#my testosterone levels are like. on the higher edge of the typical levels in females

[moreclaypigeons]

started hrt today<3

[fiti-vation]

So much lack of research was done on this topic… It baffles me 😩! And don’t come at me cause I am a Black varsity track athlete, who will be writing her thesis in sociology about disorders/differences of sex development (DSD) in professional female athletes and sports ethics. I’ve been following this case for years. This is really not about race, but more about sport ethics! This case perfectly illustrates where the lines between sex, gender and sport become blurred. Let me start by saying that I completely disagree with the way they violated her by performing unethical sex verification tests. That being said, even if Caster would have refused to undergo these tests, sooner or later her medical condition would have come to light. You see, athletes are subject to something called a biological passport.

An athlete biological passport is an individual electronic record for professional athletes, in which profiles of biological markers of doping and results of doping tests are collated over a period of time (usually 10 years). A biological passport gives access to one’s genetic making. Hence, why it is currently used to detect blood and gene doping.

Caster Semenya has a rare medical condition called hyperandrogenism, a condition that causes her body to naturally produce male sex hormones – such as testosterone at higher levels than most women. Her testosterone levels are three times higher than is expected in women due to hyperandrogenism. She has no womb or ovaries, but instead has internal testes because of a chromosomal abnormality. Semenya identifies as a woman, but some would label her as intersex.

In view of all the above, Semenya’s case clearly isn’t about race, but sports ethics. The real question here is not about someone's race. The real question is: Should female DSD athletes be allowed to compete with other non-DSD female athletes? And if yes, is it fair and ethical for non-DSD female athletes? And how does such a decision protect the integrity of female athletics?

In the past, many female athletes have been subject to the same scrutiny as Semenya – and they are NOT Black! Maria Jose Martinez-Patino, Pinki Pramanik, Ewa Klobukowska, Stella Walsh, Santhi Soundarajan, Erika/Erik Schinegger, Zdenka Koubkova, Edinanci Silva. Maria Patino, for example, in the early 1990s, successfully fought against a ban imposed after she was discovered to have XY chromosomes typically seen in men. She demonstrated that her condition made her insensitive to the 'excess' testosterone in her blood. If Semenya wants to compete against other non-DSD female athletes, she just has to do the same; demonstrate that her excess testosterone levels does not put her an unfair advantage.

From the outside, it is very easy for people who have never competed in sports at a semi-professional or professional level, to comment and make judgments. But it's really not as black and white as it seems. So much sweat, tears, blood and pain go into becoming a renown athlete; and for one to have their hard work shattered by someone who unfortunately was born with a medical condition that gives them an edge is unfair in my opinion. Let’s not forget here that female athletes are barely paid – they have to sacrifice so much. Ask any varsity, semi-professional and professional female athletes how they feel about competing against someone who has a medical condition that ‘clearly’ gives them at an unfair advantage – their answer won’t be so pretty.

If Semenya would have been Caucasoid, Mongoloid or Australoids - whatever her race, my opinion would have remained the same!

Racism, discrimination and prejudice in sport occur when athletes like Serena Williams are randomly tested more frequently than her non-black counterparts, when Black athletes as talented as non-Blacks are less paid or are villainized more in the media; these ARE examples of injustice based on race in sports! On a last note here, I would like to emphasize that there are different treatment options that are not always harmful for many women with endocrine problems. To say that ALL hormone-regulating drugs are harmful is like saying that chemotherapy is useless for cancer. It is such a fallacy. Sport has traditionally been divided into male and female categories, but Semenya's case and the science it has brought to the fore shows it may be an artificially binary distinction.

It had been suggested that, had the verdict gone against the IAAF, athletics might have introduced an 'open' category that men and women could, in theory, compete in side by side, and a 'protected' category based on hormone levels, rather than gender.

AGAIN, it isn’t about race here, but fairness and ethics. Ask yourself this: HOW FAIR IS IT TO LET DSD FEMALE ATHLETES COMPETE AGAINST NON-DSD ATHLETES?

[zmediaoutlet]

my own private omegaverse

No, not private at all, but that’s such an excellent movie name I couldn’t help but steal it. 

For starters: I love the omegaverse. I love its creativity and the shared ‘canons’ and tropes that people came up with, and I really love that (apparently) the first a/b/o story came about in SPN. That seems right, somehow. 

However, being me, I started overthinking the premise, and started talking with my scientist SIL about viable evolution and biological factors, and started talking with my friends about societal structure, and also I always far prefer something as... realistic as possible, so then I started thinking about how you could make an omegaverse that felt as close to real life as possible while still having that edge of the fantastic. (Verisimilitude is my fave, what can I say.) So, with much thought, I’ve put down stakes and claimed my own little corner of the ‘verse, which will be shaped in a way that makes the most sense to me. If I ever get off my ass and actually write something in the genre, it’ll be supported by this.

So:

SEXES

The hallmark of all a/b/o is that there are multiple sexes, not just the traditionally-recognized two of our world. Here, we have:

Man - the ‘alpha’, what we’d consider to be a ‘normal’ man in our world. Phenotypically masculine, generally taller and stronger than the other two sexes; testicles produce sperm; the penis has a small knot which may engorge on orgasm, but often only during sex with halmen in heat, in response to halman pheromones.

Woman - corresponds almost entirely to women in our world. Phenotypically feminine, generally smaller than the other two sexes; ovaries produce eggs; typical monthly menstruation cycle with corresponding fertility rate. Historically women have had high maternal mortality rates due to the stress of pregnancy.

