It's Caster Semenya week at SportsOlogy. All South Africa, all the time.
It looks like we've got our first heart-warming, inspiring Olympics 2012 story. Get ready to have your faith in humanity restored, folks:
Semenya, who has been in embroiled in three years of controversy over her not being "woman" enough, has been chosen to carry the South African flag at the London Opening Ceremonies.
| Related: Caster Semenya & Intersex Athletes Pose Unanswerable Questions |
As I've already written about a couple times this week, Semenya has been forced to undergo hormone treatment to lower her natural testosterone levels into a (vaguely) acceptable range, if she was to be allowed to compete as a woman. The shy 21-year-old from a rural South African village has had her genetalia and sex determination thrust into the international spotlight. At one point, a South African sporting official administered her a gender test without her knowledge.
Gender testing is a sad part of the Olympic games, and has been for more than a hundred years. Methods have changed (woman no longer are forced to stand naked before a panel of doctors and have their genitals examined), but degrading gender testing still persists.
| Related: Acceptance Of Pistorius And Not Semenya Shows Double Standard |
Good on you, South Africa, for being proud of Caster Semenya, one of your best and most courageous athletes.
But part of me wonders if we couldn't have avoided all of this just by putting a pink bow in her hair?
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment!