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    dothedewGabrielle Bluestone
    7/27/15 2:50pm

    Ok, I think I have this figured out:

    Performance enhancing drugs = banned

    Performance diminishing drugs = required in certain situations, except for marijuana and other recreational drugs that arguably diminish performance - or at least have not been shown to enhance it - but are nevertheless banned under pretty much all circumstances.

    Makes sense.

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      CleganeBowlConfirmeddothedew
      7/27/15 2:54pm

      Does that have a connection to this article?

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      dothedewCleganeBowlConfirmed
      7/27/15 2:56pm

      Maybe tangentially, but not necessarily (except for the fact that the IAAF wanted her to have surgery or take drugs to diminish her natural testosterone). I know it is Monday of the “New Gawker” but is it now a requirement that comments have to be directly related to the article?

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    MattGabrielle Bluestone
    7/27/15 2:46pm

    I'm assuming that this applies only to female athletes who have abnormally high testosterone levels due to their own unique physiology, and not to female athletes that are doping with testosterone.

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      Pizzaro HarveyMatt
      7/27/15 2:51pm

      Doping is an unfair advantage. If your body is built in such a way as to give you an advantage, that is more than ok.

      And, yes, the above is about natural testosterone, not stuff introduced externally. There was zero mention of doping.

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      MattPizzaro Harvey
      7/27/15 2:53pm

      Seems like before they were saying that even if the high testosterone levels were natural to the athlete they were still getting the axe.

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    ╰(　´◔　ω　◔ `)╯< Woke and BokeGabrielle Bluestone
    7/27/15 2:53pm

    What they should do is level the playing field, like literally have different starting levels for different testosterone amounts. For example, those with higher levels, including men, start further back, while the “normal” women start further front. Everyone starts the race at the same time until the “normal” women knock themselves out on the invisible glass ceiling in their lanes. That way it’s fair for everyone.

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      Dan Hubel╰(　´◔　ω　◔ `)╯< Woke and Boke
      7/27/15 3:10pm

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_…

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      ╰(　´◔　ω　◔ `)╯< Woke and BokeDan Hubel
      7/27/15 3:14pm

      http://www.amazon.com/The-best-dad-g…

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    igotwordsGabrielle Bluestone
    7/27/15 2:59pm

    As a result, she tests well outside of the seemingly arbitrary track and field hormone guidelines

    How can it be arbitrary? If it lies well outside the norm, then there is an established baseline of normal readings.

    I feel sorry for her, but it’s unfair to all the other competitors to have to compete with someone with an inherent natural advantage. Like asking a boxer to fight against the mutant Collossus.

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      Asano Sokatoigotwords
      7/27/15 5:53pm

      I assume Caitlyn Jenner analogies are prima facie verboten, but I mean this as an honest thought experiment / philosophical exploration. Please, non trolling replies only (because writing that always stops them, right?)

      Dutee Chand is a woman. She has been since birth. She does not meet the “arbitrary” hormonal guidelines. Yet because she is a woman she should compete with women. That is only fair.

      Caitlyn Jenner is a woman. She has been since birth. She would (likely) not have met the “arbitrary” hormonal guidelines. She should have competed with women. That would have been fair.

      Again, not trolling (as the trolls always say), because I know there are people on this site that are well versed on gender/social/anthropological/philosophical matters. Is the gender dichotomy exposed to be false and other guidelines and groupings should be used? Or is the social construct of gender (like race) too strong to be ignored? Etc.

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      Eager OphiuchusAsano Sokato
      7/27/15 6:46pm

      You’re equating intersex people with transgender people. While you’re at it, you might as well ban lesbians from the Olympics. (sarcasm) My point is, while gender and sexuality are fluid, there are still ways of describing that fluidity, and you’ve ignored medically accepted research and terminology that can describe fluidity in useful ways. Chand and Jenner have almost nothing in common.

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    The Noble RenardGabrielle Bluestone
    7/27/15 2:50pm

    My prediction for the comments: A lot of nasty/unthinking jokes about “mannish” women.

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      PelllThe Noble Renard
      7/27/15 8:08pm

      That mannish woman is fucking gorgeous.

