Essay on Testosterone in Sports - 1720 Words

Talent is an accident of genes - and a responsibility. –Alan Rickman It has been long debated who or what we should attribute our athleticism to. Is athleticism a product of hard work or a result of athletic parents who passed along athletic genes? Should we attribute athleticism to hard work or science? People generally fall into one of the two categories when explaining athleticism. Athletes are always looking for a competitive advantage in sports. Many athletes have turned to steroids and testosterone boosters to excel performance. Substance users have been labeled cheaters because they have an unfair advantage. Does having a naturally high testosterone level give an athlete a fair advantage? The article I chose, â€Å"Time to†¦show more content†¦The XX individual with CAH that has a male appearance would have a severe disadvantage among average male athletes. Whereas testing for steroids results in a simple positive or negative outcome. Testing for gender can prove to be very difficult, because in rare circumstances men and wo men have both shown to have either XX or XY chromosomes. CAH and AIS can produce what is called â€Å"intersex† conditions. Therefore, segregating men and women in sports may be an obsolete method of segregation (Foddy amp; Savulescu, 2010, p.1185). â€Å"Intersex† conditions can create extreme disparities in sports. We segregate men and women in sports to eliminate unfair genetic advantages. Is it then unfair when a genetically female athlete with an intersex condition wins an event? Foddy and Savulesco (2010), offer an option for dealing with natural variation in testosterone. Instead of separating men and women, define a limit based on the level of testosterone in an individual’s blood. Above the limit athletes would compete as men and below the limit athletes would compete as women. This would create a â€Å"hormonal level-playing field†. Foddy and Savulesco don’t argue for or against testosterone segregation, they simply discuss the option. People can view sports as a measure of an athlete’s natural ability or the measure of an athlete’s effort and hard work. If we measure athletes on their natural ability, then the winners are theShow MoreRelatedComparing Intersex And Transgender Females Deserve A Place Of Belonging1398 Words   |  6 PagesIntersex and transgender females deserve a place of belonging in the world of sport. Society’s need to categorize humans makes it difficult for minorities to find a sense of belonging. Humans are easily given labels by society - as gay, straight, black, asian, female, male etc. This system works for the majority of people, and those who fit in do not see a necessity to change these constructs. As Judith Butler argues in her essay Undoing Gender we must remake the definition of human by deconstructing ourRead MoreThe World Of Athletics Has Been Built Around A Binary View1634 Words   |  7 Pagesgender. The distinction between genders is obvious: there is wome n’s sport and there is men’s sport. However, in reality, gender biology is not black and white – there is a multitude of ways to be human. The separation of men’s and women’s sport leads to a large population of athletes getting stuck in the middle. There is a growing social acceptance of transgender and intersex individuals in society, however, when it comes to sport these individuals are often left isolated on an island of controversyRead MoreSteroids Should Not Be Banned1316 Words   |  6 PagesSteroids have been around the athletic programs for years and the most testing has come out to spot this type of cheating in order to make playing sports fair. 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In this paper, the ethical dilemma of performance enhancing drugs being used in sports will be addressed and be given solution based