Panel Interview Discussions

Starting this project a few months ago, I did not know what to expect. I have learned so much during the process of this project. My eyes were opened to something I did not even know existed. Before the interview, I was a little nervous. Once I got out there, the environment changed. The interviewers were very welcoming. I felt very comfortable discussing my topic with them. I really enjoyed this experience. I think doing a blog and an interview is an excellent idea. I really like how we got to write in a way that other teachers do not let us. The blog and interview is something out of the box. I think writers in the future will have an advantage if they write in many different forms instead of doing the same thing all the time. I did struggle with emailing a professional because I never got a response out of anyone. A solution might be to let them get a head start and tell them about the final project being an email at the beginning of the start so they can start contacting people then. This experience was the best in any of my English classes so far. The interview was a great experience also. I really got an eye opening experience and maybe people in the future will too.

Top 5 MGP

MGP 1: Magazine Article

Now that it is time for the Olympic Games again, many can recall the scandalous accusations brought up concerning Caster Semenya. In 2009, Caster Semenya won the gold medal in the women's 800-meter, but the win was eclipsed by the gender questions, and her competitors complained she should not have been allowed to compete.

Caster Semenya, the winner of a women's world championship medal competing in the sport of track has been the target of many gender testing debates. Many dispute whether the testing is useful or being misused. Ms. Semenya was even revealed to the rest of the world by her own nation. Now many people all over the world are questioning her genitalia, not to mention her track racing career is most likely over.

Ms. Semenya is irreproachable. She has become the victim of a victim less crime. She will now spend every waking moment, of every waking day feeling responsible in a way that she absolutely is not. (Anaphora) But who is to blame? If the tables were turned, how would the doctors who are now pointing fingers feel? Would the doctors feel as if they are responsible and to be blamed for how they were born? If we were placed in Ms. Semenya’s shoes, we would know exactly how badly the accusations would hurt.

The public has been vicious regarding this matter. People are curious about what happens to someone else. Curiosity leads to exploration. Exploration leads to investigation. Investigation leads to obsession. (Anadiplosis) The public along with the doctors, seemed almost obsessed with ruining Semenya's career.

While Ms. Semenya is the prey of the public, the doctors, and the sports officials, I see Caster as a role model. She not only won the race, but she won over the hearts of many people. After Semenya was cleared to run against women, she was chosen to carry the South African flag at the opening ceremony for the 2010 London Olympic Games.

In 2010, when Semenya was cleared to run against women, I can only imagine how she felt. I am sure she was relieved, but did she feel the need to continue her love for running, or did she let the accusations cut her running career short? Even though many were out to get her, Ms. Semenya should feel pride in her accomplishments thus far. I am unsure of the plans and goals she has yet to obtain, but I wouldn't put continuing to race past Caster Semenya. Ms. Semenya hasn't let the public conceal her talent. Caster Semenya lives to run, and runs to live. (Antimetabole) She isn't always going to let the public hold her down. Her light was made to shine.

MGP 2: Journal Entry

Women with abnormally high levels of testosterone are diagnosed with a condition known as hyperandroganism. The International Olympic Committee has a proposal on a new rule concerning sex substantiation. The IOC is considering banning women with hyperandrogenism from competing in women's sports. The IOC claims women with an unusually high level of testosterone have an unfair advantage against the other women competing. The IOC depicts this new rule as a fair compromise. Many people agree the rules should be fair and as just as possible, but I don't see how this proposal is fair. High levels of testosterone can depend on many factors: the time of day, the time of life, social status, and one's history in athletic training. If the results from the test prove hyperandrogenism is the case, then suspension should not be the answer. The woman should still be allowed to compete in any competitions before the results are pronounced. When the result  is announced, the woman's rights have been violated and her confidentiality will be breached.

There is not a law of science that states successful athletes have a higher testosterone level than less successful athletes.Testosterone will more than likely improve a person's athletic performance, but testosterone levels do not determine who will perform better in competitions. Everybody reacts to testosterone differently. The way it affects one person may not be the way it affects someone else.

For the athletic world to get a clear answer about who is qualified to compete or not, the public should take matters into their own hands and quit relying solely on scientists. A professor of physical education and kinesiology at the University of Toronto, Bruce Kidd, also a former contender in the Olympic games, believes an athlete, or anyone for that matter, has a right to privacy, identification of one's self, and integrity. "If the proclaimed human right of self-expression is to mean anything, surely it should protect the right to name one's own gender," Kidd justifiably states.

I do not see the justice or dignity in bashing other competitors based on genetics or the results of a test. To name one's own gender would spark up an even bigger argument because of the competitiveness of sports, such as guys knowing they have an advantage over women, but women should not be banned because a condition they were born with.

MGP 3: Novel Excerpt

She is only a few yards away from the finish line where she would be named a champion.  Competing for the gold in the women’s 800-meter, she sprinted her fastest yet! Unwavering, she is so close she can taste the victory. She caught a glimpse of her opponent not far behind; slowly gaining the distance that separates their vigorously perspiring bodies. She has trained her whole life for this moment; she can’t let her opponent triumph, leaving her head hanging in shame. She must take this win.

