Posted on 09/10/2009 2:22:19 PM PDT by Perdogg
Tests show that controversial runner Caster Semenya is a woman ...and a man!
The 18-year-old South African champ has no womb or ovaries and her testosterone levels are more than three times higher than those of a normal female, according to reports.
The tests, ordered by The International Association of Athletics Federations after Semenya's 800-meter victory in the World Championships, determined she's a hermaphrodite - having both male and female organs.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
The testosterone level is within the legal limits to compete as a woman per the article.
Male sex drive without the equipment to do anything about it. I pitty the soul.
Gosh, thanks
Here’s a serious question: Who would “hit it?” LOL
I am embarrassed by the insensitive treatment of Semenya on FreeRepublic today. Semenya was born with an unfortunate birth defect, completely beyond her control. Her parents made a decision to raise her as a woman, again, beyond her control. Yet, Freepers have been making fun of her and treating her as if she is the same as a homosexual deviant.
Although I now do not believe she should participate in women’s sports, I don’t believe she should be ridiculed for her uncontrollable birth defect. I feel sorry for her.
Symptoms: The symptoms associated with intersex will depend on the underlying cause, but may include:
Ambiguous genitalia at birth Micropenis Clitoromegaly (an enlarged clitoris) Partial labial fusion Apparently undescended testes (which may turn out to be ovaries) in boys Labial or inguinal (groin) masses -- which may turn out to be testes -- in girls Hypospadias (the opening of the penis is somewhere other than at the tip; in females, the urethra [urine canal] opens into the vagina) Otherwise unusual appearing genitalia at birth Electrolyte abnormalities Delayed or absent puberty Unexpected changes at puberty
Parents should understand controversies and changes in treating intersex in recent years. In the past, the prevailing opinion was that it was generally best to assign a gender as quickly as possible, often based on the external genitals rather than the chromosomal gender, and to instruct the parents to have no ambiguity in their minds as to the gender of the child. Prompt surgery was often recommended. Ovarian or testicular tissue from the other gender would be removed. In general, it was considered easier to reconstruct female genitalia than functioning male genitalia, so if the "correct" choice was not clear, the child was often assigned to be a girl
Who would “hit it?” LOL
Another question: How drunk would you have to be?
I do.
Thank you.
Even if allowed under the guidelines, I don't think this “woman” could pass a barr body test, and thus would be deemed ineligible to compete as a woman back when the Olympics did gender testing.
The funny thing to me about testosterone as a sexual stimulator is the reports of the women they give it to.
Viagra DOES work for women, in that it stimulates blood flow to the genitals and renders them physically ready for sex. But for a woman if it ain't going on ‘upstairs’ it doesn't matter if it going like gangbusters ‘downstairs’.
Testosterone is a lifesaver for these women who have lost their sex drive. They LOVE the stuff. But their reports of ‘uncontrolled rage’ are hilarious, especially seen in the light that they are on a dose about 1/10th of what a man is on every day of his life.
Welcome to a little window into OUR world gals. Lots of lots of sex drive, and prone to violent thoughts and sometimes even actions.
Oh, I agree. I don't wish to humiliate her, but this has happened, it's out there, and now it has to be addressed.
I feel very sorry for her too. But we can't just drop the issue of her competition now just so we don't hurt feelings.
stop it
Y’all are mean. The girl has no control over how she was made. I hope this doesn’t ruin her Olympic career.
yuck
Does having a Y chromosome make someone a man?
Classification: FAQ
A lot of unintended harm happens when people assume a Y chromosome makes a person a boy or a man and the lack of a Y chromosome makes a person a girl or a woman. For example, one physician educator on our Medical Advisory Board had the challenging experience of trying to calm a 23-year-old patient who had just been told by a resident that she was “really a man” because the resident had diagnosed the patient as having a Y chromosome and complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS).
