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

Prevodilac: Dragana Savanovic Lektor: Ivana Krivokuća

[This talk contains mature content]

[Ovaj govor sadrži sadržaj za odrasle]

I have a vagina.

Ja imam vaginu.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Just thought you should know.

Samo sam mislila da treba da znate.

That might not come as a surprise to some of you.

To nekima od vas neće biti iznenađenje.

I look like a woman.

Izgledam kao žena.

I'm dressed like one, I guess.

Obučena sam kao žena, valjda.

The thing is, I also have balls.

Stvar je u tome što imam i muda.

And it does take a lot of nerve

I potrebno je dosta hrabrosti

to come up here and talk to you about my genitalia.

doći ovde i pričati vam o svojim genitalijama.

Just a little.

Samo malo.

But I'm not talking about bravery or courage.

Ne pričam o hrabrosti ili odvažnosti.

I mean literally -- I have balls.

Mislim, bukvalno - imam testise.

Right here,

Baš ovde,

right where a lot of you have ovaries.

gde većina od vas ima jajnike.

I'm not male or female.

Nisam ni muško ni žensko.

I'm intersex.

Ja sam interseksualna.

Most people assume that you're biologically either a man or a woman,

Većina ljudi pretpostavlja da ste biološki ili muško ili žensko,

but it's actually a lot more complex than that.

ali, stvari su zapravo mnogo složenije.

There are so many ways somebody could be intersex.

Možete biti interseksualni na mnogo načina.

In my case, it means I was born with XY chromosomes,

U mom slučaju, to znači da sam rođena sa XY hromozomima,

which you probably know as male chromosomes.

koji su vam poznati kao muški hromozomi.

And I was born with a vagina and balls inside my body.

I rođena sam sa vaginom i testisima unutar tela.

I don't respond to testosterone,

Ne reagujem na testosteron,

so during puberty, I grew breasts,

pa sam, tokom puberteta, dobila grudi,

but I never got acne or body hair, body oil.

ali nikada nisam dobila akne niti malje, telesnu masnoću.

You can be jealous of that.

Možete biti ljubomorni zbog toga.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

But even though I don't actually have a uterus --

Ipak, ja u stvari nemam matericu -

I was born without one,

rođena sam bez nje,

so I don't menstruate, I can't have biological children.

tako da ne dobijam menstruaciju, i ne mogu da imam biološku decu.

We put people in boxes based on their genitalia.

Ljude svrstavamo u kategorije na osnovu njihovih genitalija.

Before a baby's even born, we ask whether it's a boy or a girl,

Čak i pre nego što se dete rodi, pitamo da li je dečak ili devojčica,

as if it actually matters;

kao da je to uopšte važno;

as if you're going to be less excited about having a baby

kao da ćete biti manje uzbuđeni zbog bebe

ako nema genitalije koje ste želeli;

if it doesn't have the genitals you wanted;

as if what's between somebody's legs tells you anything about that person.

kao da ono što je nekome među nogama govori nešto o ličnosti te osobe.

Are they kind, generous, funny?

Da li su dobri, plemeniti, duhoviti?

Smart?

Pametni?

Who do they want to be when they grow up?

Šta žele da budu kad odrastu?

Genitals don't actually tell you anything.

Genitalije vam zapravo ne govore ništa.

Yet, we define ourselves by them.

Ipak, njima definišemo ljude.

In this society, we love putting people into boxes

U ovom društvu, volimo da kategorizujemo ljude

and labeling each other.

i da ih etiketiramo.

It kind of gives us a sense of belonging

To nam, na neki način, pruža osećaj pripadanja

and teaches us how to interact with one another.

i uči nas kako da međusobno komuniciramo.

But there's one really big problem:

Ali, tu postoji jedan stvarno veliki problem:

biological sex is not black or white.

biološki pol nije crn ili beo.

It's on a spectrum.

Nalazi se na spektru.

