South African runner Caster Semenya is under investigation for her gender. The 18-year-old track and fielder won the 800-meter Women's gold medal at the World Athletics Championship in Berlin yesterday. Semenya won with a record-breaking 1 minute, 55.54 seconds. That's beyond impressive. I ran the 800-meter in high school and couldn't break 2 minutes and 10 seconds. But here's where things get salty: Semenya is allegedly taking a gender verification test. Yeah, gender verification is apparently the new racial profiling in some corners. A few weeks ago Track and Field authorities took note of Semenya's vast improvement from her last meet. They also noted her increased muscular build and baritone voice and decided she didn't fit the criteria for a girl. I'm sorry, but this is what I call "loud and crazy."
The verification test requires reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and gender expert. This is abominable in so many ways. Why can't she be a girl? Humanity, as a whole, is stuck in stupid. If a man isn't six feet tall and or can hammer through a mountain like John Henry then he's not really a man. If a woman doesn't wear a size 5 shoe or have the body of Eartha Kitt or Beyonce she's not really a woman. Semenya has a six-pack and ripped arms. So what. Does that mean she has to be the poster child for gender purification? I saw a man on the subway recently with glaring man breasts and I didn't question if he was a legitimate member of the male race. I'm not sure what the Semenya's verification test will conclude. Maybe they'll decide she's a hermaphrodite from Planet XXY. And hey, if that's the case, it's okay. She can run like nobody's business. Now if Semenya is taking steroids, then, I'll shut up. Until then…
Thoughts?
BREAKING NEWS: Semenya's birth certificate published.
Keith Josef Adkins is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter and social commentator.