Bodies, borders, and Caster Semenya: geocorporeality and the disciplinary work of imaginary geographies

Abstract

The sex and gender status of elite athlete Caster Semenya has been the focus of much public debate concerning the legal and semantic boundaries of women’s bodies and of the need to create a ‘level playing field’ for women athletes. While biomedical, human rights, feminist and other scholarly perspectives have contributed to the ongoing discussion regarding the legitimacy of Semenya’s participation, as well as that of other athletes with ‘anomalous’ bodies, this paper draws from Said’s and Gregory’s theorisations of imaginary geographies to examine the ways in which elite athletic spaces are constructed and protected, as well as the bodies which are (dis)allowed into those spaces. Broadening the conversation with a geocorporeal framework can offer tentative ways forward in the current impasse regarding the inclusion of intersex athletes in elite competition.