The Single Story of Gender vs. Sex

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    The Single Story of Gender vs. Sex                            

                                                

Either/Or: Sports, Sex, And The Case of Caster Semenya written by Ariel Levy is an article focusing in on the single story of sex and gender, but with a deeper meaning on how sex and gender could possibly ruin someones life. Caster Semenya; Olympic Gold Medalist in 2012 and 2016, named Time magazine's “100 Most Influential People of 2019”, and received a gold medal in 2009, 2011, and 2017 World Championships, had her life taken away from her because of the topic of sex and gender. Ariel Levy wrote this article to explain the challenges Caster Semenya went through and led her to quit her dream of running.  

Ariel Levy is an american staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, and wrote this article in 2008. Caster Semenya is an intersex cisgender woman, which means that at birth she was assinged a female but has XY chromosomes and high testosterone levels. “Semenya is breathtakingly butch. Her torso is like the chest plate on a suit of armor. She has a strong jawline, and a build that slides straight from her ribs to her hips.”(Pg.116, Levy). But Semenya isn’t the only woman with this case.  Levy states in her article that in South Africa it is an unusually high number of intersex births. Funeka Soldaat, an L.G.B.T.Q.I activist explains that both her and her cousin were born intersex and went along with surgery, which they now regret. Another female, spanish hurdler Maria Patiño had her past titles stripped away from her and she lost her scholarships because of the “chromatin testing”(Pg. 122, Levy). Patiño was able to requalify in 1988 with proof to show that her body couldn’t make use of her testosterone and that she developed as a woman. 

But Levy brings up a good topic in her piece. Should these women really be in trouble for having God make them who they are, when you have other athletes who have different circumstances but get to get away with it. Testosterone levels are key for runners, hence why they are testing these females, because they are breaking records that no one thought could be broken. To me that sounds like girl power. But Levy brings up the N.B.A. and Micheal Phelps. “The N.B.A., for instance, has had several players with acromegaly-the overproduction of growth hormone. Micheal Phelps, who has won fourteen Olympic gold medals, has unusually long arms and is said to have double-jointed elbows, knees, and ankles. Is Caster Semenya’s alleged testosterone really so different?” (Pg. 125, Levy). This is essentially the same thing, yet sex testing is mandatory for these women because people think they are cheating. 

Although Semenya is a champion, in November of 2020 she announced that she will file an appeal against the IAAF testosterone rule at the European Court of Human Rights. Levy found Semenya and asked for an interview, but she turned it down. “I can’t say to anyone how I feel or what’s in my mind.” (Pg. 132, Levy). This case truly is heartbreaking, a women having to stop her dream because of gender testing, but this is the single story of gender versus sex truly is damaging to a person.

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