Woo-Hoo, Show Us Your Goods!!
July 31st, 2008 by timbotron
The Beijing Summer Olympics are just around the corner, and that means one thing: the humiliating process of testing female athletes to see if they are male.
About 1 in 20,000 women have complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) - where they are genetically male (XY), but their body has problems recognizing testosterone (and other androgens) and thus they have physically developed as women (this has been rumored of actress Jamie Lee Curtis, but never formally verified).
None of these tests, to date, have revealed a man posing as a woman. However, in 1985, Spanish hurdler Maria José MartÃnez Patino discovered that she was born with a Y chromosome (XY), instead of another X (XX) - that she is genetically male and has AIS.
Though genetically male, these women have female physiology - and their genetic makeup shouldn’t actually provide any greater physical advantage.
So, how should the line be drawn this year?
Should it really matter?
(via Angie)
