Caster Semenya Biography

[CaveMum]

Wonder how much misinformation will be in this book? The press release is already thick with hyperbole.

https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/merkybooks-strikes-gold-for-olympic-champion-semenyas-memoir

“Publisher Helen Conford and senior commissioning editor Lemara Lindsay-Prince acquired UK and commonwealth rights, excluding South Africa and Canada, for The Race To Be Myself, from Caspian Dennis and Rachel Clements at Abner Stein on behalf Peter McGuigan at Ultra Literary. It will publish 31st October 2023.

North American rights were won by Nneoma Amadi-obi at Norton and Simon Boughton at Norton Young Readers from Peter McGuigan at Ultra Literary. Southern African rights have been sold to Jeremy Boraine at Jonathan Ball Publishers. A young reader’s edition will be published by Puffin.

The publisher said: “Banned from competing in the sport she loved and trained her whole life for, Olympic and World Champion Caster Semenya is finally ready to share the vivid and heart-breaking story of how the world came to know her name.

Thrust into the spotlight at just 18 years old after winning the Berlin World Championships in 2009, Caster’s win was quickly overshadowed by criticism and speculation about her body, and she quickly became the centre of a debate which continues today about gender in sports, and the right to compete as you are.

“Told with captivating speed, immediate candour and the spirit of defiance, The Race to Be Myself is the journey of Caster’s years as an athlete in the public eye, and her private life behind closed doors. From her rural beginnings running free in the dust, to crushing her opponents in record time on the track; to the falsehoods spread about her by the press and sporting bodies, the legal trial she went through in order to compete, and the humiliation she has been forced to endure publicly and privately.”

Semenya said: “My life has had its struggles, but it has mostly been a joy. Through my example, I want to educate, enlighten and inform about how the world can welcome those born different. You may have heard some of my story over the years, and you might have seen me running or standing proudly on the podium at the Olympics. But there is still so much I need to relate about strength, courage, love, resilience and being true to who you are. I want this book to show people around the world how to do just that.”

Lindsay-Prince added: “I’ve always admired Caster Semenya’s journey as an extraordinary athlete and iconic activist, incredible pioneer and unfortunate pariah. Her fight to run as she is a race for respect, justice and ultimately everyone who has ever been told no and prevented from doing the thing they love.

"This book is her setting the record straight and owning her entire story. It’s unflinching in its honesty and empowering in its tone, and captures the full scope of her life – from a little girl running in the dust, to a record breaking athlete running to be free.”

Can I pre-order?

And not disguising it very well...

And certainly not wearing a bra. Because, well, a male who knows they are male ain’t about to wear a crop top which they will know as women’s wear, are they?

Semenya knows full well. And is no feminist icon or friend of women. But relied on feminists to convince people about Semenya’s acceptance as a ‘female with naturally high testosterone’.

But note that on the book cover CS is wearing a crop top. Now why might that be? Surely not an attempt at manipulating the public…

Surely not cavemum

Considering what they usually where is either tee shirts, running all in ones, or if they where anything cropped it is almost a sleeveless tee shirt cropped a little higher than the waist. I am quite sure you are mistaken (no, you are not) that it is a manipulative tactic at all.....

I'd buy your book NotBad

Well Caster and Violet have two kids now, so in twenty years' time it'll be apparent whether or not the kids look like Caster as well as Violet.

regarding Semenya's chest, the positioning of a wifely hand in this wedding [?] picture says a lot - if CS was any kind of woman then that gesture would surely be obscene/too overtly sexual for a publicity picture, in any culture?

https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article9585253.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Gender-row-athlete-Caster-Semenya-marries-long-term-partner-who-helped-her-beat-the-haters-in-extr.jpg

This story of Caster meeting CS’ wife is chilling. Violet was being taken to pee for drug testing, saw Caster and “thought” (knew) Caster was a man. She was freaking out asking the drug testing officials why a man was in the bathroom watching her pee. Then CS starts gaslighting Violet saying “why would you say I’m a man, I’m a woman.” Then despite Violet being in a relationship with a man, CS does this whole thing about “she wasn’t being honest about her attraction to women,” when of course CS actually IS a man! It’s horrible. Those poor women having to be around CS in the most private spaces. And just the chilling nature if knowing you’re male, gaslighting not only your competitors but your wife into having to say and believe you’re female and then doing some kind of weird conversion thing on the wife. It sounds so predatory.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/othersport/838552/Caster-Semenya-wife-thought-boy-gender-intersex-World-Athletics-Championships-London-2017?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target

