What it means to be intersex | Susannah Temko

TED Health

TED

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

4.2 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2021

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For intersex people -- those born with sex characteristics outside the traditional definitions of female and male -- the stakes to appear "normal" are high. Drawing on her personal experience, Susannah Temko reveals the shame, prejudice and harm faced by the intersex community, as they're forced to conform to a binary understanding of sex that ultimately hinders their health and well-being. She calls on us all to discard outdated notions of biological sex and accept the complexity within humanity.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective
0:11.0	Hi, it's Elise Hugh with Ted Health.
0:13.0	Today, communications expert Susanna Tempo, like almost 2% of the human population, she
0:18.2	is intersex, born with biology that doesn't fit the traditional conception of male or
0:22.9	female bodies.
0:24.4	In her talk from TEDx London in 2019, Susanna says the world doesn't seem to know much
0:29.2	about intersex people or really see them.
0:32.6	Her passionate talk encourages us to think about the very real costs of prejudice against
0:37.8	those who are born different.
0:40.0	How trying to erase our differences builds shame.
0:59.2	That's survey.prx.org slash health.
1:03.2	Thanks.
1:05.2	I have a confession to make right off the bat.
1:09.1	I don't know what you were doing at 16, but I'm a really big fan of Harry Potter and
1:14.7	was waiting way too long to receive my letter inviting me to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
1:20.0	and Wizardry.
1:21.4	I could have gone for 6th one.
1:23.5	I was also waiting for an invitation to the Jedi Temple or a tap on a shoulder to invite
1:31.8	me to the X-Men.
1:33.8	I was that kid.
1:36.4	When I was 16 years old, I got my wish.
1:41.3	I was taken into a doctor's office and told that I am in fact part of a group of people
	...

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