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A woman or not. How dare they?

Written by GML from the blog Curious Cases on 20 Aug 2009
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I write this in total shock and am totally horrified that people could stop so low. Especially people who should be the forerunners of equality.

I'm sure most of you have heard that our very own Caster Semenya who ran the in womens 800m and won Gold at the World Championships in Berlin will apparently undergo a series of tests because some Australian journalists asked if she was a woman or not.

These tests will invade her privacy because the The International Association of Athletics Federations (IFFA) wants to be sure that she is indeed a woman. How many women athletes have we seen that are masculine and look very much like men? A lot. We see them all the time on TV and how is Semenya different from those women? Is it because she is a Black South African woman?

I'm so upset at the fact that these Australian journalists even asked that question. Is it not enough that she has a Vagina, ovaries and a uterus? How much more humiliation can 1 person take? I know that SA and Australia are enemies when it comes to sport but this is hitting below the belt. Is it a case of them trying to demotivate her? How about Jamaican women who dont have breasts but have longer hair- how are they different? becasue they have longer hair. Pleeeease

Had it been an Australian women would these journalists have written such junk about her?

Lets talk bloggers. How do you feel about this? If you were Semenya how would you handle this whole issue. What is your take on these series of tests (gender verification tests) they are going to perform on her?

How do you think the SA Federation should handle this issue?

Lets talk bloggers, because I am boiling hot right now
For those who want the link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/8210471.stm

59 Comments

GML
20 Aug 2009 07:51

Lets talk people. I am very upset....

blueroze
20 Aug 2009 08:09

this story has angered me so much
what more do they want?
she is ffemale
ASA is not helping in this situation as well

that girl is talented
they must live with it
never question what God has created

dali
20 Aug 2009 08:11

gender verification tests......... WTH!!!!! im disgusted @ de australians i mean really now. who or wat gives them the right to violate dis woman's dignity like dat... sies maan!

Luksta
20 Aug 2009 08:20

Bloody Idiots!
I'm so glad she took Gold.
I hope she sues whoever tells her to go for the test till Kingdom come..NX!

myname
20 Aug 2009 08:21

Man i f***** mad when i heard about this. If i were her i will let them do their stupid test & prove them im really a woman. When im done i will sue them including their old panties, i swear

myname
20 Aug 2009 08:23

i meant 2 say ....I was

GML
20 Aug 2009 08:26

What frustrates me is that Semenya coach said he would give them her roommates numbers so that they can call them and ask them. They have taken showers together and have seen her naked.

Why cant they just take that and let her be?

Tash 1
20 Aug 2009 08:32

Stupid journalist, Maria Mutola of Mozambique looks like a man naye, y didn't they doubt her gender. kunina efumani Gold medals? F... the Australian racist journo. They r just jealous of our success, bane grudge remember thay wanted i World Cup!!! Am so dissappointed.

Serenity
20 Aug 2009 08:32

I am very upset about it!

So are the actually going ahead with this test???

calamity
20 Aug 2009 08:41

@ Serenity, they are currently doing the tests and they will come out in about a week. My question is why do they need tests to prove that she is indeed female, do they think she had a sex change op or what?

GML
20 Aug 2009 08:43

@Serenity: the tests have began. they involve an endocrinologist, a gynaecologist, an internal medicine expert, an expert on gender and a psychologist.

Can you believe all these people poking you and asking you questions. i hope she has a boyfriend who will verify for them himself

BigMama
20 Aug 2009 08:44

Well l am too disappointed to even comment on this matter. As l have said before the world consider the woman with stunning looks as a woman, and they will never question your gender. l just pray that she overcomes all this and be strong throughout.

TerryN
20 Aug 2009 08:44

Maria Mutola of Mozambique looks like a man naye

Nx!! they are plent of sport- women from Nigeria, Kenya etc who looks just like men.
Shame my heart goes out to this girl...hope she will survive this.

realist
20 Aug 2009 08:44

The question you should ask is whether she is the first person to be tested to verify her gender. If not then there is no story to talk about. Check out the times today.

felfel
20 Aug 2009 08:44

She does look like a man and seems to have the physique of a man and that can be due to intensive training cos she didn't start runnning yesterday, shes been at it for years, but that don't mean shes a man. Look at female body builders, if u covered their faces some look like men, their bodies that is. Nigerian female athletes also look like men, this is just a case of jealousy and subbotage.

belz
20 Aug 2009 08:46

yah, its not right.

maud
20 Aug 2009 08:46

no lovely people i can feel your anger, letthem go ahead and do the test, when they are done ,she must sue them to the last penny they have, how do they expect her not to be musculer she is an atlete not a model.

