Caster Semenya – a victim of ignorance

Caster Semenya has won a world title, excelled in her athletic ability and been committed to her sport for many years.

Yet, she is subject to the investigation of her own sporting body due to the fact she has a muscular physique and masculine features and has been under the microscope by the press.  Once again, the women who have given so much of their lives to sporting excellence are condemned for their apparent non-conformity to society’s expectation of what women “should” look like.

In the case of Caster Semenya, she does not use make up nor attempt to feminize herself as so many of her peers do who have considerably more musculature than she does. So many of us feel the pressure to conform and have our feminine identity acknowledged as we are aware that our physique does not fit into what society expects. Yet, we have a woman, who is comfortable in herself to not bow to that pressure and she is publicly humiliated as her own gender is questioned due to her own ability.

 

For so many women in sport, they have been ridiculed by the public, the media and peers as their physique develops from their continuous hard work and in fact Dame Kelly Holmes came under fire one of the judges in Strictly Come Dancing when he referred to her as looking like a transvestite on national television.

 

It was easier for women 20 years ago to have a developed physique as there seemed to be more recognition for the achievements than criticism of the apparition and this reaction and increasing polarizing on looks is a major indicator on the change and shift in British society as a whole.

 

From the point of view of a woman who has trained since age 13 and competed since the of 16, I have noticed a change in attitude from the public and even peers through the 20 year span. The causes? Pure speculation would be the media causing a shift in British society through consistent and perpetual comment on how celebrities “look” and the surge in how we can change our appearance to conform and be accepted by society. Gone are the days of pure recognition of achievement regardless of how we look, we must be “marketable” to the public otherwise we will not be accepted is the message.

 

The points about Caster’s physique made me laugh out loud when I thought about all the women over the years who had a vastly more muscled physique who had made that all important effort to conform and carefully sculpted their hair and faces. The training over the years will naturally raise a womans testosterone level and if their level is already high naturally then this compounds on the apparent physique and muscularity which is why some women are more heavily muscled than others in a vast array of sports.

Unfortunately, the public are never made aware of this and the uninformed comments are made, which no matter how hard we try, do impact on us at some level.

 

From my own point of view as a strength athlete, it has become almost acceptable for people to walk up to me and make comment on how they think I look, openly have conversation and pass comment whilst standing beside me based on a complete lack of thought process that I am in fact a woman who competes, not one who WANTS to look the way do, it is simply a byproduct of the sport I choose to compete in and if I want to win then I have to work hard and therefore a physique will develop.

From the clients I have worked with over the years in the sports arena, most of the women have felt the change society and the judgment and a lot of my time is spent assisting them in not allowing it to impact on their every day life.

One female athlete I worked with had become resistant to going out because of the comments she received on a daily basis about her physique and if she was in fact a woman, which so many of us have to varying degrees.

 

So – rather than condemning and pointing the finger at Caster, maybe we could rejoice in a woman who has the confidence and does not need to dorn the trappings of perceived femininity  and who can concentrate on her sport.

So – rather than condemning and pointing the finger at Caster, maybe we could rejoice in a woman who has the confidence and does not need to dorn the trappings of perceived femininity and who can concentrate on her sport.
There are so many other women who, based on what the governing body is stating that Miss Semenya may have an unfair advantage due to genetic issues, should have been tested and the entire situation has come to our own perception of what feminine should be and how we should conform instead of athletic prowess and achievement.