Do We Have Enough Genders?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 12 January 2016
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Gender identity is considered more fluid than ever because of the success of the trans movement. But most trans people, just like everyone else, still identify as either a man or a women. For those who feel they are neither – or both – the male-female distinction does not fit. And, for the one in 2000 who are born with indeterminate sex, finding a place in this binary world can be damaging.
So, are there enough genders? We hear from Dr Imran Mushtaq, who works with intersex children at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London; bi-gender vlogger Brin Convenient; Tamara Adrian, Venezuela’s first transgender congresswomen (who wants gender erased from official forms); and the writer Mark Gevisser.
(Photo: Transgender transsexual concept. Credit: Thinkstock by Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Maria Margaronis with The Inquiry. |
| 0:06.0 | This week, as part of the BBC World Service identity season, |
| 0:10.0 | another chance to hear us address a particularly difficult question, |
| 0:14.0 | Do we have enough genders? Trans issues have broken through into mainstream popular culture. |
| 0:28.0 | Celebrities like Caitlin Jenner and Levern Cox are making it a little easier for trans people to come out. |
| 0:35.0 | In TV shows and Hollywood films like Transparent and The Danish Girl, |
| 0:40.0 | trans characters are being portrayed with sympathy and understanding. |
| 0:51.0 | Australia, Nepal and Pakistan now offer a third gender option on official forms. |
| 0:57.0 | But some people are challenging even those gender categories. |
| 1:00.0 | Now you can be transgender, but you can also be gender fluid or |
| 1:05.2 | pan-gender or androgynous or many other things that may or may not reflect your |
| 1:10.9 | anatomy. The possibilities are expanding at a dizzying speed |
| 1:15.8 | fueled by the digital revolution and the young youtubers who are exploring their |
| 1:19.7 | identities out loud. |
| 1:21.6 | Over the past two months, I've been here. My experience. |
| 1:24.0 | Hey everyone, I'm open. |
| 1:27.0 | The agenda for a chat. |
| 1:28.0 | This week's topic is a really good one. |
| 1:30.0 | This trans movement is unsettling one of the most basic ways we think about who we are. |
| 1:38.0 | It's bound to be a bit contentious. |
| 1:40.0 | We won't make it through this program without getting something wrong for somebody somewhere. |
| 1:45.0 | But even so, as the world tries to catch up with the new gender pioneers, we're asking, |
... |
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