You are here: Home » Featured » Caster Semenya Debuts More Feminine Look

Caster Semenya Debuts More Feminine Look

09/09/09-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
Caster Semenya has undergone a transformation for the cover of You Magazine in South Africa (not pictured). The runner at the center of a controversy over gender and physical sex has shown her softer side by having a make over, letting her hair down, and dressing in feminine clothing. “I’d like to dress up more often and wear dresses but I never get the chance,” she is quoted as saying. The decision to show a more feminine side of her may be an attempt to counter the negative publicity about her gender.

According to the BBC article, Ms Semenya wore a pair of black leather slacks and a sequined top as well as a black and white cocktail dress and stiletto heels as well as a grey knee length dress with a cropped grey jacket.

The controversy over Ms Semenya’s gender has been a huge negative for the young runner who has often not been seen without her green and gold track outfit and tightly braided hair. The eighteen year old has been hounded about having a gravelly voice and a rather masculine presentation at competitions.

Callers were invited to speak out about her makeover, and the usual reaction was mixed with some loving it and some not. However, the cover has apparently sparked a great deal of interest across the globe. Ms Semenya has stated that her mother was the one who was buying her clothing in the past, but that she does plan on buying her own in the future now that she knows how she can look.

Caster Semenya stated rather bluntly about the controversy that has surrounded the testing of her gender: “I see it all as a joke, it doesn’t upset me. God made me the way I am and I accept myself.”

At one point, gender testing was common, largely due to the possibility of certain countries fielding men rather than women in the women’s competitions. Often times, women were removed from competition if they even so much as had a slight variance in their genetic makeup. While the gender tests of today are far more comprehensive, the reality is that Ms Semenya may not have violated any rule regarding gender when it came to her competitions, and that the testing is more because of griping from people who are unhappy with the times by which she is winning. Compounding the issue is the fact that her privacy throughout the testing, which is supposed to be confidential, has been repeatedly violated including the fact that recent tests regarding her testosterone levels were leaked to the press.