Halman - the ‘omega.’ (Etymologically, halman is a blend of half + man from Old English. Other languages have different names for the third sex, e.g. French parfemme [partie + femme].)  Phenotypically, they’re more masculine, being generally taller than women with more upper body strength. However, they also have wider hips and a strong lower body to aid in pregnancy. Halmen have ovaries and produce eggs, but have a much slower cycle than women; covert menstruation takes place four times per year. The peak of fertility in each cycle is marked by a very high hormone response and an accompanying output of light pheromones to attract men. Halmen have extremely low rates of conception except during these ‘heat’ cycles; however, they also have extremely low rates of maternal mortality. Their clitoris is very large due to higher levels of testosterone and also contains the urinary tract; it could be mistaken for a small penis, but for the lack of testicles behind it. Halmen have no vagina, but instead conceive and bear children through the colon; an epiglottis protects the cervix and uterus from fecal matter, and opens during orgasm and for a short period after to admit semen.

Sex ratio, approx.: M: 45%; W: 30%; H: 25%.

SEXUALITY

Straight: man/woman; man/halman Queer: man/man; woman/woman; woman/halman; halman/halman

Many countries around the world have been slowly allowing queer marriages of various types, starting in the latter part of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st. The United Kingdom allowed any marriage between two legally consenting adults starting in 2014; the United States had individual state laws (California: any two legally consenting adults; Colorado: m/m and w/w allowed, but not w/h or h/h; multiple states only allowing m/w or m/h), until the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26, 2015 legalized all versions of two-person consenting-adult marriages. 

GENDER

Men are masculine, women are feminine. This is simple, and yet also incredibly complex. Men and women both navigate the tumultuous waters of what this means for themselves, their families, and their society. Halmen are even more complex than that. While they (with women) have been granted mostly equal rights to men, the question for many young halmen sons is what their gender identity will be, in these modern days. Part of the ‘problem’ is that the archetype for what a halman should be has shifted quite a bit, even over the course of the last fifty years.

Spartan halmen often served in the army and there are records of Roman halmen Senators. Western civilization since the dark ages has traditionally put halmen in a more feminine context, however. While halmen of the lower classes worked in agriculture and crafting, they were not allowed to join the army and were instead diverted to non-combat roles with women, e.g. nursing. In the upper classes, a halman son’s behavior and movements were often as restricted as a daughter’s were, because a halman’s virginity and child-bearing potential were just as valuable as a woman’s. Some cultures demanded larger dowries for halman brides, because offspring would be born more slowly. (On the other hand, many families in Renaissance Italy and Spain took lower dowries when marrying their son to a halman bride, because halmen were less likely to die in childbirth than a female mother.)

In Western culture, low-income/peasant class halmen traditionally wore loose trousers (sometimes topped with short skirts/kilts to indicate their gender) until marriage, and would switch to skirts/gowns upon their entry into the life of a wife and mother. Middle and upper-class halmen skewed toward more feminine clothing, with halmen sons entering society being fitted with suits with wide necklines to show off their broad shoulders, and tight bodices to show off their narrow waists and wide hips. Skirts ranged from floor-length (for the more modest) to a higher hemline paired with soft trousers or hose (for a more daring look)--acceptable hemlines also rose and fell with fashion, but no halman would wear trousers alone in polite society.

In modern days, the halman ‘archetype’ is more difficult to define. A pretty face and a lightly muscled, trim body are expected, but the upheavals of the sexual revolution and the fight for gender equality have left expectations more uncertain. A “good wife” seen in catalogs from the 1950s would have long hair, nicely applied makeup, no unwanted facial or body hair, subtle jewelry, and clothing would likely be modest and feminine, with high necklines and low hems. Halmen started to wear trousers in public slightly earlier than women, but the fashion for a longer, tunic-style top remained--covering the groin was still considered polite, especially considering the difficulties faced by some halmen during heat cycles. However, the 1960s and ‘70s challenged what a ‘good halman’ should look like, and depending on their preference some halmen started to wear much more masculine clothing, some of them even trying to ‘pass’ as men. Halmen started to join the military in active-combat roles (although there remain court battles as to whether hormonal cycle control should be required for deployed halmen soldiers, or whether that is an unacceptable incursion on bodily autonomy, even for the armed forces), and there has been an increase in halmen going for ‘men’s’ jobs (halmen CEOs are still considered to be breaking the glass ceiling).

Now, halmen seek their role models in all walks of life. A deeply plunging neckline to show off a flat chest on a young halman is still considered somewhat immodest, but also sexy and free; tight jeans cut to emphasize nice hips and show off a small bulge are the norm, not the exception as it might have been in their mothers’ day. Once a halman has given birth and his breasts have grown during lactation, lower necklines are fashionable to show off the briefly possible cleavage--though some more conservative halmans keep their necklines high to avoid immodesty. It is still extremely rare for halmen to let their scant facial hair grow out (though famous halman artist Salvador Dali’s cultivation of his mustache is a symbol among halman ‘wolves’), but more have embraced their light body hair after the fashion for going completely bare in the 1980s. Actor Cillian Murphy, a halman who has famously played both men and halmen characters, goes for different looks in his personal life--“Why would I restrict myself to just the halman section in the department store? That’s boring. I wear what I want, and if any men have a problem with that--well, they’re not men I would want to date anyway, are they?”

Murphy in Vanity Fair, 2004.

Murphy in his controversial GQ covershoot, 2006.