Caster Semenya, the 18 year old South African runner who took the medal for the women’s world 800m last month, has now declined to race in an upcoming event even though a decision has not been made about whether to take back her medals. In one of the biggest gender scandals in international sports, unconfirmed reports say that Caster’s body contains pieces of both genders. She has no womb or ovaries, and although her testosterone levels are higher than most women, she is still within the bounds of regulations for female athletes.
The most important piece of this for me is that Caster Semenya self identifies as a woman and has been aculturated through feminine roles. Gender is, in part, biological and in a big way, psychological. Imagine her struggle growing up in a world that puts people into two neatly stacked piles called male and female, and feeling like she doesn’t quite fit into either? Plus, she’s an 18-year-old! Teenagers at this age are struggling with identity issues anyway as they individuate from their families and peers. Imagine the humiliation of having the entire world study your genitalia at this vulnerable stage of development! No wonder, this poor girl has dropped out of another race.
Many in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and endocrinology have long acknowledged that human beings may fall into a third gender category: that is, a catch-all group of people whose gender is not clearly defined based on chromosomes, external genitalia, and gender identity. Human cells contain 22 pairs of matched autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes. A classic female has two X chromosomes, and a male has an X and a Y. However, over 70 different variations of the sex chromosomes have been identified, and prenatal hormonal processes can be affected as well. The point of this article is not to give you a biology lesson nor speculate on the chromosomal makeup of Caster Semenya. Rather, it is to pose the question of whether it makes continued sense to lump all people into two neatly stacked categories of gender.
Historically, when a newborn was born with ambiguous genitalia, the parents were often asked to make a choice and the child endured a series of painful “cosmetic” procedures. These days, there’s a movement, mostly led by fetally androgenized females (those born with a vagina and a bonus, a structure that looks more male than female) to educate parents and discourage them from mutilating their precious bundle of joy until after puberty when gender is more set, and children can have a say in things.
And gender isn’t only biological. No matter what our chromosomes and genitalia indicate, gender identity is an individual matter. Some people feel more like a man. Others more like a woman. And some feel somewhere in the middle. It’s also important to separate this discussion from sexual orientation — being gay, straight, or bisexual can happen with any chromosomal combination. In terms of sex and gender identity, we are one multifaceted world.
I say, if Caster Semenya’s testosterone levels (the hormone that affects athletic prowess) are within the boundaries of a female athlete, then let the lady run. Since she has no womb. Those medals are her babies. It will be very interesting to see which other female athletes get tested next.
