Hot Topics > Female Runner Accused of Being a Man Gets A Makeover
She says she did it for her, not for the rest of us and I love her attitude.
Court
Judging by the amount of snickering, sniggling, and out and out e-cackling on my Facebook news feed yesterday, I'd say nope, it's not helping. She'd do better to just fade out for a while.
This whole situation irks me for reasons I can't quite put my finger on...hmmph.
miss kate
I assume she is a woman, but this "peep test" was done how many weeks ago? What were the results? I assume female, because if she turned out male it would be all over the place
kopekler
oh no. now she just looks like a drag queen
mimi
Actually, it was proved some weeks ago now that Caster Semenya is a woman and was born a woman. End of story.
Next topic please....
Beautyhealthzoneblog
that's not true. it came out today that she's a hermoprodite i assume since she's got no womb or ovaries but testes.
It's unfortunate that her medical info is being put on blast like that but it is what it is
mimi
Yea... here's the latest hermaphrodite thing:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/athletics/article6829813.ece
Jaddadalos
I'm really uncomfortable with the amount of information we're being given on this 18 year old's gender. This is where I wish the media would step back and allow for some personal privacy, but then again I'm reading the stories and commenting on the blog so I guess I'm not helping the situation. However, I do think the news media should have some sort of self-censor when it comes to medical records.
Candy
I'm not sure how official this news is. But if it's tue that she's intersex (not hermaphrodite), I hope the media and the people around her can handle this responsibly. I read the following on Salon.com, and it breaks my heart. Best wishes to Caster, no matter what the results are.
"More tragically, though, it’s likely she had no idea about her sexual condition before today. Many intersex people don’t learn about their biological history until well into their life, and the discovery can be predictably traumatic if not destructive. To make things worse, in Semenya’s case, her discovery is being played out on an international stage, under the microscope of an ill-informed and often predatory press, while she’s being faced with the knowledge that her career is likely to end."
CK
This is terrible the way this has played out in such a public (and humiliating fashion). I would be locked in my house never to venture out again if it were me. That said, I'm not all that surprised by the results. She does look pretty mannish and it turns out the other athletes who voiced concern about the fairness of competing against 'her' had a legitimate beef.
dkan71
Apparently she has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. People with AIS have XY chromosomes and as much testosterone as a normal male, but have either completely or partially disabled androgen (testosterone) receptors in the body.
If a person has complete AIS (CAIS), she will not masculinize at all despite the testosterone in her body. In fact, steroid abuse will have no effect on such women. These women often have ultra-feminine bodies, because they don't have any response to testosterone, while normal XX females produce and respond to small amounts of testosterone. Hand size, foot size, and height will resemble male relatives. But muscle mass, external genitalia, breasts, pelvis, sexual function & response, and all secondary sexual characteristics will resemble female relatives. There will be internal testes, but no ovaries or uterus, hence no menstruation or fertility. Most sports associations recognize CAIS athletes as female.
Much more complex is a person with partial AIS (PAIS). Depending on how weakly they respond to testosterone, such people may be anywhere on the spectrum of intersex between CAIS female and normal fertile XY male. Semenya is somewhere near the female end of this intersex spectrum, but probably with enough maleness to disqualify her. Perhaps she can compete if treated with testosterone inhibitors. Although she had to notice that she never menstruated, likely neither she nor her coaches understood she was intersexual.
It's very sad that all this had to play out so publicly.
Aabaakawad
So glad someone brought up that the term is intersex. It's been driving me crazy to see so many news outlets using "hermaphrodite." I can kind of understand the general public still using that antiquated, hurtful term but educated people writing for newspapers and whatnot really need to step their game up.
But aside from that, my heart just hearts for this girl. I read today that she's now on suicide watch from the trauma of this whole thing.
I'm sending her all the good thoughts I can. I can't imagine how much she's hurting right now.
Shelby
Too expand on being able to compete, I should say that removal of the internal testes and estrogen injections would both improve her health (undescended testes tend to go cancerous) and lead to eventual reenstatement as a legitimate woman runner. Generally, whether it is steroids or an unusual condition, one year is needed to erase the effects.
And also, no trivial thing, breasts will become apparent, but bone structure in the pelvis and face will probably not change. This is a situation with a solution if Semenya can get past the emotional trauma.
Aabaakawad
hi
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please help me :
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I'm totally out of any ideas,tired thinking and i need help!
Im 19F, he is 20
Thanks all
for your
help and advice!
ChungLeeGirl
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MohammadSah
Eh. What would you do? I guess it's logical that Caster Semenya got herself all done up for a tabloid mag, but does that quell any of the actual "is she or isn't she" rumors?
Read more here and here.