Of genes, gender and grey areas
Steve Connor
August 23 2009 at 08:43AM
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20090823063238287C154075 (http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20090823063238287C154075)
The case of Caster Semenya, the South African teenager who ran to victory in the women's 800m final of the world championships in Berlin and walked into a storm of controversy, highlights the sensitive and sometimes ambiguous nature of gender.
Semenya, who took gold on Wednesday in 1:55.45, has nothing to hide, according to her coach, Michael Seme.
He even offered inquisitive journalists the phone numbers of her roommates in Berlin - they had seen her naked in the shower, he said.
But Semenya's humiliation does not end here.
They didn't say exactly WHY they are going to test her. is it because of her looks and because she won gold? Has she "passed" her gender test yet? It sucks how she is being treated, but it's great that info about the fluidity of sex is in the mainstream press.