Caster Semenya and similar


Likely to be an unpopular essay

 

I think all true moderate feminists should take a long hard look at the measures being taken to castrate Caster Semenya.

 

Actually, I think we all should.

 

I suppose Ian Thorpe should be grateful! Nobody is suggesting he shouldn't have competed as a man because he's gay. Not yet, anyway. Nobody has yet suggested hat he should have had surgery to correct his big feet before being allowed to compete. But why not? Didn't they give him an unfair advantage?

 

The next round of gender tests should be on the IAAF, the body that has now decided on the ridiculous rule change that will force naturally hyperandrogenous athletes to take drugs to lower their performance.

 

The mind boggles.

 

For a start, the IAAF should prove that one of their presidents (past or present) is a woman. There have been six, unfortunately only two of them are still alive.

 

But if neither of them can prove female gender, one of them should be obliged to take drugs to correct this. Isn't that only fair?

 

Yes, there's a problem with transgender athletes. We do not want women's sport to be dominated by them, so that every second-tier male athlete considers a sex change to improve their chances, and as a result every little girl knows that she can't possibly win a medal at the Olympics. Obviously!

 

But these rules are not the answer, or even part of it.

 

They are now part of the problem.