Caster shows her girlie side in photo shoot

As Australian media alleged that Caster Semenya, the 800-meter world champion, is indeed a hermaphrodite, a South African magazine published pictures of the 18-year-old runner "as you've never seen her before," i.e. wearing dresses and sporting high-heels.

The controversy over Semenya's gender reached a fever pitch in South Africa this week after Australia's Daily Telegraph claimed that the report commissioned by the International Association of Athletics Federations showed that Semenya — whose masculine features, deep voice and meteoric rise have arisen suspicion — has no womb nor ovaries and has internal testes, which produce testosterone.

The news hasn't been confirmed by the IAAF, but it has sparked another wave of outrage among South African officials, with the sports minister expressing shock and disgust and the African National Congress Youth League saying it "is also very concerned by the fact that all the media reports about Caster Semenya are generated in Australia, which is the most lucrative destination for South Africa’s racists and fascists, who refused to live under a black democratic government."

The ANC Youth League, which has promised to donate R60,000 (about US$8,000) to Semenya, also said that "even if a test is done, the ANC YL will never accept the categorization of Caster Semenya as a hermaphrodite, because in South Africa and the entire world of sanity, such does not exist."

The IAAF has said the results of Semenya's tests won't be made public until November.

Meanwhile, in this week's issue of "You" magazine, there are published photos of Semenya in decidedly more feminine outfits and poses. In the article, Semenya says she'd like to learn how to do her own make-up but admits wearing her hair down might impede her running.

"Now that I know I can look like this I'd like to dress like this more often," Semenya said in the article.

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/south-africa/090911/caster-shows-her-girly-side-photo-shoot