The Informer

3 May 2018

Why is it okay to make any athletes take drugs to lower their testosterone? Ethics and Intersex Athletes

Health, Media, Media, News & Politics, Sexuality, Society & Culture, the informer, World News

In sport, where many competitions are separated into ‘male’ and ‘female’ categories, what defines an athlete as eligible when looking solely at their testosterone levels can create a problem. The IAAF new rules create a problem that is almost exclusively experienced by those intersex athletes wishing to compete in the female competition.

There is a belief that the main advantage male athletes have over female athletes is the level of testosterone their bodies produce during physical development. Intersex athletes often produce higher levels of testosterone than non-intersex female athletes. The argument is, therefore, that allowing intersex athletes with high testosterone levels to compete in female competition gives them an unfair advantage.

But, most elite athletes are not within the ‘normal’ range of bodies. They all have some sort of advantage over ‘normal’. We don’t ask tall basketball players to shorten their legs, why is it okay to make ANY athlete take medication to lower their testosterone levels?

Sex is the only recognized category of discrimination in sport – we acknowledge that there is a difference between male and female bodies, and we don’t make them compete against one another, because it would be unfair to female athletes. But it’s time to acknowledge

There is therefore a precedent for making rules based on sex characteristics, but, is it really creating a level playing field for all athletes to be able to compete, or creating an alienating environment where athletes who may or may not be intersex and sit outside of the presumed box that is ‘acceptable’ are left with one option, to take drugs to regulate your body to fit these guidelines, instead of being able to compete at the range that you have trained for, and lived your whole life.

Rachel Tyler Jones continues our conversations with Morgan Carpenter, Co-Executive Director of IHRA, formally OII Australia, as we look specifically at the rules that have been created that affect Caster Semenya competing. Is this discrimination? Does Caster Semenya even have an intersex variation.

It’s time we look at the ethics of creating rules and structures as well as reporting on the validity of people’s bodies who are a part of the Intersex population, and the current state of affairs regarding Caster Semenya highlights this.

This segment aired on JOY 94.9 on 3^rd May 2018.

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