            Now even closer, only seconds remain between her and that finish line, but also only seconds remain between her and her provoking opponent. She starts to doubt everything in her mind. No! She has no space to question her doubts now. She clears her head and sprints her fastest to the finish line. Victory belongs to her!

            Caster Semenya has now been declared the winner of the gold medal in the women’s 800-meter race. She felt marvelous after her successful victory. She honestly could not wait until the next race she was going to compete in. The achievement is showing on her face as she raises her trophy, leaving her smiling indefatigably. The crowd is staring intensely at Caster Semenya, the champ. She is soaking up the publicity, until an opponent yells out from the crowd, “Caster Semenya is not a woman, and she played like a man! This race should be deemed unfair.” The audience looks in awe at the woman shouting out from the crowd then looks back at Semenya. Anger rushes over Caster Semenya’s face. She looks furious.

Semenya is being scrutinized for something other than her athletic performance. Now Semenya is the guinea pig under the telescope of the International Olympic Committee as well as the public.

MGP 4: Biography

Mokgadi Caster Semenya was born in GaMasehlong, South Africa. People that live in the northernmost province of South Africa call this area Limpopo. Limpopo translates to the middle of nowhere. Small villages containing mud huts and small brick houses are all that makes Limpopo, besides the wilderness. Growing up in a small village doesn't leave much to do, therefore people around there turn to running. The Molejie Athletic Club is made up of a group of teens who join together on a dirt road for practice. Most of the teens walk half an hour through cornfields from their homes just to meet for practice. Caster was among those teenagers. The cross-country runners train through bushes that stretch for miles toward the mountains where thorns are a hindrance for the runners, especially those who train barefoot. “They run on loose stones, scraping them, making a wound, making a scar,” Sako, their trainer said, “We can't stop and say we don't have running shoes, because we don't have money. The parents don't have money. So what must we do? We just go on.” Caster, along with her colleagues, is making her coach proud. Caster Semenya is the girl known for putting the Molejie Club on records. Coach Sako called Semenya “a natural” at running. Before Semenya had left for college, she had won a medal in Pune, India, in 2008 at the Commonwealth Youth Games. Sako always told Semenya to try her best. Sako announced, “By performing the best, maybe good guys with big stomachs full of money will see her and then help her with schooling and the likes. That is the motivation. And she always tried her level best.” Semenya won another medal at the African Junior Athletics Championships in Mauritius. This event qualified Semenya for the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

Semenya won the 800 meter title in Berlin. Her win looked effortless. She moved with efficiency with an award-winning stride. "Even when we were training, I used to pair her with the males," Sako admitted. “I feel like she was too powerful for ladies.” After winning, Semenya was recorded by reporters. "Oh man, I don't know what to say. It's pretty good to win a gold medal and bring it home."  Semenya’s voice was surprisingly manly. Jacob, Semenya's father even admits when talking to her on the telephone, you might mistake her for a male. Consequently, before Semenya received the gold medal on August 20th in Berlin, a reporter asked about a story concerning Semenya’s gender. The reporter heard a story that had been going around talking about how Semenya’s sex was uncertain and how she should undergo a gender test before racing. Even Semenya’s competitors were enraged after competing, “These kind of people should not run with us,” Elisa Cusma, of Italy, who came in sixth place said. “For me, she is not a woman. She is a man.” “Just look at her,” Mariya Savinova, of Russia, who finished in fifth place, said. Semenya is unmistakably muscular. Her body is distinctly manly. She even has a masculine jawline. “What I knew is that wherever we go, whenever she made her first appearance, people were somehow gossiping, saying, ‘No, no, she is not a girl,” Phineas Sako said, “It looks like a boy’ --that’s the right words--they used to say, ‘It looks like a boy.’ Some even asked me as a coach, and I would confirm: it’s a girl. At times, she’d get upset. But, eventually, she was just used to such things.” Many times Semenya would visit the restroom with a member of a competing team so that they could look at her private parts just so they would know she is a girl and then move on with the race. Sako’s English was fluent but rough, at times he would refer to Semenya as “he.” For example, “Caster was very free when he is in the male company,” Sako said. “I remember one day I asked her, ‘Why are you always in the company of men?’ He said, ‘No, man, I don’t have something to say to girls, they talks nonsense. They are always out of order.” Everyone talked about her from this day forward. Many raised questions from the public made the IOC investigate. After many convictions and assumptions made about her gender, Semenya was cleared to race again. Semenya even went on to carry the South African flag in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Caster Semenya's life story can teach us all a lesson. There will always be obstacles in life. You must never give up and always "try your level best."

