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Egale Canada Release: Whose gender is it anyway?
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September 22, 2009
The controversy which has swirled around Caster Semenya since she crossed the finish line has served nothing but distortion and prejudice. It is a rare international broadcast of what happens to thousands of people all over the world who are intersexed or gender non-conforming.
Born and raised a female, it was her somewhat masculine appearance that prompted inquiries into her gender, not her performance. Her time in the race, while impressive, comes nowhere near breaking any records. There is even a great debate over whether or not intersexed biology would provide any sort of advantage!
As the media storm began to swirl Semenya was alternately dressed as a girly girl, featured as a national hero and tossed into the limelight for people to view as the victim of international conspiracy. Her own statements on the matter were quickly weeded out of the media as they did not always conform to the message. She, herself, became a non issue. Semenya the icon was the discussion.
On the micro-social level this happens every day. Babies with sexual ambiguities have their genders routinely and arbitrarily reassigned. Those who grow up trans or intersexed will find their identity the subject of speculation, not to mention those who simply don’t conform to standard gender roles. They don’t get the luxury of a government advocating their cause to their peers but they are not spared the scrutiny.
What many, if not most, in the sporting world can agree with is that the whole affair is deplorable. The fact that such intrusion into the personal life of a young woman was viewed as acceptable and revelations she did not even herself suspect were set out for the world to know is horrific. But this is only a grand example of the everyday travesties visited far too many times in a world which cares far too much for spectacle.
Helen Kennedy
Executive Director
Egale Canada
416-642-5127
Egale Canada is Canada’s LGBT human rights organization: advancing equality, diversity, education, and justice.
8 Wellington St. East, 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON. M5E 1C5