Sex typing is fuzzy science

Verifying physical sex assumes a sharp line between male and female

Inclusion of ‘expert on gender’ implies assumptions have been made, writes Sally Gross

Athletes: Sex vs gender

CASTER Semenya’s situation strikes powerful chords in my personal experience. About 15 years ago, the determination that I am intersexed pulled my life comprehensively apart.

It brought a brutal end to my career as an academic pedagogue and teacher of philosophy and it killed an almost completed doctoral thesis in which the Oxford University Press had expressed interest.

The ostracism I experienced and the shattering of expectations and hopes left me a dead person on leave.

A few years later , medical evidence documenting the ambiguity of my genitalia led to the denial of any official South African identifying documents, making me a non-person in the South African legal context, unable even to return to my land of birth.

The two examinations that informed the documentation I was required to submit were respectful and gentle, but I still remember them as deeply traumatising.

I became a person in South African law again only after a 15-month battle leading to ad hoccery on the part of the authorities, for which I am grateful.

Given my background, I have some sense of the extent to which the tests and the controversy are bound to have an impact on young Caster, notwithstanding the brave face she puts on, and I feel obliged to challenge what is being done.

Semenya is not suspected of pretending to be female. Nor is she thought to be a post-operative transsexual — regulations permit post-op transsexuals to compete in their new genders from two years after surgery. What seems to be in question is whether she is perhaps intersexed, and this brings her right to compete as a woman into question.

Information in the media about the character of the testing indicates that this involves, inter alia, a chromosomal screen, gynaecological examination, an endocrinological screening, examination of internal structures of reproduction and sex glands, as well as a barrage of psychological tests. An “expert on gender” is also to be involved.

Chromosomal screening focuses primarily on whether the chromosomal pattern is XX, typically female, or XY, typically male.

The far less likely “genetic mosaicism”, where some tissue is XX and some XY and, though extremely unlikely in this case, the OX pattern of Turner’s syndrome and the XXY pattern of Klinefelter’s Syndrome, will also be covered.

The gynaecological examinations will presumably examine the external genitalia, the endocrinological screening will look at levels of testosterone, oestrogen and progesterones. The internal medical screening will presumably look at gonadal structure, ovarian or testicular, also screening for mixed gonads or streak testicular tissue.

An impression of rigour and scientific objectivity is given. The process, after all, is to be conducted by experts in their fields, apparently yielding a panel with unassailable expertise in the domain of the verification of sex and gender. Applying good sense and logic to what is proposed and what is alleged suggests that the appearance of scientific rigour and objectivity is deceptive.

Suspicion that Caster is not a “real woman” is based on purely secondary sexual characteristics: muscular build, deep-ish voice, and some facial hair. OK, she is butch; but are butch women barred from women’s events?

A female athlete who turns out to be intersexed is most likely affected by one of two syndromes: complete or near complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS), or congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH).

In complete or near complete AIS, the chromosomal pattern is XY and gonads in the abdomen turn out to be testes churning out testosterone. However, no cell of the body is able to respond to testosterone in a way that allows the body to be masculinised.

AIS women lack facial, underarm and pubic hair. Semenya’s hairiness, as well as her physique, seem to rule AIS out. Should tests indicate CAH, where chromosomes are XX, classification of sex is likely to be as female.

Odds are thus that Semenya is not intersexed. So she’s butch — not a big deal. And if she’s intersexed, so what?

The process of verifying physical sex assumes a razor-sharp boundary-line between male and female. The theory: investigation will always uncover an underlying “real sex”, either male or female.

In fact, boundaries are often awkwardly fuzzy. Physical sex in real-world terms is better viewed as a continuum with two poles, one male and the other female.

There are XY women and XX men. Both testosterone and oestrogen are found in male and female bodies. Setting sharp boundaries, whatever the consequences and ignoring the fuzziness, flies in the face of objectivity and is anything but scientific.

Including psychological testing and involving “an expert on gender” are extremely worrying. Sex and gender are different. Sex is physical; gender, by contrast, is a social construct. Gender norms vary radically in different cultures and social contexts, and stereotypes are part of gender.

Psychological gender-screening and bringing a so-called gender expert to the party suggest that far-reaching assumptions about masculine and feminine patterns of behaviour and mind-sets taint the process.

