unacceptable.
Caster Semenya is not a man sneaking onto a women’s team. She is not illegally doping and has done nothing to break the law. She just happens to be one of the best athletes to ever compete in the women’s 800 meter. This is her crime? Being too strong, too fast, too good? No, no…there is nothing wrong with Caster Semenya. If we allow this world-class athlete’s career to be destroyed, it will only confirm the idea that is already in the backs of our minds, that there is something wrong with the rest of us.