Best-Achiever
20 Aug 2009 08:51

i hope she is strong enough to stand all of this

TerryN
20 Aug 2009 08:52

the tests have began. they involve an endocrinologist, a gynaecologist, an internal medicine expert, an expert on gender and a psychologist.

OMG..Nkosi yami....every expert is there??

i hope she has a boyfriend who will verify for them himself

LOL...apparently she never had a boyfrend...she doesnt like boys.

A headline in one of the newspaper there asked: "Is she a man". Shame man she must be mad like hell....i wood.

GML
20 Aug 2009 08:52

@Realist: I know that the Russian women also did tests. What I'm saying is why when she wins do they start the tests. If they had doubts they could have tested ehr before. Why wait for her to win Gold and win the heats and qualify in the semi finals to do these tests. the timing is absolutely wrong. That's all I'm saying. Why publicize it? Especially when she should be celebrating such an achievement...

goldii
20 Aug 2009 08:54

@ GML

Clearly you have written this article , clouded with emotion. The gender testing will not be done to her because she is a "Black South African woman?" If it is done it will be done to prove once and for all that she is definetly a woman and this will silence her critics.

Gender testing has been done on other women before and some have been exposed as men. She is not the first and she will not be the last, for the sake of transparency these things need to be done or all her acheivements will be forever clouded by skinner. This has nothing to do with her skin colour or her country of origin.

Please vist the IAAF website and it will explain why gender testing gets done and what criteria do they use.

Not eveything that gets done is about race and people need to move from this mentality.

She has come from nowhere and has set the world stage alight , questions are being asked about her , people are curious which is normal. Next year she will be old news and people will move on to the next big thing.

Well done to her and I wish her all the best.

Green.arrow
20 Aug 2009 08:58

...oh my....wow im soo sad 4 her.
People endure so many personal struggles in life to make it....nd yet/still when they make it they are still not given the reak they desreve.

watseba our world its digusting sumtyime.....le a shishimisha....

Green.arrow
20 Aug 2009 09:03

well...i hope she knows all that ur saying goldii.....hpe she has a tough skin,bcos its not nice 4 such things to be scrutinised.let alone in public....

Mafresh
20 Aug 2009 09:05

How many women athletes have we seen that are masculine and look very much like men?... That depends on complains/dissatisfaction received by the commitee

Nna I say we have nothing to hide, thus lets not get frustrated, this is just a phase... IN THE NAME OF TRANSPARENCY

GML
20 Aug 2009 09:06

@goldii. Like I said I know that she is not the 1st person to be tested nor is she the last. I'm upset at how it has been done. Why did they have to wait when these rumours started long ago. They should have done the tests during the heats when the rumours started escalating

Vesa
20 Aug 2009 09:11

Gender testing has been done on other women before and some have been exposed as men. She is not the first and she will not be the last, for the sake of transparency these things need to be done or all her acheivements will be forever clouded by skinner. This has nothing to do with her skin colour or her country of origin.

Not eveything that gets done is about race and people need to move from this mentality.

She has come from nowhere and has set the world stage alight , questions are being asked about her , people are curious which is normal. Next year she will be old news and people will move on to the next big thing.

I couldn't have said it better. Even I, when I looked at her couldn't tell and had to look closely.

And she only won Gold maobane, the gender issues had already been raised at that time

GoGetter
20 Aug 2009 09:12

Im not say what was done to her was right but:
she is not the first SA athlete to have a gender doubted.
She does have a body that is built like a man, with a moustache, not even a single soft feature at all. Moreover the tests that were done on her were DNA tests to count her chromosomes, to find out whether or not she could possibly have more male chromosomes in her body than usual, which would put her at an higher advantage than her competitors.

On the brighter side though, all this media coverage is all good, coz there is a great number of South Africans who ddnt know about her, Now she has fans all around the world. Come the Olympic 2012 we will all be rooting for her. And Congratulations to her with her Gold Medal.

Cody
20 Aug 2009 09:16

this is very disgusting! nxa! i think if that is the case every athletes gender must be checked before races. this is humiliating!

WADI
20 Aug 2009 09:17

There we go Europe again. These people will never stop disrespecting Africa. Poor woman, now some one has to decide for her if she is a he or a she.

Aag sies maan, bayasinyanyisa

felfel
20 Aug 2009 09:17

apparently even Usain Bolt was tested for drugs after winning, he passed, they generally get suspiscious when an athlete does sooo well, unfortunately (or not) these top athletes are blacks.