Given the extent to which gender norms vary across cultures and the known oppressiveness of gender-stereotyping, inclusion of psychological testing and the gender expert makes it clear that the process is neither objective nor scientific. Against the backdrop of media speculation, it is a humiliating ritual.

It is reasonable to ensure that someone born and reared as male and, who is unequivocally male, does not masquerade as female. Examination of the external genitalia should suffice. Lifting the skirt of Hermann “Dora” Ratjen in the 1930s resolved the issue once and for all.

The panoply of both physical and psychological tests in Semenya’s case goes way beyond what is reasonable and infringes her dignity as a person.

Support for her in South Africa is heartening. All who support her should lobby for the arrogant and humiliating process of “gender verification” to be ended once and for all, be it in athletics or elsewhere. Whether or not Semenya turns out to be intersexed, her supporters are also honour-bound to support an end to any prejudice against the intersexed.

Sally Gross is the founder of Intersex South Africa —www.intersex.org.za

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Orfeo

Excellent article about Caster Semenya

Excerpt from the article by Luminis:

"Some basic themes that will be familiar to anyone intersex arise over and over in the news coverage. There's ignorance of the very existence of intersex people, evinced in frequent speculation by laypeople that Caster must have had a sex change or engaged in doping. There's confusion of physical sex with gender identity, with detractors, including some of Caster's competitors, referring to her with male pronouns and speaking disparagingly of her butch appearance. There's racist scientific hubris, with Western sports scientists asserting that they can determine Caster's "true" dyadic sex after doing an exhaustive investigation of her chromosomes, hormone levels, anatomy, gonadal tissue, and psychology, while speaking derisively of the ASA's investigation as being unsophisticated. And most of all, there's the overwhelming belief in the myth of dyadic sex. Caster must be female or male; intersex cannot exist as a sex category."

To read the complete article: click here

Sign the Petition for Caster Semenya

Have you heard the news about Caster Semenya, the champion South African runner?

She’s got the world’s attention, but it’s not about her athletic ability – it’s about who she is, and who gets to decide her gender.

XX – why?! Why does Caster have to endure invasive tests just because she looks different? Why does the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) get to decide who she is?

I’m outraged. Are you? Then tell the IAAF to stay out of Caster Semenya’s pants:

Sign the National Sexuality Resource Center's XX-Why? petition now.

Caster Semenya

Caster Semenya (born 7 January 1991 in Pietersburg) is a South African middle-distance runner.

Semenya participated in the 2008 World Junior Championships, but did not advance past the 800 metres heats. Later that year, she won gold in the 800 m at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games with a time of 2:04.23 in the final.[1]

Semenya won the 800 m and 1500 m at the 2009 African Junior Championships with times of 1:56.72 and 4:08.01 respectively.[2][3] The 800 m time was the fastest in 2009 when it was set.[4] It was also a national record, championship record, and she bettered a previous personal best (2:00.58) by almost four seconds. The previous South African record, 1:58.85, was held by Zelda Pretorius and she also beat Zola Budd’s national Junior record (2:00.9) [5].

Semenya won gold in the 800 m at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics with a time of 1:55.45 in the final, a personal best and the fastest time in the world that year.[6]

In August 2009, amid growing speculation, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) conducted a gender verification test in the weeks before the 800 m event at the World Championships.[7][4][8][9] The results of the test have not yet been published. Semenya states she is unconcerned about the test and rumours.[10][7]

Reaction in South Africa towards the IAAF's actions has been mainly negative, and a number of athletes, including Michael Johnson, have criticized the way that the governing body handled the situation.[11][10] The head of Athletics South Africa and Caster's family have dismissed the speculation.[12]

References

1. ^ http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=6&click_id=4&art_id=nw20081016164120337C414633

2. ^ African Athletics, 2 August 2009: Nigerian Ogoegbunam completes a hat trick at Africa Junior Championships

3. ^ http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=52412.html

4. ^ ^{a b} Tom Fordyce (19 August 2009). "Semenya left stranded by storm". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 August 2009.

5. ^ IAAF, 31 July 2009: South African teen Semenya stuns with 1:56.72 800m World lead in Bambous - African junior champs, Day 2

6. ^ "800 Metres Women Final Results". 19 August 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.

7. ^ ^{a b} "Caster Semenya faces sex test before she can claim victory". The Times. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.

