How many redheads do you know?
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Just looking around me in the cafe where I am writing this, I see several redheads. Chances are, you know a number of people with natural red hair. Including you, maybe!
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In fact, between one and two percent of the world’s population has red hair.
Said another way, that is at least 80 million people. That’s basically the population of Australia, Canada, and Sri Lanka … combined!
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So, I was surprised when I learned that a similar percentage of the population is intersex (a word that I confess I had to look up). Most of us were raised with the notion of sex as binary based on our visible genital organs at birth; one is either a man or woman.
Intersex is an “umbrella term that describes bodies that fall outside the strict male/female binary.”
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That is, some people are born with sex characteristics that don’t check the either/or boxes for female or male bodies, whether that is regarding external genitalia, internal sex organs, chromosomes, hormones, or cell makeup. With today's science, we know that there are multiple biological parameters, not just external genitalia.
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What happens when there are more than two variations for these biological parameters? What happens when the parameters do not “line up”?
What happens when the binary does not represent the scientific reality of human bodies?
While the data is still emerging, some scientists estimate that between 1 and 2% of people are intersex.
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Whoa! That’s about the same percentage of the population that is redheaded!
However, in a binary world, these individuals are often subjected to unnecessary surgeries, secrecy, and shame (which further complicates having concrete data).
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My first substantive encounter with the word “intersex” came up when I had the pleasure of meeting accomplished journalist turned documentary filmmaker Julie Cohen at a social gathering. Cohen co-directed the Academy Award nominated film RBG.
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Cohen described her latest film, EVERY BODY, about the experiences of intersex people (that is when I made a mental note to google “intersex” when we got home).
Like many of you, I loved Cohen’s creative storytelling in RBG, so I was excited to watch EVERY BODY.
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Go Beyond the Binary
The film is mesmerizing! Cohen does a brilliant job weaving together science and stories to illuminate how flawed our binary understanding of sex is.
We meet three powerful intersex people, each with a unique experience: Alicia Roth Weigel, River Gallo, and Sean Saifa Wall,
I so appreciated their emotional labor in sharing some heartbreaking stories … heartbreaking not because they were born intersex but because of how they have been treated medically, psychologically, and culturally.
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While the film deals with serious issues, it is also grounded in joy and humanity. It left me smiling and smarter.
The film is streaming on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, and YouTube, and playing in some theaters. I hope you see it and let me know your thoughts (just hit reply to this email).
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If you, like me, need a little intersex 101 micro-syllabus, here are two introductory pieces that can each be read/watched in less than 15 minutes.
This Nature article titled "Sex Redefined" was helpful to me as it unpacks how our anatomy, hormones, cells and chromosomes do not line up into binary categories.
(Note: the article uses the terminology “DSD or disorders of sex development,” that many in the intersex community reject as it suggests they have a condition that needs medical fixing).
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This TED Talk “The Way We Think About Biological Sex is Wrong” by Emily Quinn was also eye opening. With a sense of humor, Quinn notes that she can’t think of any other human trait where there are only two binary variations (think about it: skin color, hair, height, eye color, etc.), yet we are surprised when our binary view of sex is challenged by the science.
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I will be honest. I find all of this pretty mind bending. If you grew up in a sex binary mindset and a sex binary world (as most of us did), you might be experiencing a range of emotions while you read this newsletter. I think we should honor those very real reactions.
I am personally in a state of what I call “confusiosity.”
But the science is compelling. I wonder if our binary mindset and world will some day be the flat earth of our time? Like, something that made sense based on what we could see and know at the time, but eventually was proven obsolete when science allowed us to see and know more? I don't know ... maybe.
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At the very least, I am starting to realize that I may not know what I don’t know.
Regardless of our emotional response, the science is increasingly clear. Chances are that we each know, love, or are an intersex person. It is definitely time for me to learn more, confusiosity and all.
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Thank you for coming to my TED Talk
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I’m deep in “good-ish” learning mode these days and hope you are too.
Speaking of which ... my TED Talk about why being a good-ish person is better than being a good person just hit 5 million views! That is wild. Some of those views came from you (and many came from my parents, lol) so thank you for growing with me.
And, if you are looking for your next read or gift idea, I got you. Check out my first book, The Person You Mean to Be, or my latest book, A More Just Future. They are the inspiring reads you might need to end a tough year, or start a new one.
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Let’s keep the learning going,
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