Thanks for your contributions in today's sections, I am really looking forward to this semester. I will post my sample "gender biography" blog ASAP and then I will send you all a reminder for you to post yours. Please feel free to email me or post to the blog any questions that you might have. In the meantime, please feel free to post any relevant articles, images, ect. that you think might be applicable to the class or section. I will start out by posting a link to a what seems to me to be a very relevant issue for our class-the genetic testing of Olympic athlete Caster Semenya to determine whether she is genetically male or female: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/sports/20runner.html
What are your reactions to this story? In particular, I would like for you to think about the ways that we determine gender-in other words-what makes someone a woman or a man? Is it their DNA? their physical attributes? their social role? Just food for thought...you don't have to respond to this but I will be stoked if you do!
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The first question that came to mind is why people are questioning her gender rather than the use of drug usage (like steroids). I'm really curious to see the results, but at the same time the exposure to this issue is bringing a lot of ridicule to Semenya. I was kind of upset when I read the comment made by Elisa Cusma, "These kinds of people should not run with us". She's already being persecuted and the results haven't even come back yet. Whether the test proves she is a man or a woman I feel that the media has created a permanent stigma around her that could follow her around for the rest of her life. Someone left a comment about the news article that I found to be really interesting:
ReplyDelete"This is the reason why all sports should be co-ed.
In this age of gender equality, why should sports be separated into men and women? Is this an implicit admission that women are inherently inferior in sports? That the only way women could compete is to have "women only" events that exclude men?
And if it's OK to say that women are inferior in sports, then why stop there? Are women inferior in science and business as well?"
I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on the reader's commentary. =)
I definitely have to agree with Marisa in that the scrutiny that Semenya is facing is far too much considering the lack of results. As the article states, this is clearly not the first time an athlete has been questioned but it appears to me that the media is trying to pull pieces together to form a valid story but are relying on Semenya's competitors for comments. I was astounded as to the way her competitors spoke of her, "Mariya Savinova, a Russian who finished fifth, told Russian journalists that she did not believe Semenya would be able to pass a test. “Just look at her,” Savinova said." It begs the question, has all sport just come down to winning and ultimate success?
ReplyDeleteIn response to the comment quoted by Marisa, I do not believe that sports should be co-ed, but I do believe that as a women and a Canadian, that if a sport is offered at an Olympic level for one gender, it should also be for the other. I bring this up because of the controversy going on around the Women's Ski Jumping in the 2010 Winter Olympics. The IOC's reasoning is that there are not enough competitors and as a result the Women Ski Jumping Team filed a grievance with the Canadian Human Rights Board citing gender discrimination. Does this mean that just because the sport is new to the games, women are not allowed to compete? Where does this leave the women athletes who only want to feel the pride of competing for their home countries?
Just a personal opinion :)
I personally think that it is very unfair for Semenya to be prohibited from competing in the women olympic and that she would be stripped of the gold if the genetic test prove that she’s a man. Semenya had determined herself to be a woman and lived her whole life as a woman, therefore she is a woman even though the genetic tests prove the opposite. Imagine yourself as a woman and you always think that you are a woman, when suddenly you are told that you are actually a man. Will it change your lifestyle as a woman and can you identify yourself as a man when you already claimed yourself as a woman your whole life? I think that this is very unfair for Semenya. It will be great if the tests prove that she’s a women but it will have a very destructive impact on her life and identity if the tests said the opposite.
ReplyDeleteAre there proofs that women are physically inferior to men? Are men naturally and biologically stronger than women since the day they were born or is it due to men’s lifestyles, childhood socialization, and other non-biological reasons that they are stronger? If it is due to non-biological reasons that men are stronger than women, then I think sports can be made co-ed since the winner will be the one who had paid the price and work harder, excluding their gender.
I think physical attributes, behaviors, and social roles are the things that differentiate between man and woman instead of DNA and biological sex. Looks and their masculinity or femininity play a very important role in determining gender. If a person who is genetically female but acted and looked like a male then I consider her gender to be male.
This is just my point of view which may not appear to be right from other point of views. So i’m really looking forward to hear about other opinions ;p
Well, I personally found this story to be very interesting. Although Caster does exhibit a lot of features we usually associate with men, none of those features are exclusive to men. There are plenty of women with short hair and plenty of women with well developed muscles. Who's to say that all women have to behave or look a certain way? Even if Semenya's biological gender turns out to be male, what about her own personal gender identity? I believe the gender a person identifies with emotionally can outweigh their biological gender. Although no definitive answer about her gender can be arrived at until the results are in, I've got to wonder why all this attention is being focused only on Semenya. To be truly fair, the people behind the 800m World Track & Field Championship should either require the gender test for all the athletes or for none of them. In my opinion, singling out Caster Semenya based solely on her physical appearance is judgmental and potentially discriminatory.
ReplyDelete