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TED Health

The way we think about biological sex is wrong | Emily Quinn

TED Health

TED

Shoshana Ungerleider, Ted Shoshana, Ted Talks Health, Health & Fitness, How To Be Healthier, Medicine, Fitness

4.01.5K Ratings

🗓️ 1 December 2020

⏱️ 16 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Did you know that almost 150 million people worldwide are born intersex -- with biology that doesn't fit the standard definition of male or female? (That's as many as the population of Russia.) At age 10, Emily Quinn found out she was intersex, and in this wise, funny talk, she shares eye-opening lessons from a life spent navigating society's thoughtless expectations, doctors who demanded she get unnecessary surgery -- and advocating for herself and the incredible variety that humans come in. (Contains mature content)



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Transcript

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0:00.0

Ted Audio Collective.

0:02.0

Audio Collective.

0:04.0

I'm Elise Hugh.

0:11.0

You're listening to TED Talk Staling.

0:13.6

Today's talk asks interesting questions about what makes us so sure of our sex and gender.

0:19.3

Is it our private parts that make us male or female?

0:21.9

Is it our DNA? This binary is so ingrained in our society

0:25.9

that we don't stop to think about it, but Emily Quinn's Ted Women Talk from 2018

0:30.6

will make you think, and it made me smarter and more sensitive about

0:34.4

challenging our assumptions about our sexes and before we begin a quick note this

0:38.6

talk contains mature language and may not be suitable for all listeners.

0:48.0

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...

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