8. ^ http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/08/19/athletics.worlds.berlin.semenya/index.html

9. ^ "Semenya told to take gender test". BBC Sport. 19 August 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2009.

10. ^ ^{a b} "Semenya dismissive of gender row". BBC Sport. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.

11. ^ "South Africans unite behind gender row athlete". BBC News. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.

12. ^ "SA fury over athlete gender test". BBC Sport. 20 August 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2009.

External links

§ IAAF profile for Caster Semenya

§ Interview with Semenya after the 2009 World Championship 800m Semi-final Part 1, Part 2

Gender Test After a Gold-Medal Finish

Caster Semenya, an 18-year-old from South Africa, after the women’s 800 meters at the world track and field championships in Berlin.

By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY

Published: August 19, 2009

BERLIN — On the blue track at the Olympic Stadium, all three medalists celebrated after the women’s 800 meters at the world track and field championships. But when it came time for the postrace news conference, the gold medalist, Caster Semenya, was nowhere to be seen. She had been replaced on the rostrum by Pierre Weiss, the general secretary of the International Association of Athletics Federations, the sport’s governing body.

Earlier in the day, I.A.A.F. officials had confirmed that Semenya, a muscular 18-year-old from South Africa competing in her first senior championship, was undergoing sex-determination testing to confirm her eligibility to race as a woman.

According to Weiss, track and field officials had not had time to resolve the issue before this meet because Semenya had emerged at the world-class level only in the past month. Weiss said that I.A.A.F. officials and South African track and field officials had agreed that it would be too much to ask of an inexperienced teenager to field questions about the gender issue from the news media.

But Weiss stressed that the testing had been initiated because of “ambiguity, not because we believe she is cheating.”

It was an unprecedented scene at a major sports event, one that eclipsed the night’s other finals, including Yusuf Saad Kamel’s victory for Bahrain in the men’s 1,500 meters withBernard Lagat of the United States taking the bronze medal.

But despite the controversy, Semenya had no apparent difficulty handling the pressure of her first major final. She broke free of her much more experienced competitors on the final lap and won by the huge margin of more than two seconds, finishing in 1 minute 55.45 seconds. (That was still more than two seconds slower than the world record.)

The silver medal went to Janeth Jepkosgei, the defending world champion from Kenya, who finished well back in 1:57.90. The bronze went to Jennifer Meadows of Britain in 1:57.93.

Weiss said that the medal ceremony for the 800 would take place as scheduled on Thursday evening in the stadium but that if the investigation proves Semenya is not a woman, she would be stripped of the gold and the other medalists elevated. The investigation could take weeks, he said.

“But today there is no proof and the benefit of the doubt must always be in favor of the athlete,” he said. “Which is why we had no reason, nothing in our hands, to forbid the athlete to compete today.”

Not all of the finalists agreed. “These kind of people should not run with us,” Elisa Cusma of Italy, who finished sixth, said in a postrace interview with Italian journalists. “For me, she’s not a woman. She’s a man.”

Mariya Savinova, a Russian who finished fifth, told Russian journalists that she did not believe Semenya would be able to pass a test. “Just look at her,” Savinova said.

But sex-determination testing is a complex process that has often not been handled effectively by sports organizations.

“It turns out genes, hormones and genitals are pretty complicated,” Alice Dreger, a professor of medical humanities and bioethics at Northwestern University, said in a telephone interview. “There isn’t really one simple way to sort out males and females. Sports require that we do, but biology doesn’t care. Biology does not fit neatly into simple categories, so they do these tests. And part of the reason I’ve criticized the tests is that a lot of times, the officials don’t say specifically how they’re testing and why they’re using that test. It should be subject to scientific review.”

Sex-determination testing was once obligatory for female athletes at the Olympics because of persistent allegations that some competitors were not really women. Sanctions are very rare. One case came at the 2006 Asian Games, where a middle-distance runner, Santhi Soundarajan of India, was stripped of a silver medal after failing a verification test.

The sex-determination testing was phased out in 1999 because of concerns about inequities. The testing is now reserved for specific cases in Olympic sports.

Nick Davies, a spokesman for the I.A.A.F., said that Semenya, who is listed at 5 feet 7 and 140 pounds in her I.A.A.F. biography, first came to his organization’s attention this year by slicing more than seven seconds off her best time of 2008 in the 800.

