Gender Testing for Elite Female Athletes
People began to speculate about Caster Semenya's gender based on her physical appearance. She was thought to be too masculine to be a woman by others. The belief that women had less muscle than men led to her sexuality being questioned. As a result, people began to doubt Castor Semenya's gender because she was a little more masculine than the other women in the race (Gender Testing for Elite Female Athletes, 2012). As a result, her questioning is unfair because someone looked at her and thought she was not a woman.
Testosterone Levels in Athletes
Testosterone levels differ between men and women, according to the reading and podcast. However, a person’s levels of testosterone can vary depending on the time of the person’s social life, their social status, time of day or even the personal history of training. In the world of athletics, high testosterone levels are associated with doping (Jordan & Karkazis, 2012). Therefore, the person may be more masculine and perform very well compared to the others. However, it is not possible to tell how well an athlete will participate based on their levels of testosterone. Therefore, the sporting agency aims at keeping athletes with high testosterone from participating in the sports.
Categorization of Sex
The categorization of sex is a complex one because there is no standard for determining a person's orientation. Ideally, it is difficult to determine the sex of a person by judging from their physical looks. The masculinity of a person’s body is not enough to tell the sex of a person (Jordan & Karkazis, 2012). Additionally, the reading argues that gender verification tests basing on a person's chromosomes are not capable of categorizing the sex of a person. Therefore, the fact that someone has said they are male or female should be enough in classifying their sex.
References
“Gender Testing for Elite Female Athletes.” (2012). Retrieved from
http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/one-to-one/2012/sex-testing-for-elite-female-athletes.html
Jordan-Young, R. & Karkazis..K. (2012). You Say You’re a Woman? That Should Be Enough.
New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/sports/olympics/olympic-sex-verification-you-say-youre-a-woman-that-should-be-enough.html
Gender Apartheid
The podcast defines gender apartheid as the discrimination of a person basing on their sexual orientation (2016). Gender apartheid happens every day in the normal life settings when people believe that a girl cannot do something because her gender does not equip her to do specific tasks. These types of thinking are imposed on children while still young.
Gender Influence on Children
The experiment by Louann Brizendine shows how gender shapes people's thinking. When children grow up, they learn that men are the stronger gender and women and the weak. The study by Lisa Eliot confirms the same. Children are taught how to differentiate the two sexes based on their toys (Ideas: The Gender Trap, 2016). When the children are still young, they play with all the toys, but as they grow up, they notice the differences in gender and can no longer play with other toys because it is for girls or another orientation.
Gender Neutrality
The media was attracted to the story of the storm because apparently gender is related to identity therefore not having one is challenging nature. Storm's parents only told nine people the gender of their child (Ideas: The Gender Trap, 2016). On top of that, these people were sworn to secrecy that they would not disclose the gender of the baby. They wanted the life of the child to be free from gender stereotyping because the parents believe that the current world is full of it. People believe that the color pink is for girls and machines or trucks are for boys. As a result, the boys grow up to be self-sufficient and brave. On the other hand, the girls are caring, nurturing, and empathetic. The parents of Storm believe that teaching a child all life skills such as laundry, cooking, or dressing themselves is more important for a child to live a good life.
References
“Ideas: The Gender Trap.” (2016). Retrieved From
https://soundcloud.com/cbc-radio-one/the-gender-trap-part-2-encore