Semenya won the 800 meter title in Berlin. Her win looked effortless. She moved with efficiency with an award-winning stride. "Even when we were training, I used to pair her with the males," Sako admitted. “I feel like she was too powerful for ladies.” After winning, Semenya was recorded by reporters. "Oh man, I don't know what to say. It's pretty good to win a gold medal and bring it home."  Semenya’s voice was surprisingly manly. Jacob, Semenya's father even admits when talking to her on the telephone, you might mistake her for a male. Consequently, before Semenya received the gold medal on August 20th in Berlin, a reporter asked about a story concerning Semenya’s gender. The reporter heard a story that had been going around talking about how Semenya’s sex was uncertain and how she should undergo a gender test before racing. Even Semenya’s competitors were enraged after competing, “These kind of people should not run with us,” Elisa Cusma, of Italy, who came in sixth place said. “For me, she is not a woman. She is a man.” “Just look at her,” Mariya Savinova, of Russia, who finished in fifth place, said. Semenya is unmistakably muscular. Her body is distinctly manly. She even has a masculine jawline. “What I knew is that wherever we go, whenever she made her first appearance, people were somehow gossiping, saying, ‘No, no, she is not a girl,” Phineas Sako said, “It looks like a boy’ --that’s the right words--they used to say, ‘It looks like a boy.’ Some even asked me as a coach, and I would confirm: it’s a girl. At times, she’d get upset. But, eventually, she was just used to such things.” Many times Semenya would visit the restroom with a member of a competing team so that they could look at her private parts just so they would know she is a girl and then move on with the race. Sako’s English was fluent but rough, at times he would refer to Semenya as “he.” For example, “Caster was very free when he is in the male company,” Sako said. “I remember one day I asked her, ‘Why are you always in the company of men?’ He said, ‘No, man, I don’t have something to say to girls, they talks nonsense. They are always out of order.” Everyone talked about her from this day forward. Many raised questions from the public made the IOC investigate. After many convictions and assumptions made about her gender, Semenya was cleared to race again. Semenya even went on to carry the South African flag in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Caster Semenya's life story can teach us all a lesson. There will always be obstacles in life. You must never give up and always "try your level best."

MGP 5: Timeline

1932- Germany won 21 total medals at the Los Angeles Games.

1936- Nazi Germany competed in the Berlin Olympics. They planned on surpassing their 21 total medals that Germany won in 1932. The plan was to sneak the 'supermen' into the women’s events. The Nazis forced a young man named Hermann Ratjen to live and compete for three years as Dora Ratjen. Dora was busted while traveling in Germany after the European championships. While wearing women's clothing, Ratjen was spotted with a five o'clock shadow on his face. After summoning a doctor to check things out, Dora's real genitalia were revealed. Ratjen was expelled from competing, so he went back to living as Hermann.

1937- An article was written on the sex changes of Zdenek, Czechoslovakian runner, and Weston, British shot putter and javelin thrower. Zdenek underwent an operation that the Czecho-Slovakian government verified. The Berlin Games was the start of the "she's a man" slur. The case between sprinters Helen Stephens and Stella Walsh proves that this is still useful today:
Stella Walsh was angry about being beaten by her rival, Helen Stephens, so she hurled the line 'that's a man' at Stephens. Walsh protested that Stephens was really a man posing as a female runner, claiming that no woman could run that fast. German officials checked her out and pronounced Stephens as a female. The lead was dropped.

1960- Men passing themselves off as females led to the idea of gender verification testing.

1967- Klobukowska won a gold medal in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. She took a test in 1967. The test registered she had one chromosome too many. She ended her career as a runner.

1968- Klobukowska became pregnant and bore a son. She believed the test was mis-administered or misinterpreted.

1980- Walsh was shot while at a grocery store. The autopsy revealed Walsh had mosaicism, which meant that, chromosomally; she was mostly, but not all, male but had androgynous looks. Walsh looked like a woman. She was also raised as a woman.

 1985- Maria Patino forgot her 'Certificate of Femininity,’ which was an actual piece of paper claimimg her gender as a woman, but when she forgot the certificate she couldn’t prove she was a woman; therefore, she couldn’t race. She failed the retest. She was stripped of her medal, her records were eliminated, her scholarship revoked, her fiancé left, and she was kicked off the National team.

1988- Patino was ineligible for the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul.

2012- Caster Semenya had high levels of testosterone but a new policy would allow women with partial or complete androgen insensitivity to pass without trouble.

Works Cited

Curley, Ann J. "Expert: Gender Testing 'imperfect' for Female Athletes." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.

Guilford, Gwynn. "The Long, Strange History Of Gender Testing." The Dish. The Dish, 11 Aug. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.

Jordan-young, Rebecca, and Katrina Karkazis. "You Say You're a Woman? That Should Be Enough." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 June 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.

Levy, Ariel. "Either/Or." The New Yorker. N.p., 30 Nov. 2009. Web 16 Mar. 2014.

Wente, Margaret. "Semenya, the poster victim." Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada] 24 Sept. 2009: A17. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.