That is a huge drop in a relatively short race, but after running 2:04.23 and winning the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, she ran 2:00.58 in a local South African meet on March 9 and burst to prominence by winning the African Junior Championships on July 31 in Bambous, Mauritius, in 1:56.72. That was the fastest time of the year, senior level included.

Davies said that potential doping was the first concern when a dramatic drop in time occurs, but in Semenya’s case, he said the I.A.A.F. had moved on to examining other possibilities.

“We just acted in a way we thought was sensible,” Davies said. “If we would have sat back and done nothing, it would have been very strange of us as well.”

He said the I.A.A.F. had decided to confirm the existence of the investigation only when asked about it in Berlin by reporters. “The choice is that you lie, which we don’t like to do,” said Davies, acknowledging that it was unfortunate that Semenya’s privacy had been violated.

Weiss said there had not been enough time to reach a conclusion. “She was unknown three weeks ago,” he told reporters. “Nobody could anticipate this one. Sorry. We are fast, but we are not a lion.”

He said the I.A.A.F. would have “preferred not to have the controversy” at its marquee event, but not at the price of depriving a potentially eligible athlete like Semenya from competing.

“If none of it’s true, I feel very sorry for her,” said Meadows, the British athlete who sat next to Weiss during the medalists’ news conference.

Weiss said that the two-pronged investigation was being conducted in South Africa and in Berlin in hospitals that specialize in sex-testing issues. He said that Dr. Harold Adams, a South African on the I.A.A.F. medical commission, was helping to coordinate the work in South Africa.

Davies emphasized that the testing is extensive, beginning with a visual evaluation by a physician. “There is chromosome testing, gynecological investigation, all manner of things, organs, X-rays, scans,” he said. “It’s very, very comprehensive.”

Dreger, the Northwestern professor, said the doctors could examine genes, gonads, genitalia, hormone levels and medical history.

“But at the end of the day, they are going to have to make a social decision on what counts as male and female, and they will wrap it up as if it is simply a scientific decision,” Dreger said. “And the science actually tells us sex is messy. Or as I like to say, ‘Humans like categories neat, but nature is a slob.’ ”

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South African teen wins 800 amid gender-test flap

By RYAN LUCAS, Associated Press Writer

BERLIN (AP)—Facing questions about her gender, South African teenager Caster Semenya easily won the 800-meter gold medal Wednesday at the world championships.

Her dominating run came on the same day track and field’s ruling body said she was undergoing a gender test because of concerns she does not meet requirements to compete as a woman.

Semenya took the lead at the halfway mark and opened a commanding lead in the last 400 meters to win by a massive 2.45 seconds in a world-leading 1 minute, 55.45 seconds. Defending champion Janeth Jepkosgei was second and Jennifer Meadows of Britain was third in 1:57.93.

After crossing the line, Semenya dusted her shoulders with her hands. Semenya did not speak to reporters after the race or attend a news conference.

About three weeks ago, the international federation asked South African track and field authorities to conduct the verification test. Semenya had burst onto the scene by posting a world-leading time of 1:56.72 at the African junior championships in Maruitius.

Her dramatic improvement in times, muscular build and deep voice sparked speculation about her gender. Ideally, any dispute surrounding an athlete is dealt with before a major competition. But Semenya’s stunning rise from unknown teenage runner to the favorite in the 800 happened almost overnight. That meant the gender test—which takes several weeks—could not be completed in time.

Before the race, IAAF spokesman Nick Davies stressed this is a “medical issue, not an issue of cheating.” He said the “extremely complex” testing has begun. The process requires a physical medical evaluation and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and gender expert.

South Africa team manager Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane would not confirm or deny that Semenya was having such a test.

“We entered Caster as a woman and we want to keep it that way,” Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said. “Our conscience is clear in terms of Caster. We have no reservations at all about that.”

Although medals will be awarded for the 800, the race remains under a cloud until the investigation is closed, and Semenya could be stripped of the gold depending on the test results, IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss said.

“But today there is no proof and the benefit of doubt must always be in favor of the athlete,” Weiss said.

Semenya’s rivals said they tried not to dwell on the issue before the race.

“I’ve heard a lot of speculation, but all I could do was just keep a level head and go about my business,” Meadows said. “If none of it’s true, I feel very sorry for her.

One thing not in doubt was Semenya’s outstanding run.

“Nobody else in the world can do that sort of time at the moment,” Meadows said. “She obviously took the race by storm.”

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