In Rio, Semenya has been described as avoiding media and training on her own. She’s refused to comment on the speculation—and South African sports officials are supporting her by simply not entertaining any questions about her gender. But that hasn’t stopped the invasive public conversation about Semenya’s body.

Our understanding of gender and biology has evolved since athletes were degraded during the naked parades used as gender testing in the 1930s. Surely public discourse should evolve, too.

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