For this week’s blog entry I wanted to discuss the topic we
left off with on Tuesday discussing Cooky, Dycus, and Dworkin’s (2013) article
on “What makes a Woman a Woman?”. More recently there have been athletes in the
media that are being questioned publically on whether or not they should be
participating in female sport. The athlete in particular that I am thinking of
is Dutee Chand.
Dutee Chand is an 18-year female from India. Last summer she
participated in India’s 100-meter race and proceeded to win the race. After
this she was barred from competing against women because people had questions
about her gender. Chand has a medical condition called hyperandrogenism, which
in a female produces higher levels of testosterone than the typical female. As
a response to this condition, Chand is currently not able to compete for her
country. The only way that she will be allowed to compete is if she begins
hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) and raises her estrogen levels to that of the
typical female range. Chand does not want to do this because she is happy and
comfortable in the body that she is in. I feel that she has that right and that
the rules against her are unfair.
This brings me to where we left off in class, would this
gender questioning ever have taken place if Chand had never won that race? I think
the answer is no. When you look at pictures of Chand she looks like a typical
runner or comparable to her Indian teammates. There is nothing aesthetically
that really reads as “male” compared to others around her, so the fact that her
gender was not in question until after she won a race raises a red flag.
I think that this is a bigger issue than just focusing on
Dutee Chand. As a society, the fact that we gender test, I think is a little embarrassing.
The process athletes have to go through has to be traumatizing and in many cases,
like Chand, they suffer from a condition that is out of their control. It does
not make them any less female. While we know that testosterone does give added
benefits to female performance, taking away all of an athlete’s participation or
giving them an ultimatum seems unfair. I think athletics at the international
level needs to reevaluate gender testing.
Here is a link to the article about Dutee Chand and her response to the sanctions placed against her.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/07/sports/sprinter-dutee-chand-fights-ban-over-her-testosterone-level.html?_r=1
Here is a link to the article about Dutee Chand and her response to the sanctions placed against her.
Campbell,
ReplyDeleteI am really glad you brought up Dutee Chand. I think this is a horrible issue and it needs to be discussed further. I believe that Chand should be able to represent her country and be proud of her accomplishments not shamed because of them. I hadn't heard about this previously and it makes me mad that she is not able to compete because of something she has no control over. She shouldn't have to be subject to changing her body just to compete. She was not taking performance enhancement drugs so she should not be punished. I believe that in this case she should be allowed to compete. Also, I agree with you when you say she probably wouldn't have been investigated if she hadn't won. People look for ways to bring down those who shine. It is very sad especially when it has to do with someones body an a condition that they cannot help. I am glad Chand is sticking up for herself and not caving to those bringing her down. I also agree that gender testing needs to be reevaluated.
Maddy
Campbell,
ReplyDeleteYour post is very interesting, and it definitely correlates to our class discussions. This is my first time hearing about Dutee Chand and her story. It’s a very unfortunate situation. You asked the question would this gender questioning have taken place if Chand had won the race. I agree with you, and I believe it would not have happened. After reading the article you posted, I really feel bad for Dutee. It was her dream to run, and now her dreams have been halted. Her coaches back home have been encouraging her to agree to have surgery so that she can return to competition. She says she always answers: “Why surgery? I’m not sick!” She didn’t do anything wrong. She wasn’t injected with hormones. Can you really blame her for being born in the body she is in? Dutee and Semenya are in the same boat. I’m glad she is fighting for justice. Dutee is staying positive about the situation, but it will be very unfortunate if she is unable to compete because she was able to help her family a great deal financially. Great post!
Campbell-
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this issue was only raised to question because she won. Every NCAA National Champion is required to take a drug test after he or she wins their competition. I know that they are different circumstances but I feel that once somebody wins others try to find a way to bring them down.
This was a great story to read about. I wish that I was able to make it to class on Tuesday to hear the discussion that took place. It is great to see the mindset that Dutee has had through all of it. I hope that she is able to compete in the future like she has earned the right to.
