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Semanya - man or woman?
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Indeterminate gender or ambiguous gender is rare but I have known of it at work. It's not usually advertised widely by the parents or the individual unsurprisingly. Here is some info.
Gender is not conclusively decided by anatomy, hormones or chromosomes since all of those can be variable due to surgery/pathological processes or genetic accidents.
I would anticipate it taking a very long time to confirm gender if there was a problem or discrepancy in one of those areas. Whatever...... the way that this has been handled is pretty poor. I think most people feel identified by gender and to publically be accused is humiliating
"In accordance with regulations, the IAAF has the right to discreetly ask for a test to take place.
"It's a medical test but we need to make sure isn't gaining any sought of unfair advantage.
"The timing is unfortunate but she only broke through a few weeks ago.
"She has grown up as a woman and we can't turn round and say she's a man.
“The IAAF contacted the South Africans to see if they could demonstrate gender documentation."The gender verify test is extremely complex. You need a medical evaluation, gynecologists. psychologists, internal experts on gender. It’s very lengthy and expensive process and it should be done under confidentiality agreement.
“We’re still waiting for those tests to be completed. It would be totally wrong to withdraw an athlete from the field in those circumstances. We have to be very sensitive.
Yeh right!
Totally agree with Mrs Pig.
And I also think there is something in here about stereotyping. Many female athletes have had it in the past from Martina Navratilova to Amelie Mauresmo, being subjected to disproportionate checks and insensitive reporting because they don't look like Barbie. And when they couldn't find anything wrong they carried on having a go at their sexual orientation...
Amelie Mauresmo only a few years ago had exactly the same crap in the press as well as forum threads started all the way to there seemingly being a facebook page entitled "Amelie Mauresmo - Man or Woman". Doping tests and fair sport I'm all for it, but this is seriously badly handled and will probably result in nothing other than giving some bored press something to bitch about.
So if Semanya turns out to be a bona fide, unadulterated woman, will it be enough to turn around to her and go "oh whoopsy, just checking, sorry about that"?
A lot of unpleasant publicity for an 18 year old to take.
Don't suppose her fellow competitors would be too upset if it had a negative effect on her performance and she didn't do nearly as well as she has done in the past.
Wonder who started this story...............
Have you all checked in your pants that you've got the right bits?
Poor, poor, woman. I have no idea if she's intersex, but they shouldn't have brought this into the public eye and it's to her credit that she didn't allow it to affect her so BADLY she couldn't compete.
I saw a programme once about intersexuality and how doctors have, in the past made decisions to "assign" a female gender to an ambiguous baby (despite the hormone tests saying male) because it was easier to lop off the tiny willy than anything else.
You should see what happens to these kids when they hit puberty.
you think?
i dont know how many of the athletics stars you've seen, but i dont think many of them could be mistaken for barbie!
I quite fancy mauresmo
no one ever receives sensitive reporting in any situation. sensitive doesnt sell papers, its silly to get upset about it. the fact is there have been past incidents of people turning out to be men when competing as women and if they believe that they need to have it confirmed in this case then they will need to do some tests (particularly as she won the gold medal). its unfortunate for her, but i expect she has already noticed that she doesnt look particularly feminine.
badly handled? possibly, but you cant really keep things secret that easily, cos annoying loser people like us start talking about it on the interweb!
I think it's sad and appauling that people can't just allow someone to be great!
Bolt is on drugs because he is a bloke, so the only explanation for a female is to be a hermaphrodite
Twats
Joan of Arc was a hemaphrodite
The English burnt her at the stake for her trouble.
That aside, if I were a newspaper editor, an IAAF official, or any other person prone to influential public pronouncements, I'd be very careful what I was saying.
It could be very dodgy for one ot two people if the "Tests" show that she is , indeed, female.
So if you're doping you're anonymous until the evidence is gathered. If there is a query as hugely personal as this the IAAF have no quarms with blasting it across the world's media without having gathered evidence...
Kratochvilova
I wonder if there would be the same suspicions if she was a sprinter where they are all quite muscly?
800 meter runners are all quite skinny which makes her stand out more.
I really feel for her. It was terrible when she won the gold, she looked like she really didn't want to be running the lap of honour and there was none of the excitement as seen in the other races.
I think they should start testing our rock stars!!
Dude!!
they should remember her if they read my post on page one!
But what is odd is that none of those complaining now complained about Maria Mutola who was more bulky still.
http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/91/67791-004-99F1527F.jpg
http://www.zurnal24.si/export/sites/z24/_data/images/atletika/mutola_portret_afp_main.jpg_1263901871.jpg
I thought it was a bit rough when the comentator at the end of the race said “just wait Meadows may yet get the silver”
this is a good point though - if she raised suspisions because she improved her time by 8 seconds why does that make her all of a sudden a man? Did she change sex all of a sudden?
PO what are you on about? has anyone actually accused her or being a hermaphrodite?
i dont think its unreasonable to carry out a test if there is a suspicion.
and as for Bolt, there is a fair history of drug taking in sport, its harsh if you're innocent, but the fact is many people in similar situations have retrospectively been found out to be cheating by taking banned drugs.
ss,
you are right, in a way it is illogical. I raced 800m on the track for 12 years and started at age 17 which I think is how old she was last year. Jumping from 2:04 to 1:56 in one season in general is not implausible particularly if your body is still growing and/or you have just started training more seriously. And women have run faster than 1:56. Maybe the combination of doing that jump, that young and being female might raise eyebrows. I would like to see her training over the last several years and any times she posted before last year to really say. But 2:04 is nothing to talk about so if you are starting from that level then spectular improvement is certainly on the cards. In fact I would say its quite common in the early years of an athletic career. I doubt even if she carries on she will improve more than a couple of seconds more.
JC - apologies - hadn't read back
Mutola was a right munter - probably still is - but I don't recall her body looking as "manly" as Semanya. sure it wasn't particularly feminine but at world class level, few are
Oxy I know what you mean about the press being the press, doing what they do, which often is neither pleasant nor fair but sells.
My point about the stereotyping was more really about the general public focussing on what female athletes look like as opposed to how they perform, with there being the greater approval of those athletes who are "still feminine" etc bla bla. Somehow people expect them to perform outstanding sports goals yet not be too musclely, have a decent C-cup etc...
Incidentally I always thought Mauresmo was dead sexy but maybe I'm just weird. She had one hell of a pair of arms on her!
AL, you could be right, maybe I took that the wrong way. I can't remember if he said it before or after the results were announced but I shall give him the benefit of the doubt.
Mr Shimms likes Mauresmo. I do worry a bit as I am a small, petite, feminine looking laydee
He also likes wimmin with large booties and I have no bum to speak off as I like to run long distance and have run it off. 
hmmmmm 