Yin/Yang: An Intersexed South African Runner As Symbol Of The Universal

The militant Youth League of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) said in a statement: "Even if a test is done, the ANC YL will never accept the categorization of Caster Semenya as a hermaphrodite, because in South Africa and the entire world of sanity, such does not exist."

It is amazing that this hasn't come up before (I'm not a sports follower so I don't really know if it has come up before). There are people in the world who are intersexed and transgendered - it isn't that uncommon. The difference is that they usually aren't tested to the degree that Caster Semenya has been and then blasted all over the mainstream media. There are also many people with non-normal ranges of hormones, on both sides of the equation. Sadly, many people in these situations don't find out until another medical issues come to light. It can cause long-standing problems in both personal and professional lives.

In some cultures, over the millennia, inter-sexed people have even been revered as shamans and holy people - they are closer to the ideal of a balanced, universal soul. Think of the Yin/Yang symbol. We all know it. It means 'balance' - male/female balance. Look at the picture above. This is Shiva and Shakti, the male and female representation of God/Goddess in India. Both are a manifestation of 'One Spirit'. It is actually an ideal way of being that is sought after by those who would attain enlightenment.

Being more balanced in this way (not being 'excessively' female or male) has its benefits. Often in many relationships the woman can be overly 'feminine'. She may not be willing to do any of the traditionally 'male' role model jobs like change a tire or take out the garbage. Some men refuse to cook, help with cleaning or change a diaper.

Sticking to gender defined roles like this is constraining to a person's personal growth and development. It can mean that you give up a large portion of yourself that needs to learn balance and a universal fairness. When a woman gives away the power that represent the male side of herself she can fall into life situations where she is controlled, abused and kept quiet. When she embodies only the 'fairer sex' attributes she may fall under a man's influence that is not to her benefit. When a man refuses to do 'woman's work' it can impair his intimacy skills, compassion and caring. Within reason, it is very wise to embody a bit of both worlds.

Few people are as gender neutral as Caster Semenya seems and this must simply offend some people's sensibilities. But we can never know what we don't know so just because we don't understand or don't have a complete picture of something we shouldn't demonize it or ridicule it. Yes, South Africa, and all the rest of the world, too, there is such a thing as an intersexed person. How that is treated in the world of sports is a whole other, new learning experience.

Let's hope we get creative and don't blow this one. Blessings to you Caster Semenya.

Suzie Heumann is the founder of Tantra.com. She studies, writes, has authored three books and makes films about conscious sex, Tantra and the Kama Sutra. Check out Tantra.com Premium for the most comprehensive tantra training available on the Internet!

Follow Suzie Heumann on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SuzieHeumann

Comments

[LaurieAnn]

I personally have no opinion about Ms. Semenya participating in sports. But I am glad to see that we are talking about gender in a non-binary way. Many people are uncomfortable with the thought that gender can be more than just male/female but the lack of a distinct gender should not be a threatening issue. I understand that living openly as an intersex person can be difficult as can living in any way which doesn't meet the expectations of "society at large" but we should now begin to educate ourselves and others that intersex is not something to fear.

[SpiritedSenses]

Ahhh, the ideal of a balanced, universal soul. Sex Education revisited.­.. Yes!

[luzcannon]

I am intersexed -- non-classical CAH -- and I can tell you, it is a difficult life, especially if you don't aspire to pass as "normal." To all of those who have some education, especially the author and Zoe, thank you for trying to shed some light and some scientific fact on this subject. To those of you who think a little extra testosterone makes her male -- please effing READ what zoe has to say. I have FOUR times the average amount of testosterone for a female, not from barely-functioning testes but from hyper-functioning adrenal glands, and I'm just a shade stronger than most women, but then again I work it, and most women (or men) don't train as hard as I. Those that do are as strong or stronger than I, so the T doesn't make that damn much difference. If it did, Ms. Semenya would never lose, would hold the world record, and run in roughly the same times as the men, none of which is the case. If she'd lost that race we would have never heard of any of this.

[jozzie]

Yes, we who have a knowledge of history and other cultures understand that hermaphroditism has had many different reactions through the ages.

At this point in our prposterously hyper-moralistic age, who cares anymore about what gender is or isn't.

