Gender verification in sport has been a phenomenon drawing plenty of people’s attention for a long time. It is interpreted as the process of identifying the gender of all athletes into only one group: male or female. This issue has appeared continuously not only in the Olympic games, the most important international athletic competition in the world but also in various sports events all around the world. This essay will showcase the underlying reasons behind this practice. Next, it will also mention some possible negative effects of this trend with a discussion about Caster Semenya as a specific case study.
To many organizers ‘minds, gender examination is considered as one of the best ways to maintain equality in sporting competitions where …show more content…
There are a vast majority of people who do not have enough genetic and physical factors to be examined to distinguish their sexes. (Le, 2012) Gender is not a simple issue that can be solved by just a test. The reason why gender verification in sport is so complicated is because disorders of sex development (DSD) can have negative effect on sex and gender. Tian et al (2009) indicates that DSD is one of the most complicated problems in gender testing in sport. It can lead to various conditions where a child with XY chromosomes can develop as a female. For example, a person with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome is genetically male (XY chromosomes) but she will not have male sex characteristic inasmuch as she is not capable of metabolizing androgen (an important male hormone). Consequently, she could make use of any male advantages that androgen provides. Moreover, she will be limited since most of the boys and girls have androgen (as for women, androgen is conversed into estrogen). This individual has a female’s physical appearance but a male’s genetic makeup. Therefore, it is glance that there may be no possible suitable gender tests. In current times, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) has applied testosterone testing as a solution …show more content…
Semenya (born 1991) is a famous South African female athlete. Although she won excellently the 800m race at Berlin Championships 2009, unfortunately, her gender was under suspicion since she performed too perfectly. Consequently, she was forced to take different gender tests. Before receiving the official result of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations), her award was removed and she was barred from competing for nearly a year, thus having a negative effect on her financial condition, especially when she comes from a poor family in South Africa. What is noticeable is after various tests, the IAAF had to give the gold medal back to Semenya and let her continue playing as a female athlete since they could not give any clear conclusions. Her case emphasizes limitations of gender testing in sport and the unclarity of society when coping with this problem. Farquharson (2012) argues that although fairness is a crucial part in female’s sport, it is unfair for talented female athletes like Semenya to be accused of not being real
To many organizers ‘minds, gender examination is considered as one of the best ways to maintain equality in sporting competitions where …show more content…
There are a vast majority of people who do not have enough genetic and physical factors to be examined to distinguish their sexes. (Le, 2012) Gender is not a simple issue that can be solved by just a test. The reason why gender verification in sport is so complicated is because disorders of sex development (DSD) can have negative effect on sex and gender. Tian et al (2009) indicates that DSD is one of the most complicated problems in gender testing in sport. It can lead to various conditions where a child with XY chromosomes can develop as a female. For example, a person with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome is genetically male (XY chromosomes) but she will not have male sex characteristic inasmuch as she is not capable of metabolizing androgen (an important male hormone). Consequently, she could make use of any male advantages that androgen provides. Moreover, she will be limited since most of the boys and girls have androgen (as for women, androgen is conversed into estrogen). This individual has a female’s physical appearance but a male’s genetic makeup. Therefore, it is glance that there may be no possible suitable gender tests. In current times, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) has applied testosterone testing as a solution …show more content…
Semenya (born 1991) is a famous South African female athlete. Although she won excellently the 800m race at Berlin Championships 2009, unfortunately, her gender was under suspicion since she performed too perfectly. Consequently, she was forced to take different gender tests. Before receiving the official result of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations), her award was removed and she was barred from competing for nearly a year, thus having a negative effect on her financial condition, especially when she comes from a poor family in South Africa. What is noticeable is after various tests, the IAAF had to give the gold medal back to Semenya and let her continue playing as a female athlete since they could not give any clear conclusions. Her case emphasizes limitations of gender testing in sport and the unclarity of society when coping with this problem. Farquharson (2012) argues that although fairness is a crucial part in female’s sport, it is unfair for talented female athletes like Semenya to be accused of not being real