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P.E 10-Discrimination in Sport
5
Discrimination in Sport
Caster Semenya
Summary
Caster Semenya is an African Olympic Athlete. She is intersex, and has high testosterone levels. This has sparked some controversy, because not everyone believes that she should be allowed to compete with other women in the Olympics because of her high testosterone levels. The Olympics are supposed to be an inclusive event, and many see it as unfair to exclude Semenya. Others think that with her high testosterone levels, she will “unfairly” win and that it will make the games unfair to other competitors.
According to PlannedParenthood.org,
intersex is "Intersex is a general term used for a variety of situations in which a person is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the boxes of “female” or “male.”" This does not define what the person's gender identity is.
What is Intersex?
Why do People Not Want Caster to Compete?
Many people don't think that it's fair to let Caster compete because of her high testosterone levels. They think that it gives her an unfair advantage over the other competitors. Some people think that this will mean that if they let her compete any man can pretend to be a woman to get an easy win. (Note: I personally disagree with this and think that this is a very rude and misguided idea. I would also like that these "concerns" are not valid and all i can say to these people is that your transphobia is showing.)
What Rules Does Caster Have to Follow to be Allowed to Compete?
What are the Rules for Caster to Compete
The IAAF says that intersex and trans women must lower their testosterone levels to be allowed to compete in the women's 400m and 800m. Intersex and trans men do not have to change their hormone levels to compete. If the IAAF sees it as fit, they can make someone take a sex verification test. They are not the best at maintaining the privacy of these results though.
There were many reactions from Caster, the public and the IAAF concerning if Caster should be allowed to play, and if so, how she would be able to.
Reactions
Caster Semenya
Semenya had been lowering her testosterone levels by taking hormones so she could still compete in the women’s 800m. In 2020, she switched to the 200m to avoid her having to reduce her testosterone.
The Public
Many people accused the IAAF of being discriminatory, unfair, and racist towards Caster. Others agreed with the IAAF's actions. Some people pointed out that it wasn't Caster's fault that she was born that way, and she wasn't purposely bringing up her testosterone levels so it was unfair to take away what advantage she had, because following the IAAF's logic, tall people shouldn't be allowed to compete because they too had an advantage over shorter people
The IAAF
The IAAF denied any claims of racism, and kind of ignored the accusations of being discriminatory against Semenya. They stuck with the rule that intersex and trans women should lower their testosterone levels before being allowed to compete in the women’s 400m and 800m.
The IAAF’s rule is still in place. Caster switched to the 200m to avoid her having to reduce her testosterone in 2020. This highlighted some problems with the system, but the problem was not fixed and everyone seems to have forgotten about the issue by now. I don’t think that this type of discrimination will ever stop, but I do hope that one day people will apologize for not respecting Semenya’s privacy completely. Maybe one day we can stop the discrimination against intersex and trans people, and we will live in a better world.
Results
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_Semenya
https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/gender-identity/sex-gender-identity/whats-intersexhttpshttps://
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3740682/Should-runner-allowed-win-gold-woman-Tipped-win-800m-no-ovaries-nearly-testosterone-man-sparked-huge-ethical-debate.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/30/sport/caster-semenya-testosterone-ruling-reversed-intl/index.html