After Atalanta

If we thought the international sports community had learned something about gender and sex, biology, identity and athleticism after the debacle caused by the International Association of Athletics Federations in its process of “gender verification” in the case of South African runner Caster Semenya, an April New York Times op-ed about these issues has shocked the naiveté right out of us. I would have liked to believe that the humiliation Semenya underwent when members of the international track and field community questioned her sex thus triggering physical, medical, and psychological examinations would become an anomaly. Based on the information presented by co-authors Katrina Karkazis and Rebecca Jordan-Young, it was not. The difference: the process of accusing and testing Semenya was very public; the process of testing and “fixing” the bodies of athletes who do not conform to the IAAF’s new hormone level policies (also adopted by the IOC and FIFA) have been quite hidden. Whil...

Caster Semenya is on something. Say that about almost any other track and field athlete (or cyclist-- even the now officially retired "I've- never tested positive" Lance Armstrong remains under scrutiny) and you think doping. An athlete seeking an unfair advantage. But not Semenya--and not, according to secret and not-so-secret sources--are numerous other female athletes who apparently are meeting standards of performance, of hormone levels, of muscle mass not associated with the socially acceptable definition of female. Interventions have been made. Drugs administered. Surgeries completed. At least that's the impression given by this article . We all know the controversy over Semenya's performance and appearance. When it was seemingly over, the horror over the whole experience--the invasion of privacy, the (largely undiscussed) racism and colonialism, the general ickiness of it all--was supposed to be a closed chapter. An additional stain, but one that the Th...

At this year's Tribeca Film Festival, a new documentary about the life of Dr. Renee Richards will make its debut. ESPN sponsors its own sport film festival within the festival and Renee is one of the 33 films in the line up. The documentary explores "the story of Renée Richards, the first transgender tennis player to compete in the women’s US Open." I am pretty sure she is the only transgender athlete to compete in the women's US Open--or in any grand slam. This seems to counter prevailing notions that "things are getting better." And one might even argue that there has been a certain regression since Richards played in the 70s. Last year around this time the story of German tennis pro Sarah Gronert made news in the US. Gronert is intersex (she has wrongly been referred to as transgender ). And despite surgery and much jumping of hoops for the WTA, Gronert is still facing a lot of criticism. Apparently her serve is (according to one opponent's coach) he...

Since the issue of intersexed individuals has arisen lately, I thought I would share these two opportunities to learn more. Especially because the Caster Semenya situation revealed just how little people seem to know. Granted, because intersex is an umbrella term for many conditions, it can be confusing. Here's the chance to educate yourself. The first is geographic specific (sorry). If you live in the western MA or northern CT area Mount Holyoke College is sponsoring a talk on Monday September 28 called Intersex on the Brain: 7:30pm Gamble Auditorium Mount Holyoke College In this unique blend of spoken word performance and Intersex 101, author and intersex activist Thea Hillman navigates the tricky intersections of sex, gender, and sexual orientation and suggests ways to make the world a safer place for differences of all kinds. Logo is also airing, On Demand and online a documentary called 1 in 2000 . It is part of their Real Momentum series. http://www.logoonline.com/video/one-i...

If you look at the accumulation of comments on Soccer Lens' "The 15 Greatest Sports Cheats of All Time " you would think the biggest controversy is whether Maradona's "hand of god" goal in the 1980s was worse than boxing coach Panana Lewis's tactics that lead to the loss of vision in a fighter Billy Collins, Jr. and, indirectly, his death. Or why Marion Jones was left off the list. Of course I think the biggest controversy was the inclusion of Stella Walsh. Walsh was a track & field athlete from Poland who, it was discovered after her death, to be intersex. She had a set of XX and XY chromosomes. So according to the people at Soccer Lens, Walsh was a cheat. This is despite the fact that she passed--passed!--the gender verification test which consisted of a physical examination of her genitals. There was suspicion throughout her career, the writers say, that Walsh was a man. Except, that she wasn't a man. She was clearly raised and lived as a woma...