BUT when you are an athlete, competing for an organization (The Olympics) which DOES have gender rules, it is not nice to try to cheat the system.

South Africa's Olympic organization is at fault here. They knew they had an advantage with Semenya. They attempted to game the system and this is the fall out. At the very least, they should have counseled Semenya on the risks of going onto such a public stage.

Now they're claiming as much innocence as Semenya's village is. I don't buy any of it. Semenya is obviously NOT entirely a woman. Semenya is not entirely a man. You play in the spotlight and you can get burned.

[RustyCannon]

I understand that it has long been a practice in the U.S. for doctors to make a guess upon the birth of an hermaphrodite and immediately perform gender assignment surgery on them. I also understand that in cases where the doctor made the wrong choice, it has lead to lives of pain for the individuals. Now some of them can be corrected through gender reassignment surgery... if they have the means.

[pinkballoon]

This is a comment about the "Spiritual Sex" series of articles, not about this article in particular.

Might I humbly request a "Secular Sex" series? Or were other articles about sex just assumed to be secular by default?

I've got nothing against anybody who loves the "Spiritual" series--if you love the series, that's fine. My complaint might only be an aesthetic one: I like the issues raised by the "Spiritual" series, but I try reading them and I trip across the religious stuff that I flee from in the first place. I'm aware that some of the authors are trying to stretch the meaning of spirituality to include experiences I have (emotions, identifications, etc.), but being too inclusive can be a bad thing if it homogenizes, if it steamrolls over difference. I'm an atheist, and even if your religion / spirituality welcomes atheists I am still not interested in being "included.­" Thank you for holding the door open, but I'm not interested in walking inside. I'm not interested in a balanced life: I have OCD and I love it very much.

What am I asking for? Secular sex need not be sex minus tantra jargon, as though dropping the language would grate on me less while being a mere absence. An optimistically existentialist viewpoint could imbue sex with as much meaning: without an ultimate, introductory, or universal source for meaning, people can still produce meaningfulness for themselves. How? And in what ways? These questions remain open for exploration.

[jozzie]

Meaning = story = myth. That's the way the human brain woks. Or should I say, our human consciousness works. Who know just how brain and consciousness intersect.

I've always marveled at the self-delusion of the spirituality buffs -- either touting a particular religion or some vague universal creed.

I've also wondered deeply at the self-delusion of atheist existential types who actually think they've escaped the stories and visual games our minds play ceaselessly. Even the most attenuated form of Buddhism -- Zen -- doesn't make such claims. It admits all you can do is watch the movie.

We all believe something.

[onwisconsin]

No we do not.

[tiburonita42]

As much as I am disgusted by how the gender testing of Caster has tainted her athletic achievement I have to make a comment of this particular article. She isn't gender neutral. She has chosen to identify as female. Hence, she can hardly be a spokesperson for the intersexed

[Zoe Brain]

Most Intersexed people identify as either male or female. Only about one in ten don't.

I think it's wonderful that we don't have to have any opinions - others tell us what they must be, just as they tell us what sex we are. It's so liberating to be arrogantly commanded in this way. Why, non-Intersexed people are now speaking for us as well, saving us the bother! We must be truly grateful.

NOT.

I can't speak for all IS people, I can only speak for me. But on support sites, the anger is growing. Anger that this 18 year old girl has suffered "rape by media". Angry that those with various agendas take it upon themselves to speak for us. Angry at the way many of us were mutilated by well-meaning but ignorant surgeons, shortly after our birth. Angry at the forced castrations. Angry at the Ignorance, the "XY is male, XX is female, End of Story" mentality.

Anger is an energy: and we're using it to help IS children today, even though we may not be able to help ourselves. But as you can tell from the tone of this post, there's a teeny bit left over.

[ladydragon]

Zoe Brain: I'm so angry about the way the media handled this whole thing. the young woman and man that was on CNN when reporting the news on Saturday were just absolutely gleeful while reporting the test result, their fake concern just oozed through the tv. I hope that Caster finds peace and support from her family and those around her that love her.

[seattle music]

I wish her a long, happy, peaceful life being just who she is.

However, being just who she is, there is no way for her to fairly compete in women's athletics.

Her destiny lies down a different path.

[brooklyncitizen]

It may work for Shiva-Shakti but it's really been cruel to subject her to this.