It is true that in typical male development, the SRY gene on the tip of the Y chromosome helps to send the embryo down the masculine pathway. But more than the SRY is needed for sex determination and differentiation; for example, women with CAIS have the SRY gene but lack androgen receptors. In terms of hormone effects on their bodies (including their brains), women with CAIS have had much less “masculinization” than the average 46,XX woman because their cells do not respond to androgens.
Moreover, the SRY gene can be translocated onto an X chromosome (so that a 46,XX person may develop along a typical masculine pathway), and there are dozens of genes on chromosomes other than the X and the Y that contribute to sexual differentiation. And beyond the genes, a person’s sex development can be significantly influenced by environmental factors (including the maternal uterine environment in which the fetus developed).
So it is simply incorrect to think that you can tell a person’s sex just looking at whether he or she has a Y chromosome.
Want to know more? The following comes from ISNA’s Medical Advisory Board member Dr. Charmian Quigley:
SRY, discovered in 1989, is a small gene located at the tip of the short arm of the Y chromosome. So what does it do? Actually, like all genes, it does nothing except to act as a blueprint for a protein. In this case, the protein of the same name does funky things to DNA, like bending it and unwinding the 2 strands, so that other proteins can get in and attach themselves to other genes that are then turned on. So how did this gene get its reputation (and its name) as the “sex determining” gene?
As is pretty common in the world of genetics, this was because of some errant mice. Researchers in England took a laboratory-made copy of this gene and inserted it artificially into a female (XX) mouse embryo at a very early stage of development. The mouse was “converted” from female to male, so the gene must have been responsible – right? Well, maybe not. A few years later, a similar gene was found on human chromosome 17. When the important part of this gene was inserted into a female mouse embryo, the same thing happened. Voila! A male.
So now we have 2 genes that can turn a female into a male, and one of them is not located on the Y chromosome! How can that be? It turns out that SRY is probably just a facilitator that allows a more critical gene (or genes) to function, by blocking the action of another opposing factor. Can the magic of genetics do the opposite – turn a male into a female? Indeed it can. A gene on the X chromosome (the chromosome one typically associates with “femaleness”) called DAX1 when present in double copy in a male (XY) mouse, turns it into a female.
So now we have genes on the Y that can turn females with XX chromosomes into males and genes on the X that can turn males with XY chromosomes into females… wow! Maleness and femaleness are NOT determined by having an X or a Y, since switching a couple of genes around can turn things upside down.
In fact, there’s a whole lot more to maleness and femaleness than X or Y chromosomes. About 1 in 20,000 men has no Y chromosome, instead having 2 Xs. This means that in the United States there are about 7,500 men without a Y chromosome. The equivalent situation - females who have XY instead of XX chromosomes - can occur for a variety of reasons and overall is similar in frequency.
For these 15,000 or more individuals in the US (and who knows how many worldwide), their chromosomes are irrelevant. It is the total complement of their genes along with their life experiences (physical, mental, social) that makes them who they are (or any of us, for that matter). The last time I counted, there were at least 30 genes that have been found to have important roles in the development of sex in either humans or mice. Of these 30 or so genes 3 are located on the X chromosome, 1 on the Y chromosome and the rest are on other chromosomes, called autosomes (on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 19).
In light of this, sex should be considered not a product of our chromosomes, but rather, a product of our total genetic makeup, and of the functions of these genes during development.
http://www.isna.org/faq/y_chromosome
From the Lance Armstrong “Livestrong” website:
Testosterone levels
Normal Results
Male: 300 -1,000 ng/dL
Female: 20 - 80 ng/dL
Seems like even if she had triple the high end of normal for female, she wouldn’t approach normal for male.
Google intersex
PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), which affects at least 5% of women and one of the most common causes of fertility problems in women, causes ovaries to produce androgen hormones. It’s a reason why quite a few women have mustaches, other body heir problems, male pattern baldness, acne, and other problems, including obesity that is not helped by a high-carb and low-fat diet (women with PCOS often need balanced diets or low-carb diets to lose weight). And, yes, the extra testosterone can cause aggression but you need to remember that most women don’t grow up learning how to control it the way men do.
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