800m world champion Caster Semenya–whose gender was questioned by athletic officials–has a new look on the cover of South Africa’s YOU magazine. While some may question her motivation, the decision isn’t all that surprising. Just like other celebrities, athletes are regularly dressed up and photographed in the popular press and this 18-year-old deserves to enjoy the limelight. Further, after reading her comments to the BBC, it seems that she holds a healthy perspective:
“I am who I am and I’m proud of myself.”
Ms Semenya..says she is not bothered by the negative publicity following her gold medal at the Berlin World Championships last month.
“I see it all as a joke, it doesn’t upset me. God made me the way I am and I accept myself,” she said.
Sounds like this woman has a good head on those strong shoulders. As I wrote yesterday, it’s often our very quirks and idiosyncrasies that make us uniquely beautiful. I hope Caster enjoys her victory.
September 9th, 2009 at 3:59 am
Ru Paul dresses in drag, but it doesn’t make him a woman. I hope Caster Semenya is a woman and can thus have the last laugh, but I can’t blame officials for wondering.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:45 pm
I think SHE looks great! A lot of peole are so jealous of natural given talent and ability, they will stoop to anything to dismantle a young person’s dreams, even if it means cooking up some goofy tales of misplaced hormones. Remember we’re talking about South Africa, a country not known for it’s humanitarian/civil rights attributes, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
September 10th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Madcap, that’s a shameful first sentence.
What makes you think she’s not a woman? Her and her family would best know…not an outside glance.
September 10th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
caster is a star, she is looking just beatiful, i wish she was my daughter
September 10th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Shame on the human race!
I often think that some journalists are the lowest form of salesman.
Rather than appear to discriminate against individuals all female athlete competitors should be tested and proved ‘female’ as a matter of course at time of their application to register for a race.
The treatment of Caster Semenya is despicable, insensitive and totally unacceptable… and then to broadcast her test results to the world, shocking!!!
September 10th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
It’s a sad commentary on “humanity” when a select group of people will go to such lengths to degrade another human being in such an unnecessary manner to prove a point. This woman entered the world, and all believed her to be female based on what can be seen with the naked eye. Now, because of her incredible accomplishments she must be subjected to tests, public humiliation and indignity to split hairs. So now it’s being reported she has male genitals inside, but an acceptable level of female characteristics. So, in the name of sport, this lynch mob is willing to throw her identity into question, and strip her of the medal she worked very hard to earn. You would think she tried to trick someone, which she didn’t. She entered the world as a girl, and no amount of tests will change her identity or her accomplishments. To the people who have pursued this matter in such an awful and public manner, you disgust me.
September 10th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
Our problem here is that the notion of gender is not black and white. There are people who are physiologically part male and part female. This raises all sorts of problems when we try to establish fair competitions. For example, the female pelvis is ill-suited to running; that’s why it really isn’t fair to pit males against females in running contests. The males will always win. But what happens when we pit a woman who is partly male against women who are fully female? Is that fair? I don’t know. I think that, at this point, we simply have no way of establishing anything that’s fair. Already we’re seeing athletics tainted by medications that can improve performance while imposing nasty side effects. So what happens when this process continues to its extreme, and someday in the distant future we end up awarding gold medals to genetic freaks who will shortly thereafter die of the side effects of the medications they took in order to win? If you don’t like that awful scenario, how do you draw a line against it?
September 12th, 2009 at 6:55 am
Mmmm….. what could put even more fuel on the fire of this Caster Semenya’s saga? How about a make-over??? I find it disgusting how the press exploit this issue. Shame on the South African politicians for making such a big an issue of this (it is after all the sixth IAAF gender test recently, but the only one we heard about), and shame on both the politicians and media for keeping this issue splashed on the covers of newspapers, magazines, and blogs. Who do they think they are for claiming this should be a private matter? There’s only one victim here.
October 1st, 2009 at 6:37 am
You know guys I just don’t know what to say….Do you think all the people you see in this world are what they are? what measures have been taken to prove who they are? If Caster became 7th in the competion, will all this arise…or it is because she won, what of men who come last, can’t you conduct a gender test to find out if they are women??? I am just not happy at all. what would you say to those who do high/long jump and have got very long legs, are they not physically advantageous to those who are short? CAnd who gives you the right to go and question what God has made? ok now that you have found what you were looking for, she has a talent and gift…how are you going to help her…do not tell me that it is the end of her carreer because the reasons you will give you yourselves have no control over….anyway I am just annoyed
October 19th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I think this is so ridiculous and so embarassing for her!!!!think about yourself how would you feel if someone said you are not what you say you are!!I acually would go totally mad!!!who has to care what I am!!I should be allowed to be what ever I want to be without any questioning about it!!!
why do we even need to care about her. let her be what she is!!!if shes a woman fine and if shes biologically not a woman than fine too!!! cant everyone be who they wanna be!! she won the medal for her achievement so why bother with her gender!!
I am so angy about this topic and so mad at the people who alway need stereotypes!!
December 31st, 2009 at 11:10 pm
If I were one of the other women racing with Semenya I would be preparing to sue the tournament for allowing a male-female (Semenya) to compete with female-females. There is no entertainment value in watching male-females compete against female-females. The male-females would win every time over female-females.