The Caster Semenya Saga:Berlin and Beyond.

Kwa kweli wanamwonea tu. Kama oragans zote za kike anazo na hajawahi kufanyiwa upasuaji wa kubadili jinsi yake sioni kwa nini waendelee kuwa na mashaka naye.
 
Mimi nadhani huu ni udhalilishaji wa kiwango cha juu kabisa. Mtu aliyezaliwa na kukua akijua jinsia yake fulani anapoambiwa inawezekana siyo, just imagine... wakishafanya vipimo vyote na kugundua kuwa ni mwanamke nadhani ni vyema akawafungulia kesi ya kumdhalilisha. Angekuwa mzungu huyo wasingeweza hata kufikiria kufanya hivyo..
 
Mama yake mzazi ana haya ya kusema kuhusu binti yake:

yeye kazaliwa hivyo na kakua hivyo, ana kosa gani? Hii imenikera mno.
 
Hata mie alipokuwa anahojiwa nilidhani mwanaume lkn nikaja sikia comments kwamba ana deep voice ambayo imemshinda hata mtangazajii yule wa CFI, lkn si ajabu wapo wengi tu mtaani kabla ya huyo kwenye hizo hizo mbia alikuwepo mtu anaitwa MAPUTO Xpress, au Maria Mutola km mdau MBU alivyoweka picha yake, huyo dada alikuwa anacheza football na wanaume kule mozambique mpaka alipokuja mtu akamshauri aingie kwenye riadha na akafanya vizuri tuu, nashangaa wazungu wanakuja juu dhidi ya Caster Eti wana doubt, huyo ni mwanamke kwani hana wazazi? ndugu, marafiki watu aliosoma nao? ameenda mpaka kwenye mashindano ya africa sasa wao leo wanataka kumdhalilisha?
 
Semenya's father dismisses gender question

Last Updated: Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Associated Press



Caster Semenya celebrates her gold-medal victory in the women's 800 metres in Berlin. (Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images) A day after winning her first 800-metre world title amid a gender-test controversy, the father of South African teenager Caster Semenya dismissed speculation his daughter is not a woman.
The 18-year-old runner's father, Jacob, told the Sowetan newspaper: "She is my little girl. … I raised her and I have never doubted her gender. She is a woman and I can repeat that a million times."
Semenya dominated her rivals to win the 800 on Wednesday despite revelations earlier in the day that she was undergoing a gender test. Her dramatic improvement in the 800 and 1,500, muscular build and deep voice sparked speculation about her gender.
"She said to me she doesn't see what the big deal is all about," South Africa's team manager, Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane, said Thursday. "She believes it is God-given talent and she will exercise it."
Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said Semenya was thrilled about winning the race and picking up her first world title.
"She was over the moon."
The head of South Africa's track and field federation weighed in later Thursday, saying Semenya is facing intense scrutiny about her gender because she's African.
Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene said Semenya wouldn't be undergoing a gender test "if it were some young girl from Europe." He added that if this were someone who was white, she would be "sitting somewhere with a psychologist, but this is an African child."
Chuene also says Semenya is insulted by the uproar about her gender. He says: "She's a human being. She reacted like a child."
'God made her look that way'

Semenya's paternal grandmother, Maputhi Sekgalam said the controversy "doesn't bother me that much because I know she's a woman."
"What can I do when they call her a man, when she's really not a man? It is God who made her look that way," Sekgala told the South African daily the Times.
About three weeks ago, the IAAF asked the South African athletics federation to conduct the gender test after Semenya burst onto the scene by posting a world-leading time of one minute 56.72 seconds at the African junior championships in Bambous, Maruitius.
The test, which takes weeks to complete, requires a physical medical evaluation, and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and expert on gender.
Gideon Sam, president of South Africa's Olympic governing body, congratulated Semenya on a "truly remarkable achievement."
"We condemn the way she was linked with such media speculation and allegation, especially on a day she ran in the final of her first major world event," Sam said. "It's the biggest day of her life."
The medal ceremony for the 800 is scheduled for later Thursday.
Athlete stripped of her medal in '06

Morris Gilbert, a media consultant for TuksSport, the University of Pretoria's sports department, said the issue of Semenya's gender has not been raised since the freshman began attending the school, where she studies sports science.
"We are all very proud of her and of what she's achieved," Gilbert said. "The university stands behind her all the way."
He attributed her recent success to hard work and rigorous training.
"She trains a lot," Gilbert said. "If you go to the athletics track, you're sure to find her there. I don't think she had really good training before she came to the university. She's from a very poor area."
While Semenya's case has attracted a flurry of attention, it's not the first gender controversy in track-and-field history.
In 2006, the Asian Games 800 champion, Santhi Soundarajan of India, was stripped of her medal after failing a gender test. Perhaps the most famous case is that of Stella Walsh, also known as Stanislawa Walasiewicz, a Polish athlete who won gold in the 100 at the 1932 Olympics, who had ambiguous genitalia.
The IOC conducted gender tests at the Olympics, but the controversial screenings were dropped before the 2000 Sydney Games.
Among reasons for dropping the test, not all women have standard female chromosomes. In addition, there are cases of people who have ambiguous genitalia or other congenital conditions.
 
