Reading Response To a Science Article. 2-3 pages. Attached is prompt.

F R I D A Y , S E P T E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 0 9

For Caster Semenya

This is an outpouring of love for Caster Semenya. Wrong is not

her name. What is wrong is the way she has been treated in

global media. As three queer women, we have struggled with

our own relationship to the feminine as it has been constructed

in mainstream society. As a black woman set adrift in a sea of

whiteness, it was hard to see myself as beautiful. My curves and

skin color made me unattractive in my world. As a white,

feminine woman who is also intersex, I have struggled hard to

come to peace with my body. Doctors and the world around me

have told me I am defective or have denied my existence

entirely. As a disabled Korean adoptee, I grew up as an

outsider, rarely seeing people who moved like me or reflected

me in my community or in the media. I was constantly told that

my body was something that needed to be "fixed;" that it was

"wrong;" and that it, that I, was "undesirable." We engage with

each other as comrades, three queer women uniquely shaped by

our lived identities and experiences. We were the odd ones out,

queered by our bodies, but later we claimed our queerness with

fierce intention and pride. Now we choose our difference,

embrace what sets us a part from a constrictive mainstream. It

is for these reasons that we feel a deep kinship with Caster

R E S O U R C E S

Gender Dynamix South

Africa

Intersex Society of

South Africa

SPEAK CD Track 13 On

Cartography and

Dissection - E. Rose

Sims

B L O G A R C H I V E

▼ 2009 (1)

▼ September (1)

For Caster

Semenya

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FOR CASTER SEMENYA

For Caster Semenya http://4castersemenya.blogspot.com/

1 of 11 8/16/2012 6:50 PM

Semneya. Her story unfolded internationally without her consent

and knowledge. We write to right wrongs done to someone

whose only crime was daring to be all that she is.

Moya Bailey

My quirky black girl heart is breaking for Caster Semenya, the

South African runner who has lived her life as an athletic woman

until the IAAF decided she was just too good to be all female

and did some probing to find the “truth." Now she’s in hiding

and on suicide watch, her genitalia, sexual organs and hormone

levels the subject of a global discussion and dissection before

she's had a chance to make sense of it all. Did I mention she’s

18? Unfortunately, this is nothing new in the world of sports,

women’s lives destroyed because their remarkable performances

caste doubt on their femininity. "Real" women aren't that fast,

that strong, that masculine.

Black women have long been portrayed as masculine and

inappropriately feminine in popular media with athletes

particularly targeted for their muscles and physical prowess.

Earlier this year Sarah Gronert, a white tennis player, was being

harassed by other coaches and players because she was

believed to be intersex. Calls were made for her to be removed

from competition but no such action occurred. "There is no girl

who can hit serves like that, not even Venus Williams," said the

coach of one of her rivals. Black women are (barely) women but

Gronert, though described as "beautiful" in more than one

article, surpasses the limit. Too much, Too good. Note: Gronert

is ranked No. 306 in the world.

And everyone (I guess now including me) feels the need to add

their two cents to the fray. An article I read wanted to claim

Semenya in the realm of queer and trans identity and even went

so far as to say that the comparison made by the South African

Government between Semenya and Sarah Baartman was simply

a nationalistic one. A more apropos comparison, the author

opined, would be Billy Tipton, a female born singer who lived his

life as a man until he was discovered in death. Billy was "outed"

by medics who were attempting to save his life which is not at

all like Semenya, an 18 year old girl who was outed not as trans

but as a "hermaphrodite" to the whole world. An intersectional

lens is needed. Pieces of Semenya's story need not be parsed

For Caster Semenya http://4castersemenya.blogspot.com/

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out for the advancement of singular movements.

The feigned concern for Semenya on behalf of the IAAF is

perhaps the most disturbing. After performing tests, lying about

what they were for and then leaking the results, they revealed

that they hadn't yet gotten in touch with her. They aren't ready

to discuss the findings though they were published in papers

around the world. This is after an initial professed need for

urgency because there are "risks" associate with her "condition."

