Last February, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended gender testing to determine the eligibility of athletes who exhibit sexually ambiguous characteristics. The decision came just months after Caster Semenya, the South African runner who won the women’s 800-meter event at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, one of the biggest annual track-and-field events. Caster spurred scrutiny with her masculine build, low voice, and hint of an Adam’s apple. Following her victory, the newswires lit up with speculation about her gender—and her status as a world champion. While it must have been excruciatingly embarrassing to be called out in such a public manner, I’ll argue that being fair to all athletes is more important than worrying about the embarrassment of just one.
Men and women compete in separate categories in most sports because of inherent inequities in speed and strength. If testosterone didn’t boost performance, we wouldn’t debate steroid use, right? But unlike a steroid user, Caster isn’t trying to put anything over on anyone. She is just being who she is.
After rumors swirled that gender-testing results revealed her as a hermaphrodite, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ruled that Caster would keep her world title and prize money. The IAAF did not decide, however, whether she’d be allowed to continue competing as a woman.
While physiology is not a concern for most athletes, for elite athletes, hard work, heredity, and hormones combine to make or break careers. Where is the line that determines sex and gender? If one woman’s natural testosterone levels are higher than other women’s—or perhaps on par with a man’s—should she be allowed to compete against women? What if she has ambiguous sex organs? And how do you single out an athlete to be tested without crushing her spirit and reputation?
Clearly, the IOC cannot make assumptions about athletes based on outward femininity alone. While Lindsey Vonn might pass the “woman” test, a Russian softball pitcher might not. The IOC must return to standardized gender testing for all athletes (as was the norm a decade ago) or risk demoralizing and humiliating individuals. And, as inane as it sounds, the IOC must set its criteria for deciding when a woman is too much of a man to be a female athlete.
[...] Editorial [...]