SA government to assist Caster Semenya financially in her fight against testosterone ruling

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DURBAN, South Africa – The South African Department of Sports has made R12 million available to support Caster Semenya with her appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) .

Due to drug-hormone rule, the 800m world champion was not included in SA’s provisional squad for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, which is scheduled to get underway on July 23, and has taken the matter to ECHR.

Semenya wants to overturn a World Athletics’ rule on the regulation of hormones because the rule restricts her from competing professionally without taking testosterone reducing drugs.

The Minister of Sport, Nathi Mthethwa revealed that the department was approached by Athletics SA, requesting for financial resources, and R12 million was made available to help in her fight against testosterone ruling.

“The department had also been approached by the department of international relations and co-operation after they received a letter from the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) which expressed interest in the matter and requested support from the government to co-ordinate solidarity against World Athletics Female Athletes Classifications Regulations,” Mthethwa said.

By Zakithi Dlamini

Japan’s ruling party to allow women to watch its board meetings, but no talking

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Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party will invite up to five of its female members of parliament to board meetings, but they should not speak. This was announced by the party as it took what it said was a step toward equality.

“It’s important to fully understand what kind of discussions are going on,” said Toshihiro Nikai, the LDP general secretary. “Look. That’s what it’s about.” Nakai added that women should not have a say in the proceedings but can submit suggestions in writing after the meetings have concluded.

The party’s action has sparked criticism from the opposition, which charges male chauvinism and discrimination against women is ingrained in the LDP, which depends on the voices of Japan’s strong nationalist circles with their traditional role models. They are tentative in grappling with women-friendly ideas, according to women’s groups, and progress is slow. The party’s make-up is 40% female, but women only hold 10% of its parliamentary seats, a figure far below the 25% global average.

According to the World Economic Forum 2020 report, Japan ranks 121 out of 153 countries in its gender parity global ranking.

By Milan Sime Martinic

South African government continues its fight for Caster Semenya’s participation at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and has taken the matter to the European Court of Human Rights

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DURBAN, South Africa – South African former Olympic champion Caster Semenya is set to appeal at the ECHR and South Africans are rallying behind her.

Semenya wants to overturn a World Athletics’ regulation dealing with hormone use. She is expected to file the papers in March.

The 800m world champion is still unable to compete professionally, as her bid to overturn the drug-hormone rule was so-far unsuccessful. She was not included in SA’s provisional squad for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics which is scheduled to get underway July 23.

News of her appeal was revealed at the portfolio committee meeting of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture where SA’s preparedness for the Tokyo Olympics was discussed.

In a statement, Athletics South Africa President, Aleck Skosana, said Ms Semenya has not been included in South Africa’s provisional Olympic squad.

The Chairperson of the committee, Beauty Dlulane said most countries would like to see Ms Semenya participate in the Games, an aspiration frustrated by “rules and guidelines.”

“We are concerned that this has affected Caster’s preparation. This issue of rules unjustly disadvantages Caster and denies her rights to participation and qualification, and the committee’s view is that those rules are unfair,” she said.

South Africans have taken to social media and voiced their opinions on the Semenya matter.

“Caster Semenya, all eyes on you. You have immense people of interest externally support from South Africa. Bless her,” wrote one interested citizen, while another wrote, “I’m proud of her, she can’t give up just like that. She is doing for the upcoming generations too.”

Another social media user wrote, commenting on the social aspect of the issue, “So this is the level of civilization we are currently at. Someone has to defend their sexuality because they are genetically gifted. If sports is against genetical gifts tall people like Bolt should probably not be allowed to compete. That guy is a beast and not fair to other normal men.”

SA remains hopeful, as Athletics South Africa told the committee that it has received support from Sweden and looks forward Ms Semenya winning her appeal.

By Zakithi Dlamini

Girls Who Have Sex Lose Both Female And Male Friendships, Study Finds; For Males, It’s The Opposite

girls who have sex
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Early adolescent males gain friends when they have sex while females lose them, a new study has found. Not only that, males who make out without having sex lose popularity, while females who do the same gain.

The findings of the study will be presented at the 110th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

“In our sample of early adolescents, girls’ friendship networks shrink significantly after they have sex, whereas boys’ friendship networks expand significantly,” said Derek A. Kreager, the lead author of the study and an associate professor of sociology and criminology at Pennsylvania State University.

“But what really surprised us was that ‘making out’ showed a pattern consistent with a strong reverse sexual double standard, such that girls who ‘make out’ without having sex see significant increases in friendships, and boys who engage in the same behavior see significant decreases in friendships.”

The study was based on information gathered from 921 students in 28 rural communities in Iowa and Pennsylvania states. Data was gathered from students over grades six through nine.

When asked to select their best or closest friend in their grade, students showed a high degree of preference for males who had sex but didn’t just make out and for females who made out but didn’t have sex.

Girls who had sex experienced a 45 percent decrease in peer acceptance. Boys who had sex had an 88 percent increase. Girls who just made out, however, had a 25 percent increase in peer acceptance while boys experienced a 29 percent decrease.

“Our results are consistent with traditional gender scripts,” Kreager said. “Men and boys are expected to act on innate or strong sex drives to initiate heterosexual contacts for the purpose of sex rather than romance and pursue multiple sexual partnerships.

“In contrast, women and girls are expected to desire romance over sex, value monogamy, and ‘gatekeep’ male sexual advances within committed relationships. A sexual double standard then arises because women and girls who violate traditional sexual scripts and have casual and/or multiple sexual partnerships are socially stigmatized, whereas men and boys performing similar behaviors are rewarded for achieving masculine ideals.”

Kreager thinks boys and girls reinforce traditional gender scripts at school.

“[The] pattern suggests that other boys are the peers that police social norms when it comes to masculinity, whereas girls receive strong messages about gender-appropriate sexual behavior from boys and girls,” Kreager explained. “It is not surprising that girls do not punish boys for ‘making out,’ as this behavior is rewarding for girls both socially and physically.

“However, there is somewhat of a paradox for boys stigmatizing girls who have sex because these boys are punishing girls for behavior that benefits boys both socially and sexually. We believe one reason for this is that only a small minority of boys have such sexual access, so those who do not have sex negatively define the girls who are having sex.”

“During early adolescence,” Kreager noted, “peer evaluations of initial sexual behaviors and virginity loss are likely to have large and lasting impacts on later sexual adjustment.”

By Cheryl Bretton

Gender pay differences for doctors: Why women make less

Why women make less
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Setting out to access why men physicians make more than women, according to statistics, a joint-research team has published Thursday the results of their study, based on an analysis of data for 776 male and female physicians.

“In addition to implicit bias and differences in negotiations and social networks, women’s tendency to prioritize substantial pay less than men may account for some of the gender pay inequities that exist in our society. However, substantial pay is different from equal pay. I bet most women still want fair pay,” said Dr. A. Charlotta Weaver, lead author of the Journal of Hospital Medicine study.

Recent studies have determined that American female physicians make $50,000 less per year than male physicians — an average $165,278 compared with $221,297.

The new research, however, found that after accounting for age, geography, specialty, amount and type of work, women made around $15,000 less than men in the field.

The breakdown of the reasons women make less than men goes like this, according to the study: working women are younger, less likely to be leaders, and more often work part-time.

Women physicians more frequently prioritize other work interests over financial compensation, the researchers found. Women considered pay the fourth most important priority, while men ranked it the second. Both ranked optimal work load first.

Women more frequently were employed as pediatricians and staff in university settings.

It was also found that women work more nights, report fewer daily billable encounters than their male peers, and are more often divorced than male physicians.

“The gender earnings gap persists among hospitalists,” concluded the researchers. “A portion of the disparity is explained by the fewer women hospitalists compared to men who prioritize pay.”

By Cheryl Bretton