Hobart and William Smith Colleges

23 September 2009 Redick Comments on Semenya Testing

Alison Redick, assistant professor of womens studies, was recently interviewed by FoxNews.com for a report on the gender testing of Caster Semenya, the South African woman who recently excelled at the IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Berlin.

According to the report, Gender tests conducted on 18-year-old track sensation Caster Semenya have determined that the South African woman has both male and female sexual characteristics, Australias Daily Telegraph is reporting.

FoxNews.com reports, Redick notes the case poses the question, What standards are we using for sex and gender? Given that testosterone is not an exclusively male hormone both male and female bodies produce testosterone and estrogen where do we draw the line? And trying to draw that line is always going to be a problem, regardless of what someones biology indicates, she said.

Redick earned a Ph.D. in American studies at New York University. At Hobart and William Smith Colleges she teaches a variety of womens studies courses, including Introduction to Womens Studies, Feminist Theory, and the Politics of Health. Her major areas of research are health studies and medical history, especially the history of hormone research and the American eugenics movement.

In addition, she has a background in studies of race and ethnicity in the U.S., feminist theory and epistemology, and science studies. In 1996, Redick co-edited and contributed to a collection of essays on AIDS activism titled Policing Public Sex: Queer Politics and the Future of AIDS Activism. She is currently completing a manuscript titled American History XY: The Medical Treatment of Intersex, 1916-1955. She is also co-editing a collection of essays on contemporary intersex studies with the Dutch historian Geertje Mak. Redicks next research project is titled The Science of Identity: Intersections of Endocrinology and the American Eugenics Movement.

The full story from FoxNews.com follows.

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FoxNews.com
Report: Champion Runner Has Both Female, Male Sexual Characteristics
FOXNews.coms Karlie Pouliot and the Associated Press September 11, 2009

Gender tests conducted on 18-year-old track sensation Caster Semenya have determined that the South African woman has both male and female sexual characteristics, Australias Daily Telegraph is reporting.

Semenya blew away the competition at last months IAAF World Track & Field Championships in Berlin. But the runners stunning times, coupled with her muscular build and deep voice, led many to question whether she was, in fact, a woman.

The International Association of Athletics Federations, the governing body of international track and field, ordered gender tests on Semenya that involved a physical medical evaluation and reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, internal medicine specialist and gender expert.

The Telegraph, citing an unidentified source, reported that they indicate that Semenya is intersex, with both male and female sexual characteristics. The tests reportedly show that Semenya has no uterus or ovaries, and that she has three times more testosterone than a normal woman.

A source closely involved with the IAAF tests said Semenya had internal testes the male sexual organs that produce testosterone, according to the Telegraph.

According to the National Institutes of Health, intersex, once referred to as hermaphroditism, is a group of conditions where there is a discrepancy between the external genitals and the internal genitals (the testes and ovaries).

Alison Redick, assistant professor of womens studies and a medical historian at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., said this is the kind of case that poses the question: What standards are we using for sex and gender?

Given that testosterone is not an exclusively male hormone both male and female bodies produce testosterone and estrogen where do we draw the line? Redick asked. And trying to draw that line is always going to be a problem, regardless of what someones biology indicates.

As of Friday, The IAAF refused to confirm or deny the reports and said it is reviewing the test results and will not issue any final decision on her gold medal until November at their meeting in Monaco.

Semenyas father, Jacob, expressed anger when contacted by The Associated Press on Friday, saying people who insinuate his daughter is not a woman are sick. They are crazy.

Gender testing used to be mandatory for female athletes at the Olympics, but the screenings were dropped in 1999. One reason for the change was that not all women have standard female chromosomes.

There are also cases of people who have ambiguous genitalia or other congenital conditions. The most common cause of sexual ambiguity is congenital adrenal hyperplasia, an endocrine disorder where the adrenal glands produce abnormally high levels of hormones.

FOXNews.coms Karlie Pouliot and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Click here to read more from The Daily Telegraph.