Reply #8: The exchange of ideas is a wonderful thing. Fortunately, we don't have to agree.

[Duncan Grant]

I thought the article was interesting, especially this:

If Semenya's biology is not "normal," it's worth asking, what world-class athlete does have a normal body?

No one brands Shaquille O'Neal abnormal because he is seven feet tall. Michael Phelps, as was remarked by breathless Olympics commentators, has unusually large and flat feet that act like flippers in a pool. Usain Bolt has a stride that allows him to cover an insane amount of ground in only a few steps.

As Tommy Craggs of Deadspin writes, "Great athletes tend not to come from the vast middle of human life. They're all freaks in one way or another.... But Semenya has nevertheless been portrayed as some lone oddity on the margins, like some Elephant Man of sports, with everyone obsessing like Victorian scientists over the presence of a couple internal testicles. It's funny: People seem to think her very weirdness is grounds enough for stripping her of her medal and drumming her out of track. But this is sports. Her weirdness is perfectly normal."

Regarding the offensiveness of the identifier "hermaphrodite": I work with LGBTQQI people everyday; local custom in SF is to use intersex -- never hermaphrodite. Obviously, it's anecdotal. I'm sure word usage is different in other areas.

Again, the real value for me (today) is the exchange of ideas. Great to hear from you! :hi: