Which line…male or female?
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posted by One Sport Voice Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi: This blog reflects my critical eye and voice on all things sport. I am a critical thinker, scholar, and researcher in girls & women in sport, youth sport, and coach & sport parent education. |
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Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the first-ever University of Minnesota Gopher Football game at the new TCF Stadium. The stadium is spectacular and the Gopher’s managed a win over Air Force–a fitting way to christen the stadium. With much discussion over Caster Semenya’s sex verification, this signage posted at the entrance of the TCF Stadium caught my eye. The lines were for security searches and I get the reason for same sex security frisking and privacy issues. This signage highlights in a very simple and real way the arbitrarily chosen binary sex/gender classifications that operate in our society and govern our behavior. Given the news that Caster Semenya is a hermaphrodite (a person with both male and female reproductive organs), which line would be “appropriate” for her?
View Original Post at onesportvoice.wordpress.com
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- Filed Under:
- Sports, SportsPLUS, Discrimination/Title IX
There are 4 comments on this post. Join the discussion!
Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi
Thanks to blog reader S.C. for educating me, and now others, that the term %u201Chermaphrodite%u201D, a term previously used for intersexed persons, is considered outdated and derogatory. -nml
Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 7:43pm EDT
mhueter
Good question Nicole. I honestly don't know. Interested in what other folks have to say...
Sunday, September 13, 2009 at 11:32pm EDT
robm
Intersexed is the more appropriate, and technically the more correct, term. A worthwhile explication can be found here: http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/09/caster_semenyas_gender_what_wo.php
(see the comments as well)
If the reports are true--and that is a big *if*, for none have actually been confirmed--Semenya likely has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, in which case (from the article linked above): "So, yes, if Semenya has total AIS, then she's a girl. And a pretty fast one, it would appear, owing to her prowess as an athlete, not to any features of AIS."
Monday, September 14, 2009 at 9:33am EDT
Lisa Creech Bledsoe
This seems like an odd question to me. Gender is not just biological, it's cultural and personal as well. Semenya would choose the women's line, of course, just as she would go in the women's restroom.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at 7:16pm EDT