Gender Myths and the Limitations of Sports
It’s possible that Caster Semanya, the champion South African runner, is neither male nor female. It’s possible that she has biological features of both. This would come as no surprise to anyone who studies genetics or gender. Nature is full of such examples of creativity. A person can have two different sets of genes that express themselves in different body parts. One can have male genitalia that look female, or vice versa. When it comes to gender, as much as we like to cling the notion of either/or, the truth is, it’s a continuum, both culturally and–signficantly, in this case–biologically.
But Caster Semanya is not just a person. She’s an athlete. And sports are rules-based. Winners are determined by fixed, mathematical means. There is no continuum. And this is what makes sports so appealing in the first place. A sporting event is a contest stripped bare of the contextual messiness that makes life bewilderingly indeterminate. Whereas in life we have a vague and contested matrix of successes and failures, in sports there are only winners and losers. Simple. Indisputable. Neat.
Moreover, there are two main categories of competitors–male and female. So when an athlete comes along who won’t fit neatly into either category, it’s no surprise that it sends everyone into fits of disbelief and outrage. Caster Semanya is a reminder of the inherent artificiality of the rules at the heart of sports.
I feel for her, and I regret the scrutiny under which her most private biological characteristics are being placed. But I think it’s a fundamental feature of sports that this was always going to happen. And perhaps it’s an opportunity for the rest of us to realize that sports, like most human endeavors, are imperfect and incomplete.
Also, there’s one more day to enter to win a signed copy of Cycler. Just answer the following question:
If you discovered your significant other spent 4 days a month as a member of the opposite sex, how would you react?
I’ve spent some time thinking about this long before the world ever heard of Caster Semanya. It’s one of the last places were males and females are so rigidly divided with no room for gray area. I understand why it’s done, but I can’t help but feel separating athletes into men’s teams and women’s teams is an idea that is on its way out.
Does that mean women are doomed to not being champions? Well, on that point I would argue that we are constantly evolving and women do seem to be stronger then they were just a few generations ago.
Back when I was in school I used to run like Caster. During the fall I competed with the cross country team. It was small school. So, in terms of practice we all practiced together: girls and boys. Many times it was the boys who set the pace, but the girls were expected to keep up. To save time, we often ran meets together. Even though two separate scores were kept for the girl finishers and the boy finishers we all ran the course at the same time. I was far from being the top runner on the girl’s team but I still managed to beat boys now and then. I think it’s conceivable that in the future we might no longer have single-sex athletic competitions.
Is there where I enter for a copy of Cycler?
Forgive any spelling errors. This is being typed on my Blackberry in French.
Response:
If I was a boy for 4 days a month, I would wait for the shock die down and then go on normally. Genitalia doesn’t make a male or female, mentality does. And my brain is female, penis or not.
If I had a significant other whom decided to spend 4 days of the month as a female, I could probably understand why. I absolutely adore being female 3 out of 4 weeks of the month. It’s so much more liberating that being male because we have so many more choices. Nobody scutenizes females for wearing skirts vs pants. We can get away with wearing sphaghetti straped something to formal events. But I guess I would really just want to know why, and more curiously which does he enjoy being more. Just because he spends most of his time as a male doesn’t mean that’s his favorite. It may very well be the most socially accepted form, or the only way his family would be supportive of him.
I don’t know, but I’d want to. I’d be scared that maybe I’m not right for him. That I can’t offer him everything he might want, or even worse that he would prefer someone bisexual. Maybe he does want a girl, but one more masculine or agressive. I wouldn’t be curious as to why he didn’t tell me sooner because lets face it, people make pre judgements and while I like to thing that I’m completely different I do occasionaly have a judgemental thought or two. And obviously if I’m with him and he’s my significant other, it would’ve been awful to not have ever given him a chance and gotten to know who he is.
And that’s what matters the most to me. Who he is. If it’s that’s all there is to it, 4 days a month he likes to get dressed up and go get some attention then hey .. go have fun. Would it be a little wierd? Sure. I’d probably giggle about it to myself quite a bit, and tease him about it on occasion. Not to mention keeping him in mind when I go out shopping for myself. But as long as the person he is doesn’t change and nothing new arrises, like a sudden love for men or something of the like .. I think we’d be just fine.
It’s not that big of a deal. Some people like to dress up like animals, in contrast dressing like the opposite sex isn’t nearly as out there to think about.
I would finally have some time to be seen as “normal”. For 4 days a month I would like the opposite sex, and maybe not feel like such an outcast.
If I found out that my significant other was the other gender for 4 days every month… I know I’d be surprised at first, but I’d talk to him (or her) about it and I know I’d get used to the idea pretty quickly. After all, if he (or she) was somebody with whom I’d really like to build a relationship, then with that comes accepting every part of a person–even the unconventional ones. If it’s somebody I love, then it shouldn’t matter at all about gender. People are people.
Such thoughtful answers from everyone. It’s going to be very hard to choose just 3 winners!
