Caster Semenya, Femininity, and the Meaning of Sports

When Caster Semenya won gold in the women’s 800 meter running event at the Rio Olympics it was neither her first triumph on the world stage nor her first time taking heat from those in the media. Each year critics decry the South African runner’s three-times-higher-than-usual testosterone levels--a natural-cheat, they say, pointing to her broad shoulders, bulky muscles, and impressive speed. The Atlantic staff writer Olga Khazan wrote about Semenya and the particular scrutiny applied to female athletes in a piece titled, “Why Hyper-Masculine Women Are Scary, but Fish-Like Men Aren't.” She speaks with Brooke about what the Semenya controversy reveals about what we want out of sports and about the questionable science used to define femininity.