Run, Caster, Run

Well, I guess this is my week to be mad at the universe (both real and fictitious).

All Caster Semenya wants to do is run. And run fast. But all the world seems to want to do is slow her down. Last week an international sports court ruled that the South African Olympic medalist must lower her natural levels of testosterone to compete.

Let that sink in for a second. They are saying how she was born is somehow unfair. Never mind that there are plenty of male athletes with genetic anomalies that give them a perceived edge – and we give them Wheaties boxes and endless acclaim.

Plus, the research simply does not bear out that testosterone is destiny. You aren’t guaranteed a gold medal simply for having more or less of it as a woman. Really, our gender (not to mention our performance) is far too complex to ever oil down to just one factor.

Caster is also a black female lesbian, a group that historically has been subject to relentless discrimination and policing by those in power. Body and gender policing of women and those who do not neatly fit into the prescribed binary is never good and eventually erodes all of our rights. Every woman, and truly all humans, deserve body autonomy. Period.

So keep running, keep running fast. No one defines you but your feet.