The audacity to test Semenya after accepting the South African

certification for her to compete is indicative of the racist and

imperialist ideology of the organization. The IAAF had to check

on the SA sports authorities as if they were incapable of making

that determination. The paternalism of the IAAF's concern must

be pointed out as they claimed to be acting in Semenya's best

interest.

And doesn't all of this call professional sports practices into

question? Why do we persist in validating a two sex binary and a

gender dichotomy when we are repeatedly reminded that these

divisions are limiting and not reflective of natural human

diversity? What does it mean that the word "hermaphrodite" can

be used in news articles as a legitimate term in 2009?! How is it

possible within the context of the supposed proliferation of

women's studies that more people aren't aware that the sex

binary does not accurately reflect the diversity of human bodies?

How does a common human variation become a freakish

spectacle for the world to consume, again and again?

Our refusal to accept the biological reality of more than two

sexes and more than two genders has driven someone to

(possibly) contemplate ending their own life. Why won't we let

Caster Semenya be great? It's time to look within ourselves and

see how our own beliefs and behaviors support the myth of a

two gender, two sex world. I feel like if I had been doing my job

or my discipline had, this wouldn't have happened. That people

around the world would understand that it is not as simple as

male and female, not as easy as man and woman.

I want to call on communities not to repeat the IAAF's

mistreatment of Semenya by partitioning her story and using

her to make claims for your particular group. Black people have

For Caster Semenya http://4castersemenya.blogspot.com/

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called out the racism and some of the sexism that is swirling in

the press but still use offensive ableist language that is

indicative of a certain distancing from female masculinity and a

subtle homophobia. More than one group has taken up her story

as a new Raison d'être for the cause of gender and sexuality.

The way she has been treated in the media and by the IAAF is

racist, sexist, queerphobic, ableist, imperialistic, all at the same

time. May this incident be the impetus to ensure that this never

happens again and a rallying cry for intersectionality in our

movements so that everyone acts with the understanding that

their humanity is linked with someone else's.

Caitlin Childs

When news first leaked allegedly confirming that Caster

Semenya is intersex, my stomach dropped. I began to brace

myself for the onslaught of offensive ignorant media and blog

coverage and it didn’t take long to appear. In fact, within the

hour that the story broke, I received an email from a CBS

producer calling Semenya a "hermaphrodite" and requesting my

presence on their live morning news show as I "have the same

condition." The word “hermaphrodite” (which is inaccurate,

misleading, and offensive) was used in most of the articles I

have read and immediately the inappropriate speculation about

Semenya’s body, hormones, and chromosomes began.

Intersex is a set of medical diagnoses that feature “congenital

anomaly of the reproductive and sexual system.” Intersex

people are born with chromosomes, external genitalia, and/or

internal reproductive systems that are not considered “standard”

for either male (penis, testes, XY chromosomes) or female

(ovaries, vagina, uterus, XX chromosomes). Intersex is a fairly

common occurrence. It is estimated that 1 in 2000 babies are

born obviously intersex. That number does not include the large

number of people who are diagnosed as intersex later in life

(myself, and perhaps Semenya included.) Intersex people's

bodies have historically been, and continue to be, viewed as

"social emergencies" by doctors. When discovered at birth in

most Western countries, unnecessary cosmetic surgery is

performed on the majority of intersex babies to force them to

conform to either male or female aesthetic binary standards.

These surgeries often require multiple follow-up repair surgeries

For Caster Semenya http://4castersemenya.blogspot.com/

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and are ridden with complications. Obviously, an infant can not

consent to having surgery, and adult intersex people are often

haunted by a lifetime of these unnecessary procedures that rob

them of their sexual sensations and have long term affects on

their ability to feel present and safe in their bodies.

