Caster Semenya

For those of you in America, you may not have heard about Caster Semenya, the South African runner who recently broke a world record for the 800 meter at this year's world championships in Berlin.

Unfortunately, if you know even that much about her, you probably also know about the controversy surrounding her...the fact that her sex is being called into question, and people are claiming that she is not eligible to run because she is not a woman.

First of all, as we discussed in my media class, people need to start getting terminology right, and they need to understand important distinctions. Most articles speak about her "gender" and how she isn't a "woman." Gender is not something you can test. Well, I guess it is, but it'd be a pretty simple test, you'd simply ask her, "Are you a man or a woman?" and whatever she responds with, that's what gender she is. Gender is simply a construct...a Western construct, at that. Sex is your biological traits, and even our thoughts on that are flawed. We are stuck in the belief that there are only 2 sexes, and that they are 100% correlated with our genders. This is simply not true. Some people are born with a XX chromosomes, but they feel like men, or they're born with XY chromosomes, but feel like women. That's not the only case though, as some people are born with XXY chromosomes, or XXX chromosomes.

Why are we so stuck on categorizing people and making sure they fit our stereotypes? In my class, people were suggesting that she has "masculine" traits, so they should investigate her. Excuse me? What exactly are "masculine" traits? Do all men suddenly look alike? Are they all exactly the same? Bill Clinton and I probably share more traits than he and Shaq do...but they're both men. We really need to reaccess what defines people and with which criteria we should judge them by.

If it is found that Caster is not "fully" female (explanation in this article), should she be disqualified from the race? I think not. Many other athletes have "deformities," yet they're still allowed to compete. Lance Armstrong has an abnormally enlarged heart and lengthened femur bones, and Michael Phelps has relatively large feet and double-jointed ankles...so should we disqualify them from competitions? Of course these "deformities" give them advantage-- but is that really the only thing that makes them good athletes? No, of course not. They work hard to be in the shape that they're in-- why would we disqualify for something they were born with? The same should apply to Caster.

And for goodness sake, back off of the poor girl. She's 18 years old and she likes to run. Let her! Stop insulting her by saying things like you "can see her Adam's Apple." And start getting terminology correct.

But most of all, have some respect for her dignity. No matter what you think she is, she is first and foremost still a human.

And it wears me out, it wears me out.

"It wears me out, it wears me out
And if I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted
All the time, all the time"
-Radiohead, "Fake Plastic Trees"

Wow, was this a long, long week. Where should I start? Well, Brett was diagnosed with cancer early in the week, and he was sent home on Tuesday night. I hung out with his mom on Wednesday and showed her the Origins Center (and by that I mean Matt gave her a tour. I just tagged along and had some tea with her in Cafe Fino afterward). But I've gotten a few messages from him and he's keeping his spirits up, and he's responding pretty well to treatment it sounds like, so that's also good. We had an IHRE (that's the name of my program, FYI) get together and we talked about his condition and just kind of relaxed after the hectic week. Sarah G., Neo, and I made signs for Brett's picture.

(Please note that the exclamation point is all by itself. Also; this was the "goofy" picture, so the "we" is upside down.)

That was on Friday evening, and after that I had planned on just relaxing, but my friend Andre kidnapped me and told me I was going ice skating. So...I went ice skating. They wanted to know if I had ever gone ice skating before...fortunately, the Pettit is about a mile from my house. I used to be pretty good, but it's been a long time since I've gone. Luckily since I'm going home in winter, I'll be able to skate at home some more, because I do like skating.

Me and Maria tearin' the place apart.

On Saturday, I was invited to go play paintball with my friend Ori. We went all the way up to Pretoria to go...which I initially thought was very far away, but it turns out it's only about 50 km (about 30 miles) away from Johannesburg. It reaffirmed what I learned last week after going to the Lion Park (which was explained to me to be quite a distance away), that distances here are not seen the same way I would see them. I'd say Carnivore and the Lion Park are about as far as...maybe Germantown is from 'Stallis, or if you're one of my Iowa friends, about Pella to Pleasant Hill. So not that bad to us, but transportation is very different here, since fewer people have access to cars, and petrol (gas) is much more expensive. But anyway, Pretoria is about 30 miles away. It's very Afrikaaner there. Johannesburg is much more English...you could definitely tell by the street signs, since the Pretoria had much more Afrikaans names.

