The advantage of being male as a female
Is Sex Testing a modern menace or a required practice?
The case of Caster Semenya and the ambiguity regarding her sex was well documented by our modern media back in 2009, however the issue of sex testing within Athletics remains as contentious as ever. Caster’s case sent the media into melt-down, with no-one quite sure whether she was male or female helping to highlight the role sex testing plays within athletics and the problems associated with it. The need to determine an athlete’s sex derives from the fact that within athletics, athletes are separated into two distinct categories, male and female. This distinction allows for recognition of the specific aptitude and performance of female athletes (IAAF, 2011). It recognises the biological differences between men, women and the way it affects their performance. Separating the sexes attempts to maintain fairness and perhaps suggests that a form of monitoring needs to take place to ensure female athletes are female.
So why was there such a panic over Caster and her incredible athletic performance? As spectators of sport do we not want to see athletes push the boundaries of performance? Well it was believed Caster had an unfair advantage over her fellow competitors because she possessed higher levels of testosterone in comparison to her fellow athletes (a condition called hyperandrogenism) which were thought to give her the competitive edge. An IAAF statement read that Semenya ‘did not meet the requirements to compete as a woman’ which in 2009 banned her from competitive athletics, however in 2010 she was granted permission to compete again (Schultz, 2011).
The problem with this is that there is little, if any scientific evidence proving successful athletes have higher testosterone levels than their fellow competitors (Cooky et al 2013). In 2015 the Court of Arbitration for Sport was unable to conclude that female athletes with hyperandrogenism gained an advantage over non-hyperandrogenic female athletes (CAS, 2015). The grounds for banning any female athletes because of hyperandrogenism were removed and so proves Semenya does not enjoy an advantage and should not have been banned.
No advantage but issues remain
So, with no medical evidence indicating an advantage, why was Semenya forced to undertake tests to determine her sex? Could it be that due to her uncommon athletic ability and masculine traits that she was discriminated against? Do female athlete who do not conform to our ideals of femininity find themselves the victims of suspicion based testing (Schultz, 2011)? The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) regulations concerning female athletes with hyperandrogenism suggest that these athletes often display masculine traits and a greater athletic capacity in comparison to their fellow competitors (IAAF, 2011). Is the athletic ability of these athletes under question and therefore their sexuality because they don’t appear as woman-like as we would like? Sullivan supports this idea with the argument that regulation of sex provides governing bodies the power to make the decision as to what an athlete’s body should look like in order to be eligible to compete (2011). If the athlete doesn’t conform to these standards, well… we know what happened with Caster Semenya.
Where does this leave us now? With no proven advantage should sex testing remain as a means of determining the eligibility of female athletes or is there more at stake than the question of enjoying the advantage of being male as a female?
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Bibliography
Court of Arbitration for Sport., 2015. CAS 2014/A/3759 Dutee Chand v. Athletics Federation of India (AFI) & The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) [online] Accessed via: http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/AWARD_3759__FINAL___REDACTED_FOR_PUBLICATION_.pdf [Date Accessed 9th November 2017]
Cooky, C and L. Dworkin, S., 2013. Policing the Boundaries of Sex: A Critical Examination of Gender Verification and the Caster Semenya Controversy. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH [online] 50(2), pg.103–111. Accessed via: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224499.2012.725488?journalCode=hjsr20 [Date Accessed 8th November 2017]
International Association of Athletics Federations., 2011. IAAF Regulations governing eligibility of females with hyperandrogenism to compete in women’s competition. IAAF Athletics [online] Accessed via: https://www.iaaf.org/news/iaaf-news/iaaf-to-introduce-eligibility-rules-for-femal-1 [Date Accessed 8th November 2017]
Kessel, A., 2009. Caster Semenya wins 800m gold but cannot escape gender controversy. [online] The Guardian [online] Available via: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/aug/19/caster-semenya-800m-world-athletics-championships-gender [Date Accessed 9th November 2017].
Longman, J., 2016. Understanding the Controversy Over Caster Semenya. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/20/sports/caster-semenya-800-meters.html [Accessed 9 Nov. 2017].
Schultz, J., 2011. Caster Semenya and the “Question of Too”: Sex Testing in Elite Women's Sport and the Issue of Advantage. Quest [online] 63(2), pg.228-243. Accessed via: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/00336297.2011.10483678 [Date Accessed 8th November 2017]
Sullivan, C., 2011. Gender Verification and Gender Policies in Elite Sport: Eligibility and “Fair Play.” Journal of Sport and Social Issues [online] 35(4), pg.400–419. Accessed via: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0193723511426293 [Date Accessed 9th November 2017]