When an intersex diagnosis is made later in life, surgery is often

pushed as a necessary and expected solution. The idea of a

person whose body does not fit the narrow standard for male or

female is unthinkable and unacceptable under the current

medical and social model.

Multiple public genital examinations are standard for most

intersex people in doctor's offices and medical schools. Pictures

of naked intersex children and adults fill medical text books and

journals with a black bar across the individual's face in a weak

attempt to preserve their anonymity. Many intersex people

struggle with severe post traumatic stress from these public

genital displays, multiple surgeries, and genital exams. When a

person is either open about being intersex or is outed, as

appears to be Semenya's case, our bodies are again put on a

type of public display. People seem to think they have the right

to see pictures of our bodies, ask intimate details about our

genitals, how we have sex, etc. People feel they have the right

to have speculative conversations about intersex people's bodies

in a way few other groups ever experience. It is no one's

business what Semenya's genitals looks like, what her gonadal

tissue consists of, what her chromosomal make-up is, or how

much testosterone her body produces. My website, which

features my writing and information on intersex, has always

gotten the majority of hits via people searching for pictures of

intersex people's genitals. I wrote a blog some time back

addressing the problems with this "curiosity." Before the

Semenya's story broke, I got between 40 and 50 hits a day.

Since then, my hits spiked to over 500 a day and haven't

dropped much lower since. With very few exceptions nearly

every single search sending people to my site was for pictures of

intersex people's bodies and specifically, their genitals. The fact

that people think they have a right to access the bodies of

Semenya and other intersex people is the direct result of many

years of historic exploitation and medical abuse of intersex

For Caster Semenya http://4castersemenya.blogspot.com/

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people.

Intersex people exist and have existed for as long as humans

have. Intersex is a natural variation in sex. Despite what most

of us are taught, sex is not a binary (and neither is gender!)

Binary sex segregation has always caused problems for many of

us who do not easily fit into one of two boxes. Semenya is as

much a woman as any non-intersex woman is. One's gender

identity isn't contingent on what is in their pants or what their

chromosomal make-up is. The IAAF has no right to penalize

anyone for being intersex. The fact that it is still acceptable to

put individuals through these types of "gender" tests, is

disgusting. Further, the fact that they did not go to great

lengths to preserve her safety and privacy during this matter is

absolutely sickening and unforgivable.

I was 15 when I found out that I had been born with an intersex

body. I was initially misdiagnosed, given an unnecessary and

painful surgery, underwent multiple genital exams with multiple

doctors and other medical staff and students, and was told that

my body was unacceptable, freakish, and in immediate need of

correction. This experience was incredibly traumatic and

shaming for me. This was NOT due to being born with a body

that doesn’t fit what is deemed “normal” for a girl or a woman,

but was a result of being told that my body was “wrong” and

needed to be fixed. It was due to doctors medicalizing this

variance in my body and treating it as if it were a true medical

emergency. On the larger scale, my shame was a result of living

in a world that refuses to accept the fact that sex is a social

construction that exists (and always has existed) outside of the

binary. I had lived the 15 previous years perfectly happy in my

body. Fortunately for me, I discovered the intersex movement 3

years post-diagnosis and was able to finally work through the

shame and embarrassment I had felt. I was able to get angry at

the system that told me I was a freak, a mutation, an accident,

defective, and unacceptable. Through this, I began to learn to

accept and love my body again. I was lucky enough to escape

surgery and have learned to not only love the body I was born

with, but feel pride in it.

With all of the attention Semenya's story has received, one can't

For Caster Semenya http://4castersemenya.blogspot.com/

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ignore the impact of race and white supremacy on how the

situation has been handled not only by the IAAF, but by the

international media, and individuals discussing it around the

world. White and western ideas of gender most certainly had an

impact on the way Semenya has been treated and the reasons

her sex was called into question in the first place. Gender

standards of how a man or a woman should look and act are

based on white/western standards of beauty and gender roles.

