It’s my understanding that Semenya’s testosterone level is (a) three times higher than the female baseline, but (b) still within **potential **female range, and (c) much lower than the typical male range.
So, if she has a condition that gives her more testosterone than the average female, but not more testosterone than is is possible for a 46,XX female to have, why should she be excluded from competition as a woman?
The current IAAF regulations seem to all hinge on hormones. A 46,XY woman with CAIS is allowed to compete as a woman because she’s immune to testosterone. A 46,XY woman who is an MtF transsexual is allowed to compete as a woman, even with a body that was exposed to a high level of testosterone while developing during puberty, as soon as two years after SRS and hormones. To quote the section on trans athletes, “The crux of the matter is that the athlete should not be enjoying the benefits of natural testosterone predominance normally seen in a male.”
It’s statements like these that lead me to believe you are overwhelmingly misinformed on the subject of intersex and transsexual people. Helpful hint: someone could be transsexual and never undergo surgery but still be considered the gender they identify as and be entitled to be addressed with the correct pronouns.
You can argue about whether or not Semenya should be allowed to compete as a woman, but to persist in referring to her as a man and calling her “he” is incredibly rude, disrespectful, and ignorant.
Where’d you get the ten times number? Wikipedia says 40-60 times, but I’d like a more authoritative source if you’ve got one. WTB a nice chart that gives male and female ranges, with population stats for each range.
I feel kind of like some people are doing the equivalent of arguing that because the average male height in the U.S. is 5’9" and the average female is 5’4", because I’m 6’ I must be male.
Got it from memory, which of course may have been wrong - it is entirely possible (even likely) your information is correct and mine is not, in which case it makes the argument Semenya is closer to the female norm even more persuasive.
You’re a woman? Of course, with internet usernames who can know unless you state it explicitly?
But yes, I agree, to some extent your comparison is apt.
I tried to find a better source online, but I couldn’t get anything that seemed authoritative. Values seemed to range from about eight times to the much larger number cited in the Wiki article.
Shocking, I know!
Not 100%, I’ll be the first to admit. Testosterone is a much bigger defining characteristic for sex than is height. Still, I think it’s a not-half-bad analogy.
“Different labs have varying ranges of what they consider normal with values ranging from the low 200s to over 1200 ng./dl. considered normal for men and from 15 to 70 ng./dl. considered normal for women.” (Cite.)
So, even assuming that Semenya has three times the maximum level of women’s testosterone, she’s only barely brushing the basement of men’s testosterone level. And I seem to recall that articles commented that she had three times the normal level of testosterone, so the baseline they’re using is probably somewhere in the middle, which means she’s almost certainly well below even the lowest level of testosterone a man would have.
If it could somehow be shown that her condition can’t ever result in testosterone levels outside what’s possible for for a 46/XX female, it would make sense to include this as one of the allowed special cases. If, however, her case represents a version of a condition that could in some cases be associated with higher testosterone levels, then clearly she falls into an excluded category.
I’m guessing that testing individuals for their specific testosterone levels would be impractical (partly because repeated testing would probably be necessary). Do simple, quick, precise and objective forms of such testing exist?
I don’t see what’s so “clear” about that. If, at the time she was competing, Semenya’s testosterone level was within the normal range for women then why should it make any difference that someone else with the same condition might have even higher testosterone levels? Semenya shouldn’t be barred from competition because of things that have happened to other people or that might happen to her in the future.
*It wouldn’t be any more impractical than testing for steroids.
