Those of us who thought vultures were becoming extinct, needn't have worried: seems they have morphed into camera-toting newsmen, feeding off the last morsel of flesh. Vultures, may they forgive us, are noble birds and, am sure, have more finesse in them than what was on display when Santhi surfaced at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat.
Was not there myself but colleagues said Santhi, praise be to her, retained her composure and did not break down, even when the questions grew carrion-esque: ``The tests said you do not appear to be a woman....so what are you?" and "How does it feel to be called not-a-woman?"
And the headlines reeked of rotten flesh too: ``State government stands by shamed Santhi"/``Dude looks like a lady"/ "Middle distance runner caught in middlesex controversy"
There was even more blood-letting elsewhere: ``Indian runner Santhi Soundarajan has failed a gender test. Could this be a cause of global warming?" somebody asked on Yahoo!answers.
What were not asked were questions about the politics of testing for gender and personal identities.
Does "having more Y chromosomes than you are allowed" make one less of a woman, though Santhi was born a woman, lived a woman and almost never underwent a sex change surgery? If, as one vernacular daily claimed, she had never attained puberty, is she gender-challenged? For laughing out loud!
And pray, what exactly are `secondary sexual characteristics of a woman?' If a battery of gynaceologists, endocrinologists and hemotologists decrees that one is not woman-enough because of a fluky chromosome, then does it negate all those painful years Santhi went through, overcoming hellish odds, to get where she is? For pity's sake, and this in the age of post-Germaine Greer?
Somewhere along the way, there were helpful hints too: that Santhi could be the victim of malnutrition as she grew up amidst a very Indian poverty that suppressed certain gender manifestations. Santhi could most certainly not have competed with men and won, so how does one set standards for being a woman athlete? So, what happens if, for example, a male athlete fails a gender test (there are NO such tests for men, one is told) and is told he hits neuter-ground?
Amidst all this, Santhi has found support at home turf.. When Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi,before honouring her, asked her if her conscience was clear, Santhi replied with a simple, yet profound, `Yes.'
A lesser woman would have crumbled.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
The strange case of Santhi Soundarajan
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17 comments:
Vani, amazing piece. I agree with you in totality. I had met Shanthi before she went to Doha. What a Woman she is!
And no gender tests for men?!!!
Keep blogging!:)
You go girl. very good write-up and insight into the matter. I totally agree with u - just because a woman 'looks less feminine' than she should be, or doesn't physically match up bcos of past deprivations, doesn't mean she's on the higher side of androgynous
What about the rumours that Shanthi's gender was questioned by an Athlete who came 4th
(She will get bronze now)
hello vani
a very deserving article for the un empathising media men ....
read ur experience on an auto during tsunami in mr kiruba's blog, auto drivers like this still exist and amaze at times like this
hmmm...i agree with the unfairness of the whole gender test issue, etc and am very happy that the cm went ahead and gave her the money eitherways...but what i have a problem with is that (and your paper carried the info in a box) she knew that technically speaking (and purely technically speaking) she had failed an earlier gender test. and knew that. and the sports officials must have known too...wbich i see as unethical. whether or not gender tests are fair is a different issue all together but given the rules and given what she must have known...somewhere it doesn't seem right.
Hello, Santhi's case is really tragic, considering our achievements in sports in general.
Not attaining puberty,is a problem which many so called ladies face, only they are not put into public glare!!
I also read that intensive sports training alters our hormonal balance. Add to this her childhood conditions, could be the reason for not attaining puberty.
All I can hope is that Santhi should not be cowed by all this and make a spirited comeback,for her sake and our nations sake!!!
Kavitha and Mary: thanks to you both.
Kavitha, do your remember the number of times we were told we had to work twice as hard as men to be considered half as successful? Bah!
Bruno: I dont think one should fault the complainant, whoever it may be. She had every right to complain, and get justice, if she thought she was being shortchanged.
Sorry for mouthing a cliche, but 'tis the system that stinks.
May she revel in her bronze.
Ranjitha: whether Santhi did or did not fail a gender test by the Railways is, I think, only peripheral to the debate.
As to the unethicality, the issue hinges upon whether she was a conscious deceiver (as is being made out to be) or somebody who just happened to get the rough end of the stick because somebody else complained.
Santhi may have failed the Railways test but that still does not resolve the question of gender identity.
I repeat my question: what are the determinants of gender?
Krishna: I dont think the final word has been said on Santhi yet. We'll just have to wait to see which way the wind blows.
Vani: Your post starts off discussing the media's insensitive attitude to a very sensitive issue ,(though the ndtv reporter gave a very nice p2c on the 1st day stressing the need for sensitivity) goes on to question the fairness of such a test and concludes by talking about conscience...the question, as you put it, loses itself in this stream of thought. my response is with regard to the conclusion. you speak of a clear conscience and ask if she could be a conscious deceiver...how could she not have known is my question. how could she not have been a conscious deceiver? had the railways, which was so candid with the media, omitted to mention the detail to her? judging her a non-woman on the basis of a `fluky' chromosome is indeed unfair but then so is knowing and not telling
Vani..
First let me thank u for visiting my blog!! My thesis is chugging along.. but miles to go! :) just read this post about santhi n' it has been a topic close to my heart ever since it whole issue began! What upset me most was the ambiguity and insensitivity of every single article that told her story. I love ur piece.. it is filled with passion and conviction.. and it restores dignity to a woman who shouldn't have been stripped of it in the first place! Kudos to you!
I think this article deserves praise for speaking out so boldly on the issue of feminity and the notional stereotypes relating to gender identity...
But I think for as sensationalist media, which is so much in love with Sania, Santhi could never have made a gr8 pin-up girl.. So they do not stand to lose much..
I strongly feel that the Sports authority ought to put up clear rules relating to gender testing and make it neutral and unbiased.
Ranjitha:
I think we are both talking the same language but in different spheres: my question does not stop with just asking whether or not Santhi was a conscious deceiver, rather I think I wanted to ask
why, even if she failed the Railway test, that should in any way change the colour of what happened.
Am questioning the politics of gender testing and not about the `conscious deceiving ' part which, anyway, is still a grey area.
Cheers!
Empty space: thanks! Same bogey as yours.
Vidyanjali: no, I dont think we would be able to prod the Sports Authority awake.
After all, what do they stand to lose--or gain--if Santhi falls or rises?
Phew!
Yes Vani, I agree. But I think there ought to be clear-cut rules regarding these to avoid future embarrassments...What happened to Santhi is definitely not desirable and we must avoid this from happening in the future...
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