Hey All, I just wanted to share an essay I had to write for my Intro to Gender & Sexuality Studies class. This class is super interesting to me especially issues related to the body.
The train jolted, causing my body to slide along the plastic bench. A domino effect ensued as the man next to me pushed against my thigh. From the corner of my eye I noticed his legs were as wide as an obtuse triangle.
“He thinks he owns this bench!” I had thought to myself. As I fixed the collar of my jacket, I opened my legs just as wide. There, now we were equal. Is gender discrimination derived from the ways in which females and males are expected to move their bodies?
Iris Marion Young provides insight regarding the female use of body movement, “Reflection on feminine comportment and body movement in other physical activities reveals that these also are frequently characterized, much as in the throwing case, by a failure to make full use of the body’s spatial and lateral potentialities” (Young, p.142). In other words, Young suggests that when most women participate in physical activity they often do not utilize space surrounding the body. It is important to recognize that throughout the history of sports there has always been a dividing binary classification between male and female competing grounds. Young’s distinction of bodily spatial movement is not an effective explanation for current gender discrimination and controversy in sports today. In this paper I argue gender discrimination and controversy that women face in sports today develops from cultural differences and increasing complication of gender due to science; both which challenge rigid feminine and masculine identities. The story of Caster Semenya provides much insight regarding how racial, scientific and societal norms triggered the outbreak of the gender controversy that surrounded her.
Leonard Chuene, a member of Athletics South Africa prominently states, “We are not going to allow Europeans to define and describe our children” (Levy p.4). Caster’s masculine qualities triggered the outbreak of gender controversy. Her fellow South African citizens compare her gender situation with the South African woman Saartjie Baartman who was similarly ridiculed by foreigners for her unique body. This comparison that the citizens of South Africa have drawn suggest that foreigners have a tendency to alienate the female black body (Levy p.4). This is because Caster and Saartjie’s appearance do not fit societal feminine identity norms.
The consequence of rigid feminine and masculine identities caused Castor’s female competitors to adopt discriminatory attitudes. In reference to Chuene’s statement there is a cultural difference between European and South African views. Competitor Elisa Cusma of Italy announces, “For me, she is not a women. She is a man.” And Mariya Savino of Russia exclaims, “Just look at her.” (Levy p.3). These European female competitors create an issue of doubt, which contribute to the gender controversy. It is reassuring to know that the South African Minister of Women, Children and Person with Disabilities is in support of Castor. They see this alienation of Castor as a violation of human rights. The judgmental attitudes towards Castor’s appearance stem from deeply engrained qualities of femininity. As a result, this shapes a dichotomous view between males and females.
Castor’s seemingly masculine appearance threatens the dichotomous nature of gender. Throughout the history of sports science has played a pivotal role in fostering societal gender norms. The method of genital inspection was utilized to determine gender. That method was replaced with chromosomal testing. Eventually, science uncovered a biological explanation regarding the phenomena of intersexes causing chromosomal testing to seem invalid. Even further, knowledge of an intersexed person weakens the argument of those who do not view Caster as a female because of her appearance. In current scientific advances it is clear that 1.7% of the population “deviates from the standard definition of male or female” according to Fausto-Sterling (Levy p.7). This implies that from a biological point of view there is not always either male or female. Although science tugs at the stiff boundaries that classify gender, it remains difficult to shatter gender norm ideologies passed on throughout human development.
Upon returning to Young’s statement it is important to understand that she believed the way in which boys and girls learned how to utilize their body in relation to space opened the door for gender discrimination. Caster Semenya’s struggle in the sports world unveils how cultural differences and advances in science are the real underlying factors in gender discrimination. Within South African culture, discrimination in sports is not tolerated South Africans defended Caster’s human rights because they know that in the past foreigners have oppressed the bodies of black women. This cultural difference also highlights the dichotomous nature between male and female identities. Science has certainly impacted the sports world’s procedures for competition placement based on gender. Scientific research and explanation of intersex serves as a new outlook regarding gender. Gender can be placed on a spectrum not a strict binary class system. Unfortunately, the gender discrimination that evolved from cultural differences and the world’s once basic understanding of biology have casted a shadow over Caster Semenya’s accomplishments. Now it is up to the sports world to create an environment where talent is the focus of the competition, not the type of genitals that are hiding within an athlete’s pants.
Works Cited
Levy, Ariel. "Either/Or Sports, sex, and the case of Caster Semenya." 30 Nov 2009: 1-13. Print.
Young, Iris Marion. Throwing like a Girl: A Phenomenology of Feminine Body Comportment Motility and Spatiality. 2nd ed. 3. Springer, 1980. 137-156. Print.