Also, why would CS, if CS genuinely believed CS is a woman and lived like a woman and all the rest, be attracted to and pursue someone who so violently misgendered CS? In the court arguments it’s all about how violent not seeing CS as female is, but then CS doesn’t think Violet is some huge bigot? I read somewhere else that Violet refers to CS in male terms in the marriage - it’s obvious CS wants to be seen as male, enjoyed being seen as male, enjoyed the power of being male and controlling Violet and the game of forcing Violet to pretend CS is female as part is CS’ contempt for “soft” and “weak” women. It’s actually really awful.

Caster has fathered two beautiful little girls, Oratile and Oarabile, albeit they were born by IVF due to Caster's intersex condition. Caster's wife did a pregnant photoshoot - she's gorgeous and so are the girls.

By all means support Caster, but I don't think the abuse and insults aimed at Caster are a feminist issue, exactly. More an issue around lack of understanding of intersex conditions, and severe stigma around them in the culture in which Caster was raised.

based on the available evidence I would guess that CS identifies (off the track) as very much a man, quite a 'manly man', (and here I of course strongly sympathise) albeit one who's without of course some of the small but significant trappings which usually go with that, which must be really quite the cross to bear in today's hyper-sexualised society, and views the chance to make such a great living from women's sport as a kind of divine anti-retribution, or cosmic compensation or whatever. the lies about being a woman need only be maintained in public (and only selectively, she very much hides in plain sight), and even then only for as long as the endorsements are still around, which as a 32 year old won't be for very long now, though I suppose any ambitions towards maybe working in media or as a general SA celebrity might complicate the case for 'coming out'.

That's a very good point!

Exactly this. It is very tiresome when South Africans talk about "white tears". No, it's black women losing out on medals and team places and sponsorships and finals as well! Yes Keely is white but as you point out the other top class 800m runners are black/mixed race. There is also Renelle Lamotte of France (sorry for no accents on her name).

I had never heard of Caster but was watching an athletics meet one day in which Caster was racing and thought "that's a bloke". I had no idea who Caster was. This was probably about 10 years ago, I'd not been following athletics particularly assiduously before that, as you can tell!

All the medals in the Rio Olympics women's 800 metre race were won by men. All of them. They not only denied the women running in that race their medals but also the women who didn't make it through the heats and the women from their countries (South Africa, Burundi and Kenya) who didn't get the opportunity to represent their nation at the Olympics.

They are all cheats who have been enabled by deeply sexist and toothless athletics authorities.

None of them were eligible to compete in Tokyo

I just hope the pendulum swings so far back that all these men are retrospectively disqualified, have their records and medals stripped from them, and them and everyone involved in enabling are banned from competition for life. There need to be consequences.

TRA's love to add accusations of racism and whatnot to their defence of men in women's sport generally, but this is risible given the uniformly white and privately educated (ie upper upper middle class) nature of its 'poster girls' namely Bridges, Thomas, and Hubbard.

This was my experience exactly.

Isn’t this all just being fed to journalists to reinforce the lie though?

By all means support Caster, but I don't think the abuse and insults aimed at Caster are a feminist issue, exactly. More an issue around lack of understanding of intersex conditions, and severe stigma around them in the culture in which Caster was raised.

Semenya is a man and knows but was happy to compete against women for personal gain.

So this has now been published, and my God it's grim. This con artist has gaslit the world and the media seems powerless to challenge his evasions, half-truths and outrageous entitlement.

All he'll admit to is that he is a 'different sort of woman'. One with testes? Who fathers his own children?

And looks down on the women he has gaslit and stolen from.

Guardian article about Caster's book. No comment, but you can probably guess what it's going to be like.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/oct/28/athlete-caster-semenya-interview-im-a-woman-im-a-different-woman

So many words in that article but none of them are the truth. The Guardian in a nutshell.