[janeycat]

if her testosterone levels are so high does that make her mostly male?to much testosterone is the same as dopeing.
if she takes HRT will she become more femenine? she would get curvier and develope some b@@bs.she has female parts,her parients raised her as a girl.
if she is more femenine i bet she still could beat all of those girls...
just saying all that everyone is thinking..­..people take the games very seriously.­i dont watch sports so i dont know how it would be done...i just wonder????

[elatas]

She does not have female organs hence the word hermaphrodite is incorrect. She has internal testes and 3x a female's testosterone level. So she will never menstruate and should be considered as male. Unfortunately, when the gender is not clear at birth, the doctor makes the decision.

[bjefrz]

Your logic doesn't hold up, she can't have a period and is therefore male?!? So any young woman who will never have a period, due to some physical difference, is actually male?

Perhaps she shouldn't be allowed to compete as a woman. But that doesn't make her a man.

[sunnybunny]

I was wondering the same thing. From what I understand, she has a serious hormonal disorder, so wouldn't HRT (or something like that) be the answer to her "disability"? Also maybe an eyebrow wax might look good. Obviously she didn't do it on purpose, so should it be held against her? Also, if she goes on the pill or whatever and balances out her hormones, could she compete then? I once knew a man who was in the process of changing into a woman and the hormones he took really caused a drastic change.

[Badbone]

You stated: "There are people in the world who are intersexed and transgendered - it isn't that uncommon."

Actually, it is *incredibly* uncommon. According to the American College of Surgeons, it's 0.018%.

That is a looong way from common.

[Zoe Brain]

By their definition, requiring ambiguous genitalia, Ms Semanya isn't Intersexed, she's female.

By everyone else's definition, a body neither 100% male nor 100% female, it's not 0.018%, it's 1.7%. One in Sixty.

Source: Ann Fausto-Stirling's "Sexing the Body", the standard reference work on the subject..

[kankan]

This is proof that the human beings are becoming less intelligent. Blame it on global warming, Middle East wars, poor drinking water, and whatever else. As the journalists are seeking to report on shocking stories to sell more news on paper or via Internet, the tragedy here is not that there cannot be a gender classification of this athlete, but that the lack of due diligence and accountability of the committees, organizations, coaches, and athletic officials of whom were involved cannot get it together. As a result, we have a person who is construed under the one of the worst case scenarios for civil rights as a human being. Her hopes and dreams of becoming a professional athlete slandered and squandored because of a ridiculous accusation. Pathetic.

[curiousasheck]

Well since your using a spiritual slant in this piece let me add my own and say sure but this is only seeing the reality at the surface level and material perspective. From the spiritual perspective one comes to realize (eventually) they are neither male or female but pure Spirit inhabiting a suit of flesh which is the only way pure spirit can express itself outwardly in this "bio sphere".

The bottom line is we are still stuck in a pattern of competition, and all the so called rewards it offers, which are really distractions (temptations) from those things that we should be doing. Which is progressing toward and enlightened aged where our perspectives are focused on things that truly matter. Job number one is simply caring about other human beings, or putting those less fortunate ahead of your own selfish interests so they can just have a decent life. Let's master that first.

In the end if anything this whole event reveals the whole biased, greedy, and selfish nature of competition and those who organize and promote it to begin with.

[lesannbar]

Oh, please. There is nothing wrong with healthy competition. If I had trained for an athletic event, and found that one of the athletes had a distinct advantage over me, I would be p!ssed. Do you live in a hut with no running water, no electricity, etc? Because if you don't, you have been guilty of some type of competitiveness - either with yourself or others.

The fact is that this athlete had an unfair advantage over the others, period. That is why most sports attempt to ban steroids.

[BassMonk]

Great post. Thank you.

[yorkriver1]

This story brings up a matter that has two components. 1. what physical factors make one more male or more female and what means of testing would be fair to determine who can compete as male or female.
2. how shall this particular contestant be treated, including sensitivity to the difficult lives some intersexed people no doubt lead.
I agree, the book "Intersex", which I have only read in part, does deal with the usually unknown or publicly discussed world of those with indeterminate sex characteristics.
There seem to be no easy answers. In fairness, we do need to work on answers to who can compete as male or female.