Emily Quinn: The way we think about biological sex is wrong
艾蜜莉昆恩: 我們看待生理性別的方式是錯的
Emily Quinn describes herself as "a ballsy intersex activist who uses humor and storytelling to create a more welcoming world for people who don’t fit in a box." Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
as a surprise to some of you.
about my genitalia.
跟各位談我的生殖器,
about bravery or courage.
biologically either a man or a woman,
你在生理上不是男性就是女性,
complex than that.
somebody could be intersex.
一個人成為陰陽人。
I was born with XY chromosomes,
就有 XY 染色體,
as male chromosomes.
這就是男性染色體。
and balls inside my body.
就有陰道和睪丸。
我的乳房開始發育,
or body hair, body oil.
青春痘、體毛、體油。
actually have a uterus --
我生來就沒有,
I can't have biological children.
based on their genitalia.
we ask whether it's a boy or a girl,
我們就問是男孩還是女孩,
about having a baby
沒有你想要的生殖器,
the genitals you wanted;
tells you anything about that person.
能告訴你關於這人的一些事似的。
大方的?有趣的?
來定義我們自己。
putting people into boxes
把人分類,給彼此貼標籤。
with one another.
you also have your chromosomes,
your hormone response
你的荷爾蒙反應,
like breast development, body hair, etc.
比如乳房發育、體毛等等。
all have so much variation,
of a single other human trait
還有哪一種人類特性
that's it, no other options.
就這樣,沒其他選擇。
for our bodies to look,
不論是我們身體的外觀、
that there's that much variety
XX or XY chromosomes,
除了 XX 或 XY 染色體,
people with XX or XY,
或 XY 的「正常」人來說,
at the scene of a crime --
but, you know, we'll see.
但,誰知道呢。
thousands of years from now,
and has to have her ovaries removed?
而把卵巢拿掉了呢?
who are born without balls or ovaries
他們生來就沒有睪丸或卵巢,
or a combination of the two?
to be a woman?
who are born without one.
that's exactly this thick,
六英吋的陰莖,就這麼粗,
at a 90-degree angle,
在體內有這麼寬,
that's this wide internally
above the vaginal opening
上方半英吋的位置,
like they're supposed to look like,
為標準。你知道哪部的。
you watched that one time.
sexual partner in your lifetime,
just by their genitalia.
生殖器就能認出誰是誰。
are both so ingrained in our society,
在我們的社會中根深蒂固,
into one box or the other,
歸到某一類或另一類,
to make you question it.
讓你質疑它。
I'm the exception, an anomaly, an outlier:
around two percent of the population.
as genetic redheads.
the entire population of Russia.
every culture in history.
都有我們這種人。
that they're intersex.
不知道自己是陰陽人。
to determine your chromosomes?
來判斷你的染色體?
for all of your hormone levels?
包含所有的荷爾蒙含量?
last year, in his 50s.
他已經五十多歲。
陰陽人人權組織,
for intersex human rights here in the US,
she wasn't "fully" a woman.
「完整」的女人。
or kept in the dark about our bodies,
並不知道他們身體的真相,
to a lot of people.
about sex or bodies at all,
完全不談論性或是身體,
I was fine with that information.
我都能接受這項資訊。
my understanding of the world.
society's expectations of me,
社會對我的期望,
play with the "wrong" toys
不符性別、「錯」的玩具來玩?
about gender norm,
孩子沒有什麼概念,
about who they're supposed to be
他們應該成為怎樣的人、
until we put it on them.
把羞恥加到他們身上。
that I would also get cancer
我也會得癌症。
to tell me that every year.
who want me to remove them.
會希望我把睪丸拿掉。
like yourself, has testicles,
becoming cancerous --
of it becoming cancerous.
away from the body to cool off,
遠離身體以冷卻,
they're not producing sperm.
它們不會產生精子。
of information about intersex people,
資訊很匱乏,
the difference.
了解過我的身體。
有另一位醫生告訴我,
I needed to have surgery on my vagina.
until she operated,
若她不給我動手術,
"normal sex" with my husband one day.
with the operation,
我的性生活很好。
to tell the difference
除非我告訴你們;
unless I told you;
that I was intersex unless I told you.
知道我是陰陽人。
of understanding about bodies,
對身體的了解,
the difference.
my sex life is fine.
bring up memories of doctors touching me,
再而三地觸碰我。
因此而情緒激動——
the physical harm
逃離了身體的傷害,
unnecessary surgeries.
from the emotional harm
沒受到情緒的傷害,
that tries to cover up your existence.
試圖掩飾你存在的社會當中。
have had operations like these.
都接受過這類手術。
testes like mine,
跟我一樣情況的睪丸拿掉,
is lower than the risk of breast cancer
no predisposition, no family history.
to remove her breasts, do we?
把乳房拿掉,對吧?
that hasn't been operated on.
接受過手術的陰陽人。
是要改善陰陽孩子的生活,
to improve intersex kids' lives,
doing the opposite,
doctors are bad or evil.
that causes some doctors to "fix"
一些醫生會要「修好」我們這樣的人,
their definition of normal.
that needs to be enlightened.
需要被教導的社會中。
puberty guidebook
無性別的青春期指南,
about their bodies as they grow up.
教導他們關於身體的知識。
or their boy bodies --
或男孩的身體——
on the things that our bodies do
不是我們能控制的,
a full, luxurious, hipster beard,
非常濃密的紳士鬍,
a few mustache hairs,
about who they are as men?
這有什麼意涵?
respond to testosterone in different ways.
有不同的反應方式。
a man ashamed about something like this?
男人對此感到羞恥?
we could live in a society
而感到羞恥。
that our bodies do or do not do.
about biological sex in this society --
我們對於生理性別的看法——
這要求很「帶種」。
the world as round, right?
地球是圓的了,對吧?
with mental disorders
是得了心理疾病,
by the devil anymore, so that's cool.
是魔鬼造成的了,那很好。
the more we understand as a society.
我們這個社會了解的越來越多。
save intersex kids
inadequate or ashamed
格格不入或可恥,
you were too girly,
你太像女孩、
for not fitting into a box,
某種類型,就讓他感到羞愧,
讓他們感到羞愧,
because it prevents them from seeing
inside our boxes, either.
我們所屬的類型。
nobody actually fits in a box,
能符合一種類型,
is something we constructed,
錯誤的男-女假象,
我們建立了我們自己。
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Emily Quinn - Artist, activist, authorEmily Quinn describes herself as "a ballsy intersex activist who uses humor and storytelling to create a more welcoming world for people who don’t fit in a box."
Why you should listen
At age 10, Emily Quinn learned she was intersex. As she writes: "Doctors said not to tell anyone, poking and prodding at me like I was a science experiment. It was lonely, shameful, and I had nowhere to turn. I needed someone to tell me that it would be OK, but no one was there.
"Fourteen years later, I discovered an intersex support group, meeting hundreds of intersex people who endured trauma like mine. I knew it had to stop. I was working at Cartoon Network and decided to help create the first intersex main character on television: Lauren on MTV's 'Faking It.' I publicly came out as intersex alongside her debut, and suddenly I was bombarded with interviews, appearing in content across the web. The impact was so great that I quit my job, created a YouTube channel, began speaking globally about intersex experiences, and am now writing a YA novel. In ways I could have never imagined, I became the person I needed as a kid -- showing myself that one day it would be OK."
Emily Quinn | Speaker | TED.com