Besides your genitalia, you also have your chromosomes,

Osim genitalija, vi imate i hromozome,

your gonads, like ovaries or testicles.

polne žlezde kao što su jajnici ili testisi.

You have your internal sex organs,

Imate i unutrašnje polne organe,

your hormone production, your hormone response

proizvodnju hormona, hormonsku reakciju

and your secondary sex characteristics, like breast development, body hair, etc.

i sekundarne polne karakteristike, kao što je razvoj grudi, malja, itd.

Those seven areas of biological sex all have so much variation,

Tih sedam područja biološkog pola imaju toliko varijacija,

yet we only get two options:

a ipak imamo samo dve opcije:

male or female.

muško ili žensko.

Which is kind of absurd to me,

Što mi je pomalo apsurdno,

because I can't think of a single other human trait

jer mi ne pada na pamet nijedna druga ljudska karakteristika

that there's only two options for:

za koju imamo samo dve opcije:

skin color, hair, height, eyes.

boja kože, kose, očiju, visina.

You can either have nose A or nose B, that's it, no other options.

Možete imati ili nos A ili nos B, to je to, nema drugih opcija.

If there are infinite ways for our bodies to look,

Ako postoje beskrajne mogućnosti u smislu izgleda tela,

our minds to think,

načina razmišljanja,

personalities to act,

načina ponašanja,

wouldn't it make sense that there's that much variety

zar ne bi bilo smisla da postoji i raznolikost u pogledu biološkog pola?

in biological sex, too?

Did you know that besides XX or XY chromosomes,

Da li znate da, osim hromozoma XX ili XY,

you could have XX and XY chromosomes?

možete imati hromozome XX i XY?

Or you could have an extra X -- XXY.

Ili možete imati hromozom X više - XXY.

Or two extra -- XXXY.

Ili dva više - XXXY.

Goes on from there.

I tako dalje.

And for those "normal" people with XX or XY,

Za „normalne“ ljude sa XX ili XY hromozomima,

what does that mean?

šta to znači?

I have XY chromosomes.

Ja imam XY hromozome.

If my DNA is found at the scene of a crime --

Ako bi moj DNK pronašli na mestu zločina -

not saying it will, but, you know, we'll see.

ne kažem da hoće, ali, znate, još ćemo videti.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

If my skeleton is discovered thousands of years from now,

Ako bi pronašli moj skelet hiljadama godina od sada,

I'll be labeled male.

označili bi me kao muškarca.

Is that the truth?

Da li je to istina?

My balls would say so.

Moji testisi bi to rekli.

But what about the rest of me?

A šta je sa ostalim delovima?

And what if a woman has ovarian cancer and has to have her ovaries removed?

A šta ako žena ima rak jajnika i mora da ih otkloni?

Does she still qualify as a woman?

Da li se još uvek kvalifikuje kao žena?

What about other intersex people who are born without balls or ovaries

Šta je sa interseksualnim ljudima koji su rođeni bez testisa ili jajnika

or with just one or a combination of the two?

ili sa jednim od to dvoje ili kombinacijom ta dva?

Where do they go?

Gde oni spadaju?

Do you have to have a uterus to be a woman?

Da li morate imati matericu da biste bili žena?

There's a lot of us who are born without one.

Mnogo je nas koji smo rođeni bez nje.

And everyone's favorite part, genitalia:

I omiljeni deo svih, genitalije:

you either have one or the other, right?

imate ili jedne ili druge, zar ne?

You either have a six-inch-long penis that's exactly this thick,

Ili imate penis od 15 centimentara koji je tačno ove debljine,

jutting straight out of the body at a 90-degree angle,

i koji vam štrči iz tela pod uglom od 90 stepeni,

ili vaginu koja je baš ove širine iznutra

or you have a vagina that's this wide internally

and a clitoris that's half an inch above the vaginal opening

i klitoris oko 1 centimetar iznad vaginalnog otvora,

and labia that look exactly like they're supposed to look