Women of color who deviate from white/western ideals of how

women should look and act often have their gender and

femininity called into question. Further, white supremacy has

historically created a sense of entitlement in white people to the

bodies of people of color. White people feel entitled to gawk at,

interrogate, and investigate the bodies of black people. Not

surprisingly, many comparisons have been made between

Caster and South African slave Saartjie Baartman who was

known as the Hottentot Venus in the early 1800s. Baartman's

body was literally paraded around Britain during her life and

even after her death for the eyes of white Europeans.

My heart goes out to Semenya. I can't imagine how it would feel

to find out that you are intersex from reports that were leaked

into the international media. I have struggled heavily over the

past week with whether it is even appropriate for activists like

me to discuss the situation at all. For one, it is still speculation

(Semenya's intersex status has not been confirmed at this

point); two, if it is to be discussed, Semenya is the only person

who has a right to disclose such information; and three, when I

was diagnosed, I didn't want to discuss it with my closest friends

and family, let alone with strangers (no matter how well

intentioned). That said, it *has* been leaked and people are

discussing it, and doing so in inaccurate, hurtful, and

dehumanizing ways. I think it is especially important to have

intersex voices speaking out in support of Semenya and against

the oppressive systems that try to force intersex people into

boxes and binaries that simply do not fit and never will, no

matter how much shaming and surgery occurs. I hate that this

successful and talented young woman has been thrust into the

spotlight essentially erasing the reason we all know her name in

the first place (she is a talented athlete, remember?) I hate that

despite the work of the intersex movement, the majority of the

For Caster Semenya http://4castersemenya.blogspot.com/

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world still doesn't get it. Intersex people are your friends,

neighbors, and co-workers. We have feelings, hobbies, and

talents. We are not theoretical, sensational, or mythical. The

stuff you say and write affects real people! I can only hope that

Semenya has the support she needs to take care of herself and

get through this. I hope that she can rely on the strength that is

apparent in her quote to You Magazine "I see it all as a joke, it

doesn't upset me," she says. "God made me the way I am and I

accept myself. I am who I am and I'm proud of myself."

Mia Mingus

First, a breath. For this moment, this historical moment, this

moment of existence, as precious and fleeting as all moments

are. For hope, even at the edge of despair. For love. For loving

ourselves and each other, fiercely, even when the world tells us

not to.

How do I write out my thoughts about what is happening to

Caster Semenya, an 18 year old gold medal winning South

African athlete who was recently out-ed to the world as intersex

by the IAAF? How do I write about my rage, my pain and my

fears in a way that makes sense? How do I write something that

can convey how dehumanizing, violating, disturbing, offensive

and heart-breakingly saddening it all is? How do we talk about

trauma, as we race to try and understand all the different things

that are happening simultaneously and feeding off one another?

How do we acknowledge that there is a human being at the

center of all of this, whose life’s work is on the line?

As someone whose body has been and is still seen as public

property, to be commented on by strangers giving unsolicited

advice or asking intrusive questions, to be starred at and made

fun of, I fight daily to claim my body. Growing up as a disabled

child, I went from doctors to brace makers from surgery to

surgery to physical therapy to doctors. I ached for people who

looked like me, people who moved like me; people who could

tell me that my body was beautiful the way it was and no

surgery would ever make me able-bodied, just as sure as no

surgery would ever make me white. The idea of trying to make

a brace that went from my heel to my hip that could be "hidden"

beneath my clothes "so boys wouldn't detect it," was at once an

attempt to make me more desirable by making me seem less

For Caster Semenya http://4castersemenya.blogspot.com/

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disabled and an assumption about who should desire me and

who I should desire. It wouldn't make me more of a girl or a

woman, something I never really completely understood or felt

like. Women were the people who wore high heels, ran, were

desired by and desired men; they got married and had kids and

I never saw anyone who moved like me who was married or had

kids on TV.

