from the guardian:

Semenya, 18, stormed to victory last week in the women's 800 metres at the world athletics championships in Berlin. But her rags-to-riches journey had been called into question even before the starting gun. The athlete's muscular build, deep voice, facial hair and suddenly improved performances led to a frenzy of speculation that the fastest woman in the world over two laps is, in fact, a man.

The governing body of world athletics confirmed that it has ordered Semenya to undergo a "gender verification test" to prove she did not have an unfair biological advantage. British bookmakers offered prices on whether she will prove to be a man, woman or hermaphrodite.

But although the debate is ostensibly about sex, many in South Africa believe it has a racial dimension. Political leaders have accused Western "imperialists" of a public lynching, comparing her case to that of Saartjie Baartman, an 18th-century Khosian woman who paraded naked in Europe for colonialists to prod her genitals with their umbrellas.

[...]

But 15 years after the end of apartheid, public discourse in South Africa can quickly become racially charged. The governing African National Congress has vehemently condemned the sex test and the president of its youth league, Julius Malema, has lambasted the IAAF for "this attack on this beautiful woman". South Africa plans to lodge an official complaint with the UN high commissioner for human rights for undermining Semenya's rights and privacy.

Leonard Chuene, the head of South African athletics who has stepped down from the IAAF until the matter is settled, said: "We are talking about a child here, whose name has been dragged through the dirt by an organisation which should know better.

"If gender tests have to take place, they should have been done quietly. It is a taboo subject. How can a girl live with this stigma? By going public on the tests, the IAAF has let down this young child, and I will fight tooth and nail to protect her."

Describing the speculation about Semenya's gender as "racist", he added: "Who are white people to question the makeup of an African girl?

"I say this is racism, pure and simple. In Africa, as in any other country, parents look at new babies and can see straight away whether to raise them as a boy or a girl. We are now being told that it is not so simple. But the people who question these things have no idea how much shame such a slur can bring on a family.

my mother sent me an similar article a few days ago and i am just getting around to posting it. beyond the disturbing medical and scientific discourse around this situation, i am curious about the interplay of race and perceptions of femininity. the whole spectacle of this 'gender investigation' is certainly reminiscent of sara baartman...the ambiguous perimeters of human v. animal, the borderlands between femininity and masculinity...which bodies are deemed accessible for scientific scrutiny...and those who have the privilege to poke, prod, research, broadcast, and dispense with objective scientific certainty the gender of a young woman. i can only imagine how it feels to be forced to publicly validate your womanhood.

[via tomas palmero's wiretap blog] "Sports writer Dave Zirin wrote about it for The Nation. He said (of the testing), 'It's antiquated, stigmatizing and says far more about those doing the testing than about the athletes tested.'"

via blacklooks:

The IAAF’s decision to force Caster Semenya to undergo a “gender verification test” is an example of erroneous spectacle based on binary fixations which feed into the misappropriation of a person’s actual gender identity. This should not be used as an indicator of what a persons identity is. The Guardian report “Caster Semenya wins 800m gold but cannot escape gender controversy” illustrates both racism and rigid perceptions of gender….

Standing in lane four alongside Britain’s diminutive Jenny Meadows – whose bronze medal was inevitably overshadowed by the hysteria tonight – Semenya’s notably developed frame was further exaggerated.

The inference is that Caster Semenya’s muscular body type, not being “diminutive”, is not female never mind feminine. However the so called “diminutive” body of Jenny Meadows is equally muscular. The only significant difference is that Ms Meadows is white with long wavy blond hair. They are after all athletes. The illation is that Jenny Meadows is female whereas Caster Semenya isn’t. This is outrageous.