Katlegom
20 Aug 2009 09:27

i hope after the test she has will sue for defarmation of character, she is really dented for life.

this is really an insult to her and her family, what is this really doing to her dignity and condifence now?

Katlegom
20 Aug 2009 09:31

le yena she is so flipping musculer have you seen the front pages of The Times and Sowetan today?

ASA is not helping in this situation as well
@bluroze im also surprised the ASA is taking a back seat about this

monchooza
20 Aug 2009 09:35

These people are just plain jelas nje, this is not the first time Semenya has competed in international games.....and they never voiced their Dilusional confusion now that our golden girl has won Gold, they start peperezing about her sexuality...

i also think she must sue, i mean how did they even allow her to be in womans races if they were not sure whether she is a woman or not....

I am happy though that all of this is not negetively affecting her

everybody knows that athletic woman have a masculine physique there is nothing new there....hayisuka maan abayeke lomtwana azigijimele

Mathaz
20 Aug 2009 09:35

The Times picture is worse, but in honest fact she does look like a man.......

Pooky
20 Aug 2009 09:40

how dare they humiliate and make a spectacle of this poor girl...i hope she pulls through this whole disgusting and unnecessary ordeal....and bigups to her for taking gold

Cande
20 Aug 2009 09:41

Its because she is a South African and they dont wanna see black SA ns make it, this is sooooo wrong.

I mean she is an athlete for F&ck sake, so how do you expect her to look like?? a model??

WADI
20 Aug 2009 09:45

Ah I am not suprised but sad though. Another human rights violation. Her only crime is being born in Africa. Why Lord why?????

GML
20 Aug 2009 09:45

@Mathaz: No one is disputing that she looks like a man. The biggest gripe that I have is that when she competed in the Junior championships no one raised this issue. why manje? That's what I'm asking. why not perform such tests as mandatory a month before the signing them up. why must she win first before they ask? Had she come last would they have done the same thing?

Pooky
20 Aug 2009 09:46

ASA is not helping in this situation as well
@bluroze im also surprised the ASA is taking a back seat about this

ASA might be taking a back seat but i know uDebra Patta wont leave this lying down...and i know she'l scrutinize their asses for not stepping up on this matter..am so watching 3rd Degree next week..lol

Mathaz
20 Aug 2009 09:51

@GML it all boils down to "nothing good can never come from Africa"...and if she did not win it would not have mattered coz that's what they expect from Africans.

TheLady
20 Aug 2009 09:51

Vesa you looked closer and saw...a woman?!? Damn where are my glasses!

Looks like she's strong, she still got gold...Go lady...go lady.

tizoz
20 Aug 2009 09:51

personally, I think she looks butch butch she is damn sexy, fair enough she carries herself like ijimbo's but that doesnt mean she is a he,

if they were to be confronted by banyana banyana they would have to verify the whole team then????????

Anyway, I like her.......

Cande
20 Aug 2009 09:53

Then they must fuck#n do this before the competition starts, and do it to ALL of the participants, not wait for someone to win and humiliate her publicly

GML
20 Aug 2009 09:53

if they were to be confronted by banyana banyana they would have to verify the whole team then????????

Good Point Tizoz. Would they need to verify banyana banyana then?

GML
20 Aug 2009 09:57

They should also verify the men and check if they have more than normal male chromosomes which give them an advantage over others.

They should check if the men have all these conditions they say women can have.
They need to check that the men are not producing more than normal testosterone that would obviously give them an unfair disadvantage on other athletes. It should be compulsory for all athletes

Katlegom
20 Aug 2009 10:00

this kind of accusation is like being accused for rape, even if you it gets proven than you are innocent people will always see you as a rapist, sad.
your image is dented for life

i guess you are right guys banyana banyana'sexuality should be questioned

Holiday
20 Aug 2009 10:03

Super sports is full of nonsense, you go girl work them fast just like Castor Oil. collect another goldii.

just T
20 Aug 2009 10:15

"you go girl work them fast just like Castor Oil"

triple LOL Holiday

monchooza
20 Aug 2009 10:37

I just checked out her videos and interviews on youtube...yoh yoh yoh...she sure sounds and looks like a guy mara shem yena she is a girl and thats a fact......

onething I love about all of this though is that she is getting publicity and now most south africans know who semenya is...and thats great

just T
20 Aug 2009 11:03

makgotso
20 Aug 2009 16:39

It is so sad, I really feel sorry for her and her family especially the mother. How do you react yeee if uzwa ukuthi your child is a man.

The Aussies have inyama ebomvu with Mzansi......I think we should braai that beef kumasports like never before.

