I disagree with the decision to let Semenya and Chand compete

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did they win ?

Semenya won gold in the women's 800. It really isn't her fault that she was born the way she was. She wants to compete and some gender has to be assigned. If the IOC declares her a woman then she gets to run as a woman and the medal was fairly won. However, she looks and runs like a man.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they win ?

Semenya won gold in the women's 800. It really isn't her fault that she was born the way she was. She wants to compete and some gender has to be assigned. If the IOC declares her a woman then she gets to run as a woman and the medal was fairly won. However, she looks and runs like a man.

If you know, would you share her time compared to th male winners in the 800.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:sex is a spectrum

Oh no it ain't PP.

I have a vagina and am very happy that my vagina is enjoyed by someone with a penis...who is happy to have his penis and wants to keep his penis.

There is ZERO spectrum on that one!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:sex is a spectrum

Oh no it ain't PP.

I have a vagina and am very happy that my vagina is enjoyed by someone with a penis...who is happy to have his penis and wants to keep his penis.

There is ZERO spectrum on that one!

Lucky for you, you were born XX. If you were XXY or some other such variation, I'm sure you'd think there was a spectrum.

I think it obviously sucks for the competition, but I think she should be able to compete with the women.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they win ?

Semenya won gold in the women's 800. It really isn't her fault that she was born the way she was. She wants to compete and some gender has to be assigned. If the IOC declares her a woman then she gets to run as a woman and the medal was fairly won. However, she looks and runs like a man.

If you know, would you share her time compared to th male winners in the 800.

You can google this as well as I can, but I'll take a look for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they win ?

Semenya won gold in the women's 800. It really isn't her fault that she was born the way she was. She wants to compete and some gender has to be assigned. If the IOC declares her a woman then she gets to run as a woman and the medal was fairly won. However, she looks and runs like a man.

If you know, would you share her time compared to th male winners in the 800.

You can google this as well as I can, but I'll take a look for you.

For the men's 800m race, the top 3 finishers were 1:42 and change.
For the women's 800m race, Semenya was 1:55.28, second place was 1:56.49, and third was 1:56.89.

See if this video plays for you. Semenya is wearing green.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/caster-semenya-takes-home-800m-gold

[Anonymous]

She has 3 times the normal level of testosterone as other women. Testosterone is a banned and tested-for substance precisely because it enhances performance. No, it's not her fault she was born with internal testes, but it certainly is unfair to her competitors (the times don't tell the whole story - watch the race and she clearly looks like she wasn't giving it her all). Given that she has internal testicles, and was born without ovaries or a uterus, isn't she more genetically male than female? And regardless, shouldn't the testosterone level alone be disqualifying?

FWIW, I don't think she should be designated 'male' for any reason of she identifies female. But there is a bright line in the olympics as to how much testosterone a female athlete may have and she far exceeds it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:sex is a spectrum

No it isn't.

But op it's really not her fault she was born with higher than normal levels of testosterone. She is still primarily female. She wasn't born with a penis so I'm perfectly okay with her running with the ladies than the men.

Np. Actually, it is. There are genetic abnormalities that make someone have a chromosome combination other than XX or XY. Some (few) people are born with other chromosomal combinations.

The way I look at it, is that anyone competing on the Olympic level is a genetic abnormality to begin with. They ALL have some level of genetic boost that the rest of us don't have. Being intersex is one of those. Semenya has internal testes, but how was she supposed to know that?? It's not her fault, and it's not as though she's competing dishonestly. And she takes hormones to help reduce testosterone levels.

No matter which way you look at it, none of the athletes are competing at the same level as regular Joe or Jane or I. They're all kind of freaks of nature.

It doesn't matter whether it's her fault or not (which it isn't) - what matters is that it's unfair to the women who don't have testicles. Also, she is no longer on medication to lower her T levels - when she was, her performance suffered FYI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She has 3 times the normal level of testosterone as other women. Testosterone is a banned and tested-for substance precisely because it enhances performance. No, it's not her fault she was born with internal testes, but it certainly is unfair to her competitors (the times don't tell the whole story - watch the race and she clearly looks like she wasn't giving it her all). Given that she has internal testicles, and was born without ovaries or a uterus, isn't she more genetically male than female? And regardless, shouldn't the testosterone level alone be disqualifying?

FWIW, I don't think she should be designated 'male' for any reason of she identifies female. But there is a bright line in the olympics as to how much testosterone a female athlete may have and she far exceeds it.

yes
but
She did not cheat by taking testosterone supplements
It has not been proven if your body's internally produced testosterone is as performance enhancing as externally takin testosterone
You cannot force a healthy person to have medically unnecessary surgery just because you think the person runs too fast.
Her gold was only 20th fastest in Olympic history. The fastest woman was reportedly a man-like creature from communist country

We cannot judge people on how they look and create rules about masculine looking women when feminine looking men are OK
There are women with no uterus and nobody is denying their right to be women

for now, her health is just speculation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did they win ?

Semenya won gold in the women's 800. It really isn't her fault that she was born the way she was. She wants to compete and some gender has to be assigned. If the IOC declares her a woman then she gets to run as a woman and the medal was fairly won. However, she looks and runs like a man.

If you know, would you share her time compared to th male winners in the 800.

You can google this as well as I can, but I'll take a look for you.

For the men's 800m race, the top 3 finishers were 1:42 and change.
For the women's 800m race, Semenya was 1:55.28, second place was 1:56.49, and third was 1:56.89.

See if this video plays for you. Semenya is wearing green.

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/caster-semenya-takes-home-800m-gold

The bronze medal winner is also intersex, Margaret Wambui.

The silver medalist is also rumored to be intersex

So the gold, silver and bronze medalists in Rio are not racing with female hormone levels.

It is unfair to all the other athletes competing in female events. There must be a fairer way to do this.

[Anonymous]

http://www.runnersworld.com/olympics/why-the-womens-800-will-be-the-most-controversial-race-at-the-olympics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She has 3 times the normal level of testosterone as other women. Testosterone is a banned and tested-for substance precisely because it enhances performance. No, it's not her fault she was born with internal testes, but it certainly is unfair to her competitors (the times don't tell the whole story - watch the race and she clearly looks like she wasn't giving it her all). Given that she has internal testicles, and was born without ovaries or a uterus, isn't she more genetically male than female? And regardless, shouldn't the testosterone level alone be disqualifying?

FWIW, I don't think she should be designated 'male' for any reason of she identifies female. But there is a bright line in the olympics as to how much testosterone a female athlete may have and she far exceeds it.

yes
but
She did not cheat by taking testosterone supplements
It has not been proven if your body's internally produced testosterone is as performance enhancing as externally takin testosterone
You cannot force a healthy person to have medically unnecessary surgery just because you think the person runs too fast.
Her gold was only 20th fastest in Olympic history. The fastest woman was reportedly a man-like creature from communist country

We cannot judge people on how they look and create rules about masculine looking women when feminine looking men are OK
There are women with no uterus and nobody is denying their right to be women

for now, her health is just speculation.

Perhaps what one other poster suggested is the fairest and best way.

If an athlete has testicles (even undecended), male levels of testosterone, and no ovaries, they compete as males.

Wambui was a full head taller than all the women competing. She is built like a male athlete. If she has the body of a male athlete, the muscles of the male athletes, the hormone levels of male athletes, and testicals then it is unfair for her to participate in the female races.

[Anonymous]

A female with no ovaries is still a female, not a man
Where do you draw the line for testosterone? Are you going to test all women, or just the ones from a poor country?
Are short women OK, but not tall

How is the sport fair? Do we only look at internal sex organs, and ban only women who can never have children, or do we look at height, family wealth, length of arms, legs and other factors too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:sex is a spectrum

Oh no it ain't PP.

I have a vagina and am very happy that my vagina is enjoyed by someone with a penis...who is happy to have his penis and wants to keep his penis.

There is ZERO spectrum on that one!

Lucky for you, you were born XX. If you were XXY or some other such variation, I'm sure you'd think there was a spectrum.

I think it obviously sucks for the competition, but I think she should be able to compete with the women.

You are confused. Having a vagina (or vulva really) does not mean you are not XXY. There are people walking around who are XXY who were gender assigned male and gender assigned female. No one has their chromosomes tested unless there is a reason. The above "vagina" poster could be XXY and never even know it.

[Anonymous]

There is a scientific protocol that applies in this case. It's called The Duck Test.