Critical Commentary of “The accidental celebritisation of Caster Semenya” by Dr Jaime Shultz
Individuals that are deemed ‘Celebrities’ are omnipresent these days, in the news, on television, in the papers…. Many, such as movie stars and musicians, choose their celebrity status and take every opportunity to promote that status, including the current US election season. Others have their status thrust upon them. One such case of ascribed celebrity status is that of Caster Semenya whose celebrity status was the result of media speculation and the efforts of outside sources and with little input from Semenya, herself. In this paper I will be examining Dr Jaime Shultz’s article, ‘The accidental celebritisation of Caster Semenya’ which focuses on …show more content…
Through this perspective Semenya was held up as a national symbol of pride for her Native South Africa, which offered their unwavering support as a show of national unity and used her as an example to fight back against what they declared to be prejudiced accusations. There is a major point and its ramifications that need to be pointed out here. Near the beginning of the article, Shultz acknowledged that her access to information was limited to that written in English and found using one specific database (284). Taking this fact into consideration, it can be inferred that most, if not all, of the source material was western in origin. In utilizing the ideal of ‘nationality’ playing a large, contributing part in Semenya’s celebrity, all of the suppositions and reasoning assigned to the South African representatives mentioned have been presented through the filter of western culture and perspective. This is not to say that they are wholly inaccurate, but that they bare the possibility of being effected by western …show more content…
Celebrities are the most pervasive and undervalued representatives of social norms. All of the aspects pointed out by the media emphasized a truth about western society (Richardson and Wearing 93-109), from our obsession with the need to feel like we are part of our communities, that we are not the ‘other’, to the absurd lengths women are expected to go to fit western notions about being female. In my opinion, including this particular topic would have reinforced the social implication hinted at throughout the paper more
Individuals that are deemed ‘Celebrities’ are omnipresent these days, in the news, on television, in the papers…. Many, such as movie stars and musicians, choose their celebrity status and take every opportunity to promote that status, including the current US election season. Others have their status thrust upon them. One such case of ascribed celebrity status is that of Caster Semenya whose celebrity status was the result of media speculation and the efforts of outside sources and with little input from Semenya, herself. In this paper I will be examining Dr Jaime Shultz’s article, ‘The accidental celebritisation of Caster Semenya’ which focuses on …show more content…
Through this perspective Semenya was held up as a national symbol of pride for her Native South Africa, which offered their unwavering support as a show of national unity and used her as an example to fight back against what they declared to be prejudiced accusations. There is a major point and its ramifications that need to be pointed out here. Near the beginning of the article, Shultz acknowledged that her access to information was limited to that written in English and found using one specific database (284). Taking this fact into consideration, it can be inferred that most, if not all, of the source material was western in origin. In utilizing the ideal of ‘nationality’ playing a large, contributing part in Semenya’s celebrity, all of the suppositions and reasoning assigned to the South African representatives mentioned have been presented through the filter of western culture and perspective. This is not to say that they are wholly inaccurate, but that they bare the possibility of being effected by western …show more content…
Celebrities are the most pervasive and undervalued representatives of social norms. All of the aspects pointed out by the media emphasized a truth about western society (Richardson and Wearing 93-109), from our obsession with the need to feel like we are part of our communities, that we are not the ‘other’, to the absurd lengths women are expected to go to fit western notions about being female. In my opinion, including this particular topic would have reinforced the social implication hinted at throughout the paper more