Some of you have asked about ideas for topics for Week 2. Ideally if you are doing a Week 2 entry, it should be based upon the articles that we read for the second week of classes. For Tuesday, we discussed the articles on Intersex (Findlay, 2012; Salt, 2007). More specifically, we talked about whether an athlete (e.g., Caster Semenya) had an 'unfair advantage' because of higher levels of testosterone. I do not believe we came to a conclusion on that topic. In the attached article by Salt and Brain (2007), there are further examples of athletes who were intersex - in some cases, they did not even know about this condition while they were alive. For example, Sheila Walsh (below) competed for Poland in the 1932 Olympics and won the gold medal in the 100 m. In 1980, she was the victim of a burglary in Cleveland, OH, and she died at the age of 69. After she died, the "autopsy revealed that she possessed male genitalia, although Polish research also indicates that she displayed some female characteristics. Detailed investigation more recently has also revealed that she had the male XY pair of chromosomes" (Salt & Brain, 2007, para. 7). Her condition has been referred to as mosaicism.
In the article about Caster Semenya, Findlay said that she has had treatments to reduce her testosterone levels so as to minimize her advantage. Therefore, was it fair for her to compete in the Olympics? This article suggests that maybe she purposely lost her race in the Olympics. Do you believe that is what happened? What should happen in cases where an intersex individual wishes to participate in sport? How should governing bodies (the Olympics, World Cup, NCAA) address such issues?
Another topic that you could address in this week's Blog entries could relate to the readings by Clatterbaugh (2000) and/or Coleman (2009). Those two readings outlined some of the components of the Men's and Women's Movements, respectively. Since neither article directly addressed sport, I included information in the slides about how the Women's movement related to sport (see power point slides under "Course Information" on Blackboard). You could discuss the relationship between the Women's movement and the athletes who emerged. Or you could speculate on the relationship between the Men's Movement and sport. Overall, do you see a relationship between what is happening in social movements and what is happening in sport? You should explain your responses and give examples to illustrate.
Dr. Spencer,
ReplyDeleteUpon reading the Salt and Brain (2007) article, I have come to the conclusion that there really is no set in stone answer to if an athlete (e.g., Caster Semenya) has an 'unfair advantage' because of higher levels of testosterone. I think it should be looked at on a case by case basis. In our society we have grown up to think that there are males and females, and ignoring the fact that there are intersex and people who may be a little different. I believe that if the athlete is naturally born with higher levels of testosterone like Caster Semenya then it is no different than LeBron James natural ability to jump higher than most of the other NBA players. I do not believe she lost her race on purpose, but she is the only one who really knows the answer to that question.
As far as what should happen when an intersex athlete wants to participate in sport, again should be on a case by case basis. If the athlete themselves say they are male or female then they should compete in that area regardless if society feels they have an unfair advantage. To me this has more to do with how the person looks, if Caster Semenya looked like a super model and still ran fast would they still question her? I would think the answer to that question is no, and that is just really ignorant. Think back to the article McCallum (2004) on who the pros would pay to see and we discussed this in class as well, many male athletes said about paying to see Serena Williams, “I'll pick Serena Williams, but only if she has on that tight little outfit she usually wears” (McCallum, 2004, para. 12). So as long as a female athlete looks good she can be dominate and we have no questions about her gender but if she is not very feminine then we should question her gender? That does not sound right to me but in fact is what society is right now.
Douglas Deprest
Dr Spencer,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post and Douglas' comment I would have to agree with Douglas. I feel as though it should be looked at on a case by case basis when an intersex athlete wants to compete in a sport. I would also have to agree that if the athlete perceives themselves as a certian gender, then they should compete in that area regardless of societies perception.
After reading the Salt and Brain (2007)article, I would have to say an athlete,like Caster Semenya for example, has an 'unfair advantage' because of higher levels of testosterone. But I wouldn't say they shouldn't be able to compete or have surgery to get rid of some of the hormones, but I would say those treatments to lower the testosterone level isn't a bad idea. I feel that society is going to raise questions about any female that is not feminine regardless the issue, which in my eyes isnt right!!
-Danielle Miller
I first of all agree that she should have been able to race in the Olympics. Even though she has higher levels of testosterone in her body, she went through treatment to lower it. I mean all guys have some levels of estrogen, and I'm sure some athletes have more than others. Does this mean they can't compete with men because they have higher levels of estrogen? I don't think so. In these cases of intersex individuals, I think they have to look at how high these actual levels of hormones are. These athletes didn't ask for this testosterone to be in their body; they didn't do this by themselves. This was a natural incident. Although they have an unfair advantage, you have to look at the other side. What if a female athlete had a higher level of estrogen? Would that be unfair? Or if a male had a lower level of testosterone, and still won? Would they still make such a big deal about it, no. I feel bad for these certain athletes because all they want to do is compete, but are so criticized for something they didn't ask for.
ReplyDeletePatrick McFall
I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this topic. If it were to be taken on a case-by-case basis, what would be the criteria? Would it still be based upon how much testosterone one has, or would appearance (e.g., muscularity) still enter into the decision? In either case, it might still be subjective. Then again, you can see the difficulty of "drawing a line" and that is the problem you get into when you have binary thinking!
ReplyDelete