Gender test for track star

LauraMax

LauraMax

Cathlete
OUCH! That hurts!

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ap-worlds-gendertest&prov=ap&type=lgns

BERLIN (AP)—A day after winning her first 800-meter 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 that surfaced 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 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,” Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said.
Semenya wasn’t the only one wondering what all the fuss was about.
Semenya’s paternal grandmother, Maputhi Sekgala, 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.
 
Yes, but have you seen "her"?? She REALLY looks like a man!! And it's kinda weird that all the other women wear those brief type shorts for running, and she chooses to the knee shorts?
 
What's sad is that even one of her teachers didn't know she was a female for several years. I love how the article said that even a physical exam wouldn't be conclusive because people can have "ambiguous" parts. Ugh... you either got one or you don't? Unless you have both and that's a whole 'nother story.
 
OK I did see pics yesterday in the Yahoo article, & more today on CNN. She's not feminine, but I don't think she's manly either. Certainly much less macho looking than female bodybuilders.

So the the CNN story mentioned 3 other female athletes who've been in the same situation. Evidently they had male chromosomes (one of the athletes was autopsied so that's how they found out--EEK!). Now, I'm no scientist--frankly I'm not entirely sure what a chromosome is--but I'm pretty sure they're not visible. :eek::D;) I suppose they & their families weren't aware of the male chromosomes so therefore, in my opinion, they should just leave this poor woman alone & let her enjoy her victory.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/david_epstein/08/21/semenya/index.html
 
Funky.

We have 23 pairs of chromosomes, and the 23rd one determines our sex. She must have something wonky in there.

I'd like to have my chromosomes looked at, just for fun. :eek:
 
LaughingWater said:
Funky.

We have 23 pairs of chromosomes, and the 23rd one determines our sex. She must have something wonky in there.

I'd like to have my chromosomes looked at, just for fun. :eek:
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LOL Lori! Only you would find that fun.........well, probably not only you. The article said these athletes had one XY chromosome, so does that there's a mismatched pair? :confused:
 
This turns out to be a crazy complex issue. The chromosomes start the process of sex differentiation, but then hormones come into play starting at 7 weeks after conception, and keep changing things up through puberty and beyond. And what you see on the outside doesn't always correspond -- 1 in 200 babies are born with "ambiguous genitalia". Lots of them are surgically corrected at birth, and others, you simply wouldn't know about because we don't usually see these parts. So it's actually much more common for folks NOT to fit into the simple sex categories. Nature is messy and doesn't come in 2 exclusive categories, despite our best efforts to make them fit that way.
 
Definitely not feminine, but I've seen a ton of very manly looking women, and feminine looking men. I bet that if Flo Jo didn't wear makeup, have longer hair and those nails, she would have looked more masculine.

I really don't know how I feel about this. Gender can be blurred, but does that mean that a man can have a sex change to a woman because he emotionally felt like a woman, and then participate in high-level sports as a woman? On the other hand, Niel Armstrong has biological advances most people don't--he doesn't produce lactic acid, so that he can bike further than most humans. Should he be excluded from sports? Some people have almost super-human characteristics--naturally. There are some people who are naturally immune to HIV, etc.

Gender ambiguity can be a really painful aspect of life.
 
All I can say is that you can't tell gender just by looking! I've seen more than my fair share of men that look more like women and vice versa - so much so that I could swear they were the other gender and would almost bet money on it!

No one can know for sure without the test. Just because of the hullaballoo, I hope the test proves she's a woman and everyone who doubts it gets a big, "I told you so!"
 
GMonkey said:
Definitely not feminine, but I've seen a ton of very manly looking women, and feminine looking men. I bet that if Flo Jo didn't wear makeup, have longer hair and those nails, she would have looked more masculine.

I really don't know how I feel about this. Gender can be blurred, but does that mean that a man can have a sex change to a woman because he emotionally felt like a woman, and then participate in high-level sports as a woman? On the other hand, Niel Armstrong has biological advances most people don't--he doesn't produce lactic acid, so that he can bike further than most humans. Should he be excluded from sports? Some people have almost super-human characteristics--naturally. There are some people who are naturally immune to HIV, etc.

Gender ambiguity can be a really painful aspect of life.
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You meant Lance right the tour de france guy or neil the astronaut guy?
 
I think they should have her "drop trou" and if she's female down there, unlatered by surgery, then leave her alone. Yeah, maybe the chromosome test would say otherwise, but if she was born a girl, jsut looking a bit more manly than others, well, that's not her fault and there is no deception involved.
 
Govtgirl said:
I think they should have her "drop trou" and if she's female down there, unlatered by surgery, then leave her alone. Yeah, maybe the chromosome test would say otherwise, but if she was born a girl, jsut looking a bit more manly than others, well, that's not her fault and there is no deception involved.
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Well, then they need to look at the genitals of all competitive athletes. You can't just single out the ones who look like the other gender.
 
GMonkey said:
Well, then they need to look at the genitals of all competitive athletes. You can't just single out the ones who look like the other gender.
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Sure, didn't mean to imply otherwise! One trip inside the locker room would answer a lot...
 
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