But the best part...paintball. I played a few games with Ori's friends for someone's 21st birthday (it's funny, 21st birthdays are a big deal here, but they can start drinking at 18, so I'm not sure what the big fuss is for the 21st here). I had a lot of fun playing paintball, even though I've got welts now...or as I like to call them, battle scars. It was interesting because they were much more lax on rules than what I'm used to for paintball...for example, people can drink on the course. If they even think you've had something to drink at the paintball place I usually play at, they'll kick you out. Crazy. But, I guess America is a bit more lawsuit happy than South Africa.

One of the puppies of the dog that hangs around the paintball place.

I did get to play with the puppies there after we played paintball, and I got to enjoy a braai. I had some chicken and some vors (which is basically sausage)...quite good. I had a ton of fun, it was awesome...or as they say in SA, it was totally lekker. :) I exchanged lingo with some of Ori's friends. I'm basically a South African already.

Oh, and holding the puppy was good practice for the new niece or nephew that I'm going to have in a few months! My brother's girlfriend is due on March 22nd. I'm quite excited! :)

So, I'll leave you on that positive note and go watch some episodes of House. Goodybye, my chinas!

Karma

This is why I don't believe in karma.

From Africa - Wits Rural

I do not subscribe to the "Just World" theory.

Belief is a beautiful armor

"Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword
Like punching under water
You never can hit who you're trying for"
-John Mayer, "Belief"

Had a pretty good weekend. A great source of stress started on Friday, but I'm not gonna go into that just yet. I went to Rosebank (mall) with Tiara and my Gender professor, Shatema, and they showed me a fantastic restaurant (Prima Piatti) that has very good drinks...so I ended up going there Saturday night and trying the Raspberry Teapot. (Hint: it's not only tea.) I also got my hair cut on Friday, and then on Saturday I went back to Rosebank for a lot of random stuff. Ended up getting Erik a camera, some new clothes, some food, contact lens stuff, and probably some other things that I'm forgetting in my current delirious state.

Raspberry Teapot from Primi Piatti's in Rosebank, by the Zone. Highly alcoholic, highly recommended.

Sunday was the most fantastic day ever. Ameet took Matt and me to the Lion and Rhino Park just outside of Jo'burg, and we got to see TONS of animals (brown lions, white lions, Siberian and Bengal tigers, Wildebeest, ostriches, rhinos, snakes, leopards, cheetahs, etc.). It was way cool. We even got to watch the animals being fed and we got to play with baby lions (white and brown), and then a cheetah. It was so cool. :)

Playing ball with a baby lioness

This upcoming week is going to be very difficult for me for many reasons, but I just need to remember why I'm doing what I'm doing, and that should help me get through all this.

Anyway, right now I need to sleep. If you'd like to see my pictures from the Lion and Rhino park, check out my album: http://picasaweb.google.com/sarah.moglia/LionAndRhinoPark#

Good day with good people :)

Wow :)

I just wanted to once again say that the love, support, and encouragement from people is truly overwhelming and humbling. I'm still surprised every time someone tells me that they know/knew I'd "go far in life" and that I would really "become something." Especially due to the fact that I don't think I've become anything yet. Regardless, thank you to everyone who's supported me or enouraged me throughout this process. You're doing more good than you know.

Every so often, it hits me that I'm really here and I'm really doing this. It's really eye-opening to realize things like ubuntu and how I'm affecting other people, but to also realize that I'm still very young, and honestly, kind of just a bug on the earth...but everyone is. I know they're kind of contradictory ideas, but I realize that I can both make a difference in the world, but still be just one tiny person (literally and metaphorically, ha ha).

This is my life, and I hope I'm living it right. :)

Thank you once again.