Well done Semenya they can't keep you down, uyimbokodo wena uyagaya....

mathata
20 Aug 2009 17:03

ke mathata fela mole.lets hope the best.

GML
24 Aug 2009 10:11

Reply from: myname 8/24/2009 3:31:04 PM

Nx sorry wethu MaCheesana i was luking for Semenye's article but i couldnt find it but since its about our own celebs i thought i should congraculate another Proudly South Safrican, Mulaudi (sorry nge spelling).....We won another gold guys. This time its a guy & i hope they not gonna demand another test 4 this one coz he is indeed a man. Not forgetting Khotso 4 getting a silver.

We are rising higher!

Anyway.......Good morning guys, Happy Monday!

GML
24 Aug 2009 10:20

Mbulaeni Mulaudzi completed the 800 m men final in a time of 1:45.29 winning him a gold medal.

and Godfrey Khotso Mokoena won silver in the long jump men final jumping a distance of 8.29

Congrats to these guys for making SA proud.

myname
24 Aug 2009 10:31

Thanks GML i was looking for this article this morning. Im proud of these guys. South Africa is on the top. I salute them ndithi nangomso zithandwa nenze njalo.

If i had a car, i was going 2 welcome them from the airport.

Dukenukem
24 Aug 2009 11:05

I wish we could lose the IT MUST RACIST attitude, and the it's BECAUSE SHE"S A WOMAN thing. There is nothing wrong with the request. The type of hot blooded hysteria in this forum stems from ignorance of process. Here is some enlightenment:

Chris Barron / So Many Questions / Sunday Times 23 August 2009

Could Athletics SA have done more to protect Caster Semenya from the controversy that has erupted about her gender? Chris Barron asked ASA boss Leonard Chuene ...

Did ASA ever conduct any tests to determine her gender?
We did not.
Why not?
There was nothing that warranted us to do that.
There have been rumours and allegations about her gender for a long time. Did you not know about them?
In sport there is no rule which says a child must be tested for some gender kind of a problem. You can only test somebody who has taken some kind of substance to enhance his or her performance. There is absolutely no way you can go and test whether a child is a boy or a girl. If you do that you are saying the parents of that child are lying when they say, ‘unto us has been given a girl.’ There is no way we would think this child has a problem.
Isn’t it ASA’s job to manage its athletes?
It is our responsibility to manage our athletes. But we are not scientists and we are not running any laboratory. Our mandate is to take a child and train that child. We took her and trained her and she got a gold medal. Where did we go wrong? Our mandate was achieved excellently.
Given that there were these questions, couldn’t you have prevented this explosion by resolving the matter once and for all?
No, no and no again. I want to understand, where your questions are coming from? We are not given the kind of history you seem to have. We do not have that. When a child comes to us she doesn’t come with a history.
She herself said there were questions about her gender when she was at school. You must have been aware of this, surely?
We were not aware of anything. We can’t be aware of everything regarding millions of children
She’s not one of millions, she’s your star athlete.
You are correct. But the IAAF has no right, and you have no right, to go and question ... it is a human right, if you understand human rights ...
If a person is running as a woman at this level and there is doubt about her gender isn’t it important to ascertain that she is in fact a female?
How do you ascertain that she is a female? How do you look at a person to ascertain if she is a female? I want to ask you that. Because the parents ...
There are certain tests that can be done. Why didn’t you get scientific advice?
As a principled person I have a problem with that question. I will not do that, ASA will not do that. There is no way you can humiliate a human being like that. That is wrong.
Haven’t you exposed her to humiliation by failing to clear up the matter?
You are continuing to want to blame ASA. That is not where the problem is. The people who wrote to the IAAF are South Africans themselves.
What does it matter who wrote to the IAAF?
It matters because those people are not patriotic to this country.
Surely the bottom line is that ASA did not carry out its responsibility?
Nowhere in the world ha

Dukenukem
24 Aug 2009 11:07

in Poland in the World Junior Championships organised by the IAAF. She ran in the Youth World Championships organised by the Commonwealth in India and she came first. She ran in the African Junior Championships in Mauritius, she ran 1:56. She looked exactly the same as she looks today, nobody asked those questions.

Didn’t the IAAF request a report from you after Mauritius?

If they say they did I’m saying no. There was no such request from the IAAF. There was no communication.

myname
24 Aug 2009 11:15

Amen Duke.

Floh
24 Aug 2009 15:47

Where are Photos GML................

I think I heard of one athlete the past few years from Zim if not Moz who has been running for a opposite team, and I was asking my self "

Is Caster so stupid to take such chances ?

All I can say " well done sister, you made us proud"

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