If my significant other were female for four days a month, I hope that she would share those days with me. Keeping secrets from one another in a relationship leads to misunderstanding, anger, jealousy and confusion about why someone behaves a certain way. It would break my heart to know that something so significant was happening in his life and he couldn’t or wouldn’t share it with me. Of course I would still love him, and I’m sure I would love her too. If his personality was significantly different as a female, (a difference in values and morals, not simple changes like what she likes to wear or how she likes to spend her time) that might be hard to accept at first, but I’m sure I would in time.
If anything, I think spending four days a month as a woman would promote a better understanding between us. Plus, it would be fun to include her in all the girly things I do that he can’t be part of!
I think that if my significant other spent time as the opposite gender I would find it utterly fascinating. Would they be the exact same person in a different body, or have some traits become more male or female? I would be there for them and support them of course. I feel it might become complicated because as someone who identifies as bisexual, what if I came to like them more as their opposite gender? It would be extremely complicated for them to deal with on their own I would imagine, and adding someone else’s views on their condition would make that even harder. I would try to help them work through any identity issues and help them enjoy the situation to the best of my ability, and it certainly wouldn’t make me less interested in being with them.
If my boyfriend spent four days a month as a lady… it would actually be pretty awesome, I think. A little disconcerting to find out, but it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’d ever heard of. (Thanks, 4Chan.)
Sexually (yes, it always comes back to that with me), it would make monogamy easier, I think. I came to identify as bisexual AFTER I got into a committed relationship with my boyfriend, and I feel like experimenting with girls would be cheating. So, this way, I could have the opportunity to fool around with a girl and still remain faithful.
It would certainly make talking about “female issues,” ie birth control, periods, etc. easier because my SO would be able to commiserate. If nothing else, it would be less awkward for ME. (Buying pads with your boyfriend is just downright embarrassing.)
I think I would be able to deal with any sort of personality changes. It’s only fair, right? He deals with me when I’m Queen Bitch of PMSland, so I should be able to deal with the “time of the month” when the boyfriend becomes the girlfriend. (I might even be a little jealous of his transformation–I think it would be really neat to be a boy.)
I’d help him learn to enjoy being a girl, or, barring that, hole up inside with him for those few days and keep him company.
Even if I couldn’t deal with the psychological and biological changes, there would still be an upside.
At least my girlfriend wouldn’t pee all over the toilet seat.
i don’t think it would be any different if my significant other became a female.I’ll prob love the person same regardless of gender.
If I discovered that my significant other spent four days a month as a female, I would be shocked. And then shamed, confused, angry, curious and blurred. This is because the word discovered insinuates that my partner was hiding this from me. And hidden skeletons that come out of the closets are not usually too pleasant.
I don’t know if it “complicates” things more or less being gay because being male and homosexual already muddles the idea of femininity and masculinity for me. As a gay male, is it “okay” to be feminine? Should you be overtly macho?
As long as we were both happy, I could handle four days a month.
Thanks for the great comments, everyone. I don’t know if this is selection bias or what, but most commenters on this blog are incredibly open-minded and loving in their responses. That really warms my heart.
Oh, and, Sammi, I think Queen Bitch of PMSland is such a great phrase that someone should write a book with that title.
First off, Caster Semanya’s case is not so cut and dry. She declares herself as a female but has both female and male parts. She was born with two sexes. What is a woman (or both in this case) supposed to if she wants to run with her dream, pun intended? This poor woman is trying to fit into a world full of neat little categories-you are either straight or gay, male or female, black, white, asian, or hispanic. As much as we like to pretend that our world and society is full of complex mystery and great understanding difference, that is not the case. People are constantly being judged on a day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute basis as soon as they step out of their doors. Semanyas case is no different. She is being judged for not being able to be packed away neatly into one of those categories, male or female, forgotten in the vast pools of everyone else trying to do their own thing in this world. People first nature has been and always will be to shun change, or shun the things that we do not understand. in the essence of our being, we want everything to be the same. And when something comes along that is out of our ordinary, we shun, ridicule and make a spectacle of the obscurity.
Sports are just the reflection of what we want the world to be all the time. Clear, concise, declarative. Instead, we go around pretending that we are mysterious creatures, with different opinions and highly superior tastes to others. we are the superior human-race, right? And to some extent, we are. But, in the core of our souls, no one likes a stark discretion of difference introduced to their everyday. Physical recreation acts as a sort of buffer between the real world and the world we wished we belonged to. A time to judge without feeling guilty or get in trouble. But when a case like caster Semanya comes along, it reminds us that we just can’t control somethings. People try with their tests, and biological studies, and medical protocols, but….it doesn’t always work out that easily. Oh no! We can’t tuck something into a box, with nice neat hospital corners. Oh, the travesty!
In retrospect, as sad as Semanyas case is, isn’t it something to be expected? The world that we live in is indeed cruel and selfish. To give it the benefit of the doubt, Semanyas case is a tricky one and the proper way to go about things is certainly debatable. Should she be allowed to race as a woman? But technically, she has more power than a woman and this could cause unfairness in the race. Well, let her run with the men. But technically, she is a woman, and the weakness juxtaposed a male racer is just plain not fair. what are we to do when we cannot judge? The question remains unanswered and something that will always haunt mankind.
Well said, Samantha. In Caster’s case, there’s no perfect solution, only variable degrees of unfairness.