Caster Semenya withdraws from race in South Africa ("Woman" Track Winner May be Hermaphrodite)

Guardian.co.uk ^ | September 11, 2009 | David Smith

[BradtotheBone]

Athlete Caster Semenya has pulled out of her return to competitive sport amid growing fears over the psychological impact of rumours about her sex. The 18-year-old withdrew from a cross-country race in South Africa tomorrow after it was widely reported that a leaked sex test reveals she is a hermaphrodite. Her coach, Michael Seme, said she will not run because she is "not feeling well". South Africa condemned the international media reports as an invasion of the teenager's privacy and threatened a "third world war" if the women's 800m champion is disqualified from athletics.

[vimto]

If he has undescended testes he needs to get it sorted out and soon - the prospect of cancer in late teens early 20’s is high.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

He is not a hermaphrodite.

There is no such thing and there has never been one documented case of a hermaphrodite mammal. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

It is not phenotype that determines gender. Anyone with a Y-chromosome is male. A hermaphrodite, by definition, can produce both male and female fertile sex cells by meiosis.

The article is pushing a deliberate lie...

[bgill]

He is simply a male with undescended testes. He has no female organs at all.

There it is. His parents had to have known or they wouldn't have named him Caster, a boy's name. He must have known or had questions especially when puberty set in and there was no denying it. His coach had to have known. They all lied every time he was entered in a women's competition.

[Vaquero]

Various definitions...not being confined to a scientific definition....the term is appropriate for Caster....

one having both male and female sexual characteristics and organs; at birth an unambiguous assignment of male or female cannot be made
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

The Hermaphrodite is an incomplete novel by Julia Ward Howe about a hermaphrodite raised as a male, but whose underlying gender ambiguity often creates havoc in his life. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hermaphrodite

In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus or Hermaphroditos (Ancient Greek: ) was the child of Aphrodite and Hermes. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermaphrodite_(mythology)

An individual or organism possessing both male and female organs, typically including both types of gonads; A person or thing possessing two ...
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hermaphrodite

hermaphroditic - of or relating to monoclinous plants
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

a person born with both ovarian and testicular tissues and internal reproductive organs.
www.childrenscentralcal.org/HealthE/P01964/Pages/P01954.aspx

one plant having both male and female flowers: the breeding of hermaphrodites is hard to control.
www.ngoye.com/index.php

A hermaphrodite is an animal which possesses both male and female sex organs in the same individual.
www.genetic-genealogy.co.uk/Toc115570157.html

Self-pollinating plants, such as wine grape vines, containing both male stamens and female ovaries.
www.thatsthespirit.com/en/wine/wine_glossary.asp

An individual that produces both female and male gametes.
biology.usgs.gov/genetics_genomics/glossary_h.html

Animal that posses both sperm and ovaries. Able to release both eggs and sperm into the water for fertilisation. Eggs and sperm are released at different times to prevent self fertilisation. Many molluscs are hermaphroditic. ...
www.aquatext.com/list-h.htm

bisexual, bearing flowers with both androecium and gynoecium in the same flower. adj. hermaphroditic
florabase.dec.wa.gov.au/help/glossary

hermaphrodite is the form that can make both sperm and oocytes and can self-fertilize. C. elegans has both hermaphrodites and males. The male can mate with hermaphrodites to produce cross progeny.
www.wormclassroom.org/Modules/CellLineage/clGlossary.html

considered by many to be an outdated and pejorative term; see “intersex”
www.ftmguide.org/terminology.html

[from Greek Hermes + Aphrodite] The form and typical nature of both the god and goddess in one individual. Androgyne also relates to a dual-sexed human being. ...
www.theosociety.org/pasadena/etgloss/ha-hh.htm

[freedumb2003]

>>I would assume so, but do be humiliated worldwide is a rough thing....as was being born like this.<<

It is unfortunate, but he/she was gaming the system as well, so my sympathy is somewhat muted.

And I always wanted to be a fighter pilot, but I was born with both bad vision and acrophobia, so life ain’t fair to any of us.

[freedumb2003]

>>I’m confused - in college I was taught that all distinctions based on gender were just societal constructs - so why are we having separate men’s and women’s events at all?<<

For reference, gender is a “social construct,” sex is a biological one.

[Vaquero]

try this 19th century term

Amorphodite.....

[definitelynotaliberal]

http://discovermagazine.com/1992/jun/turningaman62

[tioga]

on that I agree...........life is not fair. if rumors are true that this person is a hermaphrodite is is sad. However, if there are only male organs, as someone up thread implied, that would be outright fraud. if the person KNEW of the ambiguous state of their sex, they should never have entered any race asserting womanhood. Life is complicated and intentional fraud is a sin. I will give the benefit of the doubt until real proof is presented to us......so far we have leaked info that may or may not be true.

[GnuHere]

LOL - do we know if s/he’s able to shriek really loud??

[flintsilver7]

This has nothing to do with homosexuality. I call it a handicap because if the leaked report is true, she cannot have a normal life as either a man or a woman. She looks like an in-between and she’s also anatomically in-between. I call that a handicap.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Various definitions...not being confined to a scientific definition....the term is appropriate for Caster....

No, it is not. You are lying...

[Stosh]

Good point.

From the article:

“Stofile continued: “No one doubts her gender anymore. Now the issue is of the percentages of her gender; this is as disgusting as it is unethical. Caster is a woman, she remains our heroine.”

Maybe the first thing these folks ought to do is figure out what they’re arguing about!

[muawiyah]

Quite a complex body of definitions. I guess it’s a term that has its uses in different ways in different venues.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

For reference, gender is a “social construct,” sex is a biological one.

The press is purposely and inappropriately using the term "hermaphrodite" to push the homosexual agenda.

There has never once been a single documented case of a hermaphrodite mammal.

[muawiyah]

There is, however, a two-headed girl.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

I guess it’s a term that has its uses in different ways in different venues.

By definition, in medical terminology, genetics, botany, etc., etc... a hermaphrodite produces FERTILE sex cells both male an female.

Anyone who says otherwise is a liar...

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

There is, however, a two-headed girl.

Don't tell Clinton...

[muawiyah]

You are trying to slick us by moving from "medical" to "botanical" to "genetics" to a variety of settings.

The term was around long before anyone knew about DNA, or mitosis/meiosis. So, what do you imagine the ancients were talking about? And do you really think it's necessary to demonstrate that a critter can have viable offspring before you take action with regard to ambiguity in sex organs?

You are the liar because you are using evasive language to misrepresent the meaning of a term in common use.

Note that "evasive language" ~ that's what liars use.

[rogue yam]

The GLBT lobby will have a cow, and call you names.

Dude! It is now the GLBTH lobby. Stop being a hater!