"Who Gets to Race as a Woman?"

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A New York Times editorial:
"Regardless of the mix of hormones circulating in her blood, Caster Semenya is a woman. Like the other female athletes in Rio, she deserves her shot at the gold."

Who Gets to Race as a Woman?

Comments

She got it!

littlerocksilver's picture

I remember the controversy four years ago.

Portia

She IS a woman

She's a woman who has been let down by her federation and world athletics, there are other racers with her condition yet she has been singled out. She can only do what she has been doing, run as best as she can.

The situation is not fair on her and it's not fair on the other athletes who know that no matter how hard they train they are unlikely to finish higher than third, it's not fair on people with Hyperandrogenism who may be coerced into becoming track athletes in the hope they are the next Semenya (especially as her talent is as much down to hard work as her condition).

Hugs
Cat

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You can't choose your relatives but you can choose your family.

She Is a Freak . . . and So Am I

"Freak" is not a politically correct word because it conjures images of circus sideshows. But "freak" is the proper term The dictionary says a "freak" is a person, animal, or plant with an unusual physical abnormality.

She has an unusual physical abnormality.

Michael Phelps has an armspan that is 4.5% longer than the average person. That is a huge difference. He is a freak.

Kevin Durant dominated basketball at the Olympics. His armspan is 8.5% longer than the average person his height, and he stands 6'10". He is a freak.

Most elite athletes are freaks.

It's a shame that her freakishness caused her pain when none of the other freaks gathered negative attention . . . only adoration. (Except Ryan Lochte, who proved to be freakishly stupid. BTW it's no shock that someone who garnered twelve Olympic medals suffers from arrested development. Imagine how many hours of training versus personal growth.)

World class athletes are freaks, but being a freak doesn't mean you'll be a world class athlete. One only needs to look at Phelps' results in London, when he didn't train hard enough, with those in Rio.

Caster didn't appear to be as "feminine" as some of her competitors. Actually I thought the woman who won the shot put was one of the most feminine, and she could easily toss me around. Being feminine looking is only a criteria for being able to compete in some people's small minds.

She is a freak. Many of us are freaks. We should own the word. I like being unusual.

Jill

Angela Rasch (Jill M I)