Hi Cam,
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing this to our attention! I had never heard of this case before, and it is quite interesting. I agree as well, that it was only brought up because she won, and I felt the same way about Caster Semenya. If either of them got last place, did not gain points, or didn't podium, then no one would have cared. I feel bad for anyone that has to go through this, because it's simply not fair. Requiring Dutee to undergo hormone-replacement treatments isn't fair, because like you said, this is a medical condition and she hasn't done anything wrong. She shouldn't have to change herself and her body in order to compete in a sport that she loves. I feel quite bad for Dutee, however I am inspired by her positivity, and hopes that her attitude remains the way it currently is. Hopefully something will change, and she will be able to properly compete for her country in the future.
Thank you for posting,
Jackie
Cam,
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is very unjust, but I do see why it raises the issue of fairness seeing as her increased levels of testosterone can be an advantage. I also believe that she should be allowed to continue to compete for her country without going through hormonal therapy for something that is out of her control. I am, however, unsure how the IOC can create a policy that would suffice athletes who are born with hyperandrogenism syndrome, along with athletes without it, both mentally and physically, but most importantly—emotionally.
I was shocked to see that there was a controversy in regards to her performance level, because she appears very feminine. In the opening paragraph of the link you posted, The New York Times describes her characteristics of femininity, including: her hair (and how much she loves it), her “toned” biceps, and the idea that she wear a “tank top” to show them off. This could be considered “masculine,” but they used the word “toned,” which is an ideal characteristic for females to obtain to have what society views as, at least within the United States, a “perfect body.” Overall, I feel as if Chand should be able to compete without hormonal therapy.
Thank you for sharing this Campbell. It would seem the majority of us had not heard of this story before. I certainly fall within that group.
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you that Chand’s gender would not have come into question were it not for her success. An unfortunate fact in our society is that when someone finds success and happiness there will always be those who want to take it from them.
Putting aside my personal opinion on the gender testing, stories such as Chand’s and Semenya’s bring a particular issue to mind for me. At some point this controversy will crest and it will be interesting to see if gender testing is done away with entirely or administered across the board for all athletes in a given sport.
Campbell,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic and one that will probably be an issue for years to come. There are a variety of ways to look at this topic. As a coach, our staff always talks about "taking the emotion out of the decision." I think this is a situation where that has to be done. From a competitive standpoint, decision makers in this process have to ask themselves, from a scientific standpoint, if Chand has a competitive advantage. If Chand has a competitive advantage because of her condition, I feel actions have to be taken.
Making Chand go through these tests, and essentially be used as an example, can be emotionally taxing. But, as stated above, decision makers must make a decision based on scientific research and the opportunity of competitive advantage.
Derek Shay
Cam,
ReplyDeleteBefore reading your post, I had never heard of Dutee Chand. I don't know exactly how big of a news story her situation was, but I keep up to date on a lot of sporting news and am surprised that I had not heard of her. I looked in to her story, specifically the article you linked in your post and am actually disturbed by her treatment.
I agree with you that she does not look masculine, or any different than her teammates from what pictures I could find. She does not exhibit even the level of masculine traits that Caster Semenya, the female runner that we spoke of in class. It does not make sense that because a runner wins a race, they automatically become a focus of gender testing and hormone testing. She is a female athlete at the highest level of her competition, and she is expected to be great at what she does "naturally" in terms of training and not being on steroids or other performance enhancing drugs. I don't see why her natural balance (or imbalance) of testosterone and estrogen should be a reason to disqualify her from all competition!
She made it this far in all her years of training and competing without question, so how does it come up now as a major issue? That is such a confusing way to go about things.
Joey Durant
Cam,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your sharing the story about Dutee Chand. The article you posted is incredible. I will definitely use it in future Sport & Gender classes and maybe also in a class on ethics. To me what they are asking her to do is social engineering. You cannot say that someone has to change the body they were born with to fit a category that is arbitrary in the first place! Isn't that the same thing that golf did with the "born as female" classification that was required? This only reveals how arbitrary testosterone is in differentiating males and females. The problem is (in my mind) that there is no 'essential' male or female. That's really what Judith Butler says, as I read Gender trouble and Bodies that matter. It's just like trying to limit race to black and white, but we know that race is not a category that can be understood in binary terms.
Thanks again for sharing this provocative story.
Dr. Spencer