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    igotwordsGabrielle Bluestone
    7/27/15 3:03pm

    “But that right was taken away from me. I was humiliated for something that I can’t be blamed for.”

    Not buying this... you know that you have an inherent advantage, but still wish to compete anyways? How is that fair to everyone else? If I’m 6’10” it’ll be easier for me to reach a 7’ goal, but I insist on being allowed to compete with 5’ people? Who is really being unfairly treated here?

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      JeSuisKirbyDelauterigotwords
      7/27/15 3:37pm

      I sort of see your point, but your stance assumes a baseline that doesn’t exist in professional international sports. I mean, your example is EXACTLY what China does to produce their national basketball team- if you’re over 6’-something tall, the State trains you to play because they’d be a laughingstock if their team was comprised of average-height Chinese people.

      I wonder how many of history’s great female athletes suffered from hormone, intersex, or genetic variations, my guess is that a large number of them did and we didn’t have the medical technology to know when they were competing. For whichever reason their body produces it, additional testosterone is a huge physical advantage on hormonally ‘normal’ women, and probably predisposed women with hyperandrogism and XY chromosomes toward more athletic pursuits in the first place. They’ve been competing and winning against other women for a long time now, and we wouldn’t even have heard about this woman or that South African runner if their medical differences hadn’t come up during testing for doping.

      TL;DR, The IOC and other regulatory bodies need to come up with a better way of weeding out dopers without outing and embarrassing the significant number of intersex athletes competing around the world.

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      igotwordsJeSuisKirbyDelauter
      7/27/15 3:46pm

      Perhaps we can have some sort of intersex sports for those who qualify? But it’s totally unfair to both men and women to be forced to compete with someone who has the testerone levels far beyond anything a competitor can match. What is the point of sports if there isn’t a level playing field? Why even show up?

      I’m sorry, but people who have aberrant advantages shouldn’t be allowed, it’s just directly unfair.

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    Hip Brooklyn StereotypeGabrielle Bluestone
    7/27/15 2:49pm

    Whether or not sprinting pans out, I see a bright future for Dutee as a Michael Jackson impersonator.

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      skanteaHip Brooklyn Stereotype
      7/27/15 6:03pm

      She’s a little too dark skinned for his later periods, but almost perfect for the Billie Jean years.

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      SrynersonHip Brooklyn Stereotype
      7/27/15 6:51pm

      Thank you for being brave enough to say that.

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    2DollarzGabrielle Bluestone
    7/27/15 2:55pm

    Thank god the IOC is here to protect the integrity of the Olympics

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      GamesandRingsGabrielle Bluestone
      7/27/15 11:47pm

      She absolutely should be allowed to compete. If her body produces “extra” natural testosterone, then that’s what it is...a natural advantage. Should a hypothetical 8’ basketball player be banned because their body produced extra height? Does Michael Phelps get booted cause his body is so freakishly and abnormally perfect for swimming? The fact that Chand was treated as she was was indicative of a whole lot of hysterical ignorance toward women’s bodies (hey - there’s a spectrum!) and of patriarchal condescension (women have testosterone? she’s no woman!). Men like their women athletes to be cute and bouncy, and certainly get all freaked out when they don’t fit that mold. (Hello, Serena) (But then, don’t take the cute and bouncy ones seriously in the end, but that’s another post).

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        NicoGamesandRings
        7/28/15 10:48am

        O you silly decoration you, shorten those shorts, empty that mind, and get back in the kitchen!

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      LadyologyGabrielle Bluestone
      7/27/15 2:50pm

      At least four other women barred from the London Olympics ended up electing to surgically remove their internal testes.

      In this situation, the testes should be removed anyway because they’re likely to become cancerous. But they should be removed for medical reasons.

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        Tóásó Great PredecessorLadyology
        7/27/15 3:24pm

        And there we have it. In all it’s sinister sexist viciousness.

        Oh it was all so reasonable to begin with. Turn down the air conditioner, be nicer gamers, stop with the patriarchy, and check your privilege.

        But it’s out now. Testes = cancer. Let the mass emasculation begin. You’ll have to rip my testes from my cold dead hands, Jezzbians!

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