A pretty predicament

[McBell]

If a check is going to be made to verify HER gender, then I expect the same check to be made on ALL of HER competitors.

My point exactly.

Why does she have to have "special" testing to 'prove' her gender?

I have no problems with the "special" testing so long as they render it not "special" by applying the standards to EVERYONE.

 

[Madhuri]

So have any tests been done yet?

 

[te_lanus]

So have any tests been done yet?

As far as I know it was done twice as a teenager and both times it came out that she was a female, One of the papers say that test was preformed days after the final

 

[Duck]

As far as I can ascertain, tests by gynecologist, psychologist, endocrinologist and physiologists have been conducted and the IAAF (not sure what the acronym stands for, but the governing body for her level of competition) is deeply embarrassed by the breach of privacy. In the article the tests were being done to ascertain whether her "conditions" made it unfair for her to compete against other females.

So, basically, the IAAF isn't embarrassed by these questions, nor by the fact that they are calling into doubt the previous testing mentioned above, but mostly by the fact that they got caught doing it. One member of the IAAF from South Africa has resigned over the issue (in outrage (rightly so in my mind)).

 

[Autodidact]

Does anyone know what the alleged biological facts or possible condition is?

 

[Vile Atheist]

She's a lady.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

well its obvius a male since the speed is to high for the female competitiors,

There are some events in which women are much better at then men. And many events the two genders are very close together. And then there are some events men excel at. All you have to do is look at olympic records to know that gender only matters in some events.

If they decide to do some sort of genetic or DNA test, then they need to make the test mandatory for ALL competitors.

The problem with DNA testing is that there are so many chromosomal differences, that there will likely be several false results. One such variance is that some women, rather than being XX, are XY, which is the normal male chromosomal pairing.

Also, most women have some masculine features, even a slight amount of facial hair. Alot of women actually do have upper lip hair, and even sometimes hair on their chin. Even alot of men have very femine aspects.

 

[gnomon]

First, the term is intersex and not hermaphrodite.

Second, from the reports Semenya's condition is most likely AIS. XY chromosomes but since the body does not absorb the hormones necessary for normal male development she has internal testes, no womb and a vagina.

As to what gender Semenya is I say she is whatever gender she says she is and that's that.

As far as competing in women's events. They claim she has 3 times the average testosterone production of the average female. Which, given the wide range of levels exhibited by both males and females could mean she is barely outside the average range for females. Males have 7 times, if I remember correctly, the testosterone production of females.

Her times, while incredible, do not even qualify her for the top 10 in the women's 800m. Her record time for 2009 is not as fast as last years time by Sigrun Grau. Compare to the records for the men's 800m it's not even close.

I say leave the woman alone. Let her compete. The so called "fix" I've read in a couple reports actually involves a procedure to remove the testes because they can pose an increased risk of health complications. I don't know what level of risk that actually is but it's not "fixing" her.

Here's a woman discussing her life with this condition:
YouTube - "Women With Male DNA"

edit: Someone on another forum made me aware that some intersex do adopt the term hermaphrodite. I will consider myself corrected on that point.

 

[Falvlun]

They claim she has 3 times the average testosterone production of the average female. Which, given the wide range of levels exhibited by both males and females could mean she is barely outside the average range for females. Males have 7 times, if I remember correctly, the testosterone production of females.

According to the Time article I read, people with this condition tend to have higher levels of testosterone in their system because their body doesn't absorb it correctly, so it thinks it needs to keep on churning out more. The testosterone, however, isn't actually doing anything.