I wouldn't go as far to say that it is because she was black that is why the gender issue has been raised. I think the doubt raised is legitimate, and am pretty sure the athletic body have thought it through before asking for a gender test. They know they will be setting a precedence. That is, from now on, gender testing will be required for every doubted athlete, which may lead to law suits.

The issue of gender ambiguity is very complicated and not just from the physiological view point or/and genetic predisposition. It also questions the very definition of what we socially come to accept as female or male. Because at what degree of this XX / XY chromosomes mix-up can we say that one should definitely be categories as a female (or a male). It would seem to me that, the degree of mosaicism may vary from individuals to individuals, and may not necessarily correlative to one's physical appearance. Take for example the French tennis player - Amelie Mauresmo. To me the only thing that makes her a woman, as far as the appearance is concern is her breast. Otherwise, she is all a man.

My 0.2
 



What is your take on this? What problems would there be if this test issue was to be raised before or then after the ran?
"We condemn the way she was linked with such media speculation and allegation, especially on a day she ran in the final of her first major world event," Sam said. "It's the biggest day of her life."
South Africa's governing party, the African National Congress, also defended Semenya, calling on South Africans to "rally behind our golden girl."
"We condemn the motives of those who have made it their business to question her gender due to her physique and running style. Such comments can only serve to portray women as being weak," the party said in a statement. "Caster is not the only woman athlete with a masculine build."
​
 
Hwana lolote hawa jamaa majungu na uvundo tu.
wale wanawake wa kijamaica na amrekani mbona nao wamekomaa sana kwanini hawanzi nao?

Wao na mama yake nani kakaa naye mpaka asimjue kama ni wakike ama la?

Jinga sana hawa.
 
Mbu said:
...mnh, we acha tu; habari ndio hiyo mydear...​





Maria Mutola is often ranked as the greatest female 800 m runner of all time.​
Click to expand...

Mbona huyu hakufanyiwa hiyo gender test???
 
Kisoda2 said:
Hwana lolote hawa jamaa majungu na uvundo tu.
wale wanawake wa kijamaica na amrekani mbona nao wamekomaa sana kwanini hawanzi nao?

Wao na mama yake nani kakaa naye mpaka asimjue kama ni wakike ama la?

Jinga sana hawa.
Click to expand...

There is a very genuine case over this she/he. Some form of clarification is needed to proof whether its a he or she.
Its common knowledge there are some cases which are naturally occurring where someone is brought up thinking they are this gender only to realize when tests are done they are actually opposite gender.
Externally she may have certain female feature i.e Genitalia meaning even her parents since this is a very rare case had to go with what they could physically see to them she is a girl.
However internally she is and could be a man she could be having undeveloped testis's instead of Ovaries these could be responsible for the masculine and heavy voice she has.
Its being said she used to hang out with Boys,used to wear boys school uniforms instead of dresses even the headteacher of her former school didn't realize she was a she until she reached grade 11.You see the confusion.
 
Michael Phelp anyang'anywe medali.

Kama wanasema binti Semenya ana genetic/rare medical condition inayompa "unfair advantage" basi wamvue Michael Phelp medali zote! Yeye pia ana genetic/rare medical condition inayompa advantage ya pekee ambayo siyo kawaida kwa binadamu. Soma habari za Phelps:


Nina swali kwa IAAF:
Wakimkuta ni mwanamke lakini kazidisha male hormones, je watamruhusu ashindane na wanaume? Na akishinda huko?

This probe lacks sensitivity and professionalism needed considering the subject matter and the age of the subject involved.
 
LazyDog said:
What is your take on this? What problems would there be if this test issue was to be raised before or then after the ran?...
Click to expand...

I think the timing was wrong. It seems like the issue has been building up to the point were, when she won, they had to do it. This would definitely seem unfair. But either way, the issue wasn't going to go away.

For the argument's sake, imagine a Tanzanian was in the second spot.
She and most probably we Tanzanians, would have been wanting that test to be done immediately, thinking that "our TZ girl" could have won instead of this "boy".
 
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