I see what is happening to Caster Semenya and so much of it is

rooted in how we think about bodies and what gets considered

to be a "normal" body. So much of it it rooted in ableism, a

system that oppresses disabled people, privileges non-disabled

people and maintains able-bodied supremacy. Ableism tells us

how bodies should function, move, smell, sound, and look;

including male and female bodies, black, brown and white

bodies, queer bodies--all bodies.

What happens to Caster Semenya is connected to and impacts

all women of color. After all, women of color’s genders (and

bodies) are always under surveillance. Caster Semenya is not

the first and she will not be the last. Santhi Soundarajan, an

Indian athlete, also lost her 2006 Asian Games silver medal for

failing a gender test and also found out the results of her gender

test from newspaper and television reports. The twisting and

wringing of individual women of color’s gender (in the U.S. and

globally) reinforces the violent racist gender stereotypes about

all women of color and leaves us all hung out to dry.

As disability justice activists, we must connect how ableism gets

leveraged in service of heteronormativity, in service of white

supremacy, in service of misogyny. Ableism gets used all the

time to divide us and we must fight it at every turn. How do we

begin to understand that it was Caster’s extraordinary

able-bodied and gender-non-conforming abilities that threatened

ableist notions of gendered bodies and propelled the exposure of

her gender through the use of a medical “gender test” to expose

her sex. This is not just about defining what a “woman” is, it is

also about defining what a “normal body” is and what “able-

bodied” is and what it is not; it is about defining what “intersex”

is and what it’s not.

We must understand how the medical industrial complex and

science are being used to profit off of our bodies and medicalize

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our genders, our abilities, and render, in this case, an 18 year

old intersex South African black woman a spectacle for the world

to stare at, gawk at, and examine—at her expense. We must

see how this spectacle is connected to the spectacle made of

disabled bodies everyday behind closed doors, in sterile white

rooms, under florescent lights, in homes, at family dinners,

birthday parties, a trip to the mall, to the park, down the street.

As reproductive justice activists, we must challenge the notion

that women are only as valuable as our wombs and the children

we are expected to produce. We must challenge definitions of

"woman" and "reproduction" that exclude intersex people and

work to create a movement and framework that integrates an

intersex analysis in to our work.

Where are the radical women of color feminists, building homes

with fierce intersex poets, forging alliances with trans and

gender queer immigrant gardeners, eating dinner with queer

disabled dancers, making music with southern artists? Where

are our voices, bringing an intersectional, multi-issue,

multi-lived politic and analysis to all of this—amidst the white

media frenzy, gender binary enforcers, medical experts, athletic

officials and government heads? We need more than just a

gender analysis, or a nationalist racial analysis. These are

opportunities to speak across the lines and tiny definitions of

ourselves that keep us self-righteous, isolated and apart.

Our voices are crucial because people who reflect Caster

Semenya and reflect us are listening and learning what it means

to have extraordinary bodies.

To close, we want to invite everyone reading to look within

themselves and ask yourself how do you know what gender you

are? How do you know what sex you are? How does your race,

nationality, ability, class, etc. impact how you experience your

gender and your body? What are the messages you receive

about your body and how it should be? Where or who did those

messages come from? Ask these questions of your friends and

family. Read. Learn. Open yourself up to a discussion you may

not have had before this moment. Stop saying hermaphrodite!

Everything in society that we think of as static is something we

For Caster Semenya http://4castersemenya.blogspot.com/

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created and we don't have to support ideologies that aren't

useful to us. We can create a world where all bodies, where all

people, are celebrated, loved, and cherished.

We are not wrong. She is not wrong. Wrong is not our name.

POSTED BY QUIRKY AT 3:27 AM 23 COMMENTS: LINKS TO THIS POST

LABELS: #WERENOTWRONG, ABLEISM, BLACK, CASTER SEMENYA,

CASTERSEMENYA, DISABILITY, IMPERIALISM, INTERSEX, RACISM, SEXISM

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