Media Discuss: Is Female Track Star a Man?

An ethical issue in today’s news I picked to discuss has to do with a female track star and her struggles with her gender. The issues this topic touches relates to gender, race, and ethical issues when reporting a story. The media displayed this athletes life and her struggles to the world. 18-year-old, Olympic athlete Caster Semenya has had a lot of speculation following her. After she was claimed the women’s 800-meters gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, the speculation arose. Officials proved that her testosterone levels are three times as high as those normally expected in a female.

A little background information about Caster Semenya. She was born January 7, 1991 in Pietersburg, South Africa. She comes from a poor rural background in Limpopo province in northern South Africa. She has four sisters and one brother and lived in a low developed village called Fairlie 40 miles from the nearest town. Living in a village meant for a girl chores such as fetching water, washing dishes, and cleaning the house. However she always preferred playing soccer with the boys. In high school her principle said it took her until the 11th grade to realize she was a woman and always wore pants never anything lady like. Family members said when she was teased about her appearance she passed it off and went for a run, and rarely showed emotion.

After winning the 800-meter World Championship The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ordered Caster Semenya to take a gender test. The test proved that the controversial runner is not only a woman but a man too. “The 18 year old South African champ has no womb or ovaries and her testosterone levels are three times higher than those of a normal female”  Casters mother refuses to believe and says “They are jealous of her daughter it’s the first girl in the black people doing such things that’s why they say those things.” However the test result are proven that the female runner is a hermaphrodite proving the male sexual organs called testes are present in her body. Testosterone is a hormone responsible for building muscles and producing body hair.

The IAAF say Semenya could be stripped of the gold medal and her competitive future is in limbo. The athletic governing body believes she should have surgery to fix the potentially deadly condition and to make competition fair among competing athletes.

Semenya’s response is “ God made me the way I am and I accept myself. I am who I am and I’m proud of myself." Still the IAAF would not comment in regards to her response and have not released any further information in regards to the athletes standing.

Today Semenya’s lawyers are doing the talking for her. According to The New York Times “Her lawyers said her medical team looked at the test results after the 2009 world championships, where she won the 800-meter title, and their own tests and concluded she was clear to compete.” It was reported that after the athlete was told about her test results she went under suicide watch. Semenya was first told that she suffered from a condition that made her different from the rest of her community then she was exposed to the world through the media. Should the media release all the facts to the public just to make a good story or should the well being of the person be considered first is a question that should be addressed when analyzing a story.