Feminism

It's amazing when you think about it. In less than 20 years South Africa has gone from racist regime to one of our planet's most enlightened countries. It's questionable how many other countries would have embraced and defended Caster Semenya the way the people and government of South Africa have. Would she have received such a welcome in, say, the US or much of Europe?

Seldom have I seen a rejoinder as plain-spoken and incisive as the ANC's to accusations that women's 800-meter world champion Caster Semenya is not a woman. I could not find or conjure up a better title for this post.

Caster Semenya earned a gold medal in Berlin yesterday by winning the 800-meter final rather handily. But, in timeworn fashion, there had to be controversy. Whenever a female athlete performs above expectations, especially if she has a muscular (often rendered artlessly as "masculine") build, you can bet there will be questions. Other recent victims of this include Cris "Cyborg" Santos and Dara Torres.

This sort of thing is nothing new, however, as Erik Siwak correctly points out. And "gender verification testing," which Semenya is now being subjected to, has its own long, sordid history: a realm where science begins to look rather like the dog chasing his tail.

Female athletes shouldn't have to contend with such nonsense. To my mind, the thinking that animates this holds back female athletes more than anything else. They sometimes curb their training, fearing ridicule or censure for a look that is too muscular. Worse yet, often these are the more talented athletes. How much better would they be if they weren't held back by outmoded nonsense?

The Semenya "controversy" can fairly be said to evince sexism, racism, and homophobia; but perhaps most of all, lunacy.

This blog covers many sports, ideally any sport that women participate in. But the lion's share of attention goes to combat and strength sports. Nothing so much forces us to rethink timeworn notions about gender as seeing women throwing and taking punches, flexing bulging muscles, or folding frying pans like they were newspapers. These women are the archfeminists of the 21st century; I marvel at their strength and thrill at the brazenness of their deeds.

Here we are hours away from the weigh-in for a women's MMA title fight that will be the main event on a televised fight card also featuring men. A decisive moment in women's sport, to put it mildly. If all goes well Saturday night, and the fight meets or exceeds expectations, everything about women and sport will be recast in an altogether new light.

So may the fight be an exciting one, and may the best woman win.

Not all traditions are bad. But some—born of an antediluvian thirst to subjugate others—are rather evil. An article at NYTimes.com brings this to mind. The female athletes it calls attention to deserve admiration, simply for doing what they want to do, wrestle, in the face of such barbarity: "One tribesman has said they should be 'slaughtered' if they continue."

It's disgusting enough that someone would think this, but for him to feel unabashed about saying it is something else again. (Alas, our "Christian" West isn't irreproachable; we too have troglodytes in our midst.)