SOCI 365 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Caster Semenya, Hyperandrogenism, Sex Verification In Sports
5 May 2018
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Lecture 5 – January 16th
Caster Semenya Continued…
• Genetic variation across population that we don’t consider as fair/unfair
• There are things that are way more influential (Phelps) than testosterone levels
o Or even his arm length
• Other advantages based on social positioning (higher altitudes, kind of training, how young you
were when you started etc.)
• Readings: sex testing in sports, became banned, but no policy around it was developed
o Often track and field athletes
o Case of Caster, won by 2.5 sec., based on performance and hyper-masculine body type
▪ Wasn’t performing femininity in the right way while achieving so much athletically
▪ Professional sports also being about the interest of the public
▪ Race came into play—accused by white athletes, subjected to humiliating treatment
from accusations
▪ Since no real policy in place: either subject yourself to exams or you can’t compete
• Didn’t compete, was told she would have to lower her testosterone so she
probably took them
• Women who were also not normal enlarged clits) had surgery
▪ Used to call it gender verification
o IAF and IOC got together to from policies so that there would be fair and equal treatment
for athletes accused of having hyper-androgenism (anyone with elevated levels of
testosterone—especially a woman)
▪ Genetic mutations or variations, most of which considered intersex but not all of
them
o Sex made up of at least 6 components (see class notes)
o Testosterone: hugely variable, not stable over time social dimension to it, women’s range
is broader then men’s
▪ The athletes don’t look like men—and we still don’t know if higher testosterone
levels mean having a competitive edge
• Assumed based on ideas of gender norms
o Testosterone in both bodies gets converted into estrogen, different effect for women than it
does for men
• Anyone with testosterone levels above a decided value would need to
Dutee Chand
• (ard data about relationship between testosterone and athletic advantage
o Looked at all track and field events
▪ Stat significant advantage with shot put, hammer throw, but this was less robust as
you moved into other sports like running
▪ Running had small stat advantage but it wasn’t a huge increase, not clearly cut and
dry
• Hyper-androgenism accusation
o 2 years where she was allowed to compete, and any other athletes are also, but the two
years just ended, so this might change
• Systematic advantage?
• Degree of advantage?
• Is testosterone different than other genetic advantages?
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