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A Modern Day Epistemology: The Semenya Case

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A Modern Day Epistemology: The Semenya Case
The Semenya case was not informed by a select group of knowledge structures: it was informed by areas of knowledge such as History, Natural Sciences, Ethics and Politics all of which are essential in the formation of a modern day epistemology of an individual’s identity and hence, their positioning in a largely dichotomous, gendered society.
However, this epistemology is deeply rooted in power structures: whose voice is society conditioned to recognize as authoritative and reliable ? One position could be to give the individual the sole authority to defining the “truth” of their gender identity: Semaya’s gender is a part of her identity that is self-proclaimed, hence positioning her own declaration as the truth. Another position would be

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