Test of femininity

A test of femininity is a test practiced at the time them sporting events to determine if the sporting professional ones would not be Hermaphrodites or women androgynes.

The athletes who fail the test of femininity have the possibility of seeing their case re-examined by a commission of experts after two years and an adequate treatment.

History

In 440 before J. - C. Kallipateira infiltrates in hiding-place with the Olympic Games under the disguise of a trainer to see gaining his son, and the men invent the first test of sexual kind in order to keep the women away: the sportsmen concourrent naked.

Adopted in 1966 with the championship of Europe of athletics, due to suspicion that female athletes originating in Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are actually men, the test of femininity will be introduced for the first time at the Olympic Games of Mexico City in 1968. Although it relates to the Olympic Games initially, the determination of the sex can relate to any sports event. However, it is more clearly used in the high level international sporting events.

Nature of the test

  • Antiquity: the athletes concourrent naked.
  • 1948 : In England, gynaecological consultation.
  • 1968 : Blood sample or of saliva for a test on the Corpuscle of Barr.
  • 1972 : Chromosomic chart for research of X chromosomes and Y.
  • At the beginning of years 1980: CIO chooses the Chain reaction by polymerase gene SRY related to the Y chromosome
  • 1992: The International Association off Athletics Federations considers, it, that a man cannot be made any more pass for a woman, since the tests anti-doping include a taking away of urine under visual monitoring of official.

Nowadays, the determination of the sex implies typically Gynécologue S, Endocrinologue S, Psychologue S and internists.

Champions having failed the test of femininity

  • Stella Walasiewicz, athlete of Polish race on foot, was recognized man after his death, at the time of the autopsy. Its medals were not cancelled.
  • Zdena Koubkova, Czechoslovakian athlete of race on foot.
  • Gilded Ratjen, athlete of German race on foot.
  • Lea Caurla, athlete of French race on foot.
  • Claire Bressolles, athlete of French race on foot, contributed against Lea Caurla on several occasions.
  • the Russians Tamara Close and his/her sister Irina Close, respectively lanceuse of weight and athlete to the modern Pentathlon. But a doubt remains, the sisters protest that the problem comes to them from a disease of their grandmother. (see Polemic of the sisters close)
  • Ewa Kłobukowska (Polish), champion of the 100 m (rehabilitated later).
  • Erika Schinegger, Austrian skier, with the Olympic Games of Grenoble in 1968.
  • Eight athletes failed the tests at the time of the Olympic Games of Atlanta, but all were cleared by more thorough physical examinations.
  • Santhi Soundarajan athlete of Indian race on foot, the December 9th 2006 with Doha at the time of the 800 m of the Asian plays.

Controversies

This practice is under the fire of people who think that the fact of testing the sex is humiliating, doing little case of the human feelings, and no matter what it does not arrive entirely reliable or effective. These tests are particularly complicated or problematic, in the case of people who can be regarded as intersexuels. The genetic tests can potentially provide results vague, and stigmatize with the women having problems of sexual development. Genetic anomalies can make it possible a person to have a male genetic material, but to be physiologically a woman. The article also adds:
" The checking of the sexual kind was criticized a long time by geneticists, Endocrinologue S, and others in the medical community. One of the main issues was to exclude wrongfully from the women who had a defect of birth implying the Gonades and the external Genitals (i.e male pseudohermaphrodism). …
A second problem is that only the women, not the men, are stigmatized by the tests with sexual kind. A systematic follow-up was seldom set up for the female athletes “failing” the test, which often resulted in a " déballage" on the public place. The follow-up was crucial, because the problem was not male impostors, but well the confusion caused by the ignorance of the male pseudohermaphrodism. "

Also ceased practicing these tests, in 1991. However, the the Asian Olympic Council practice always.

The new rules make it possible the Transsexuel S to coucourir with the Olympic Games after having undergone a change of complete surgical kind, summer legally recognized like members of the sex chosen, and to have followed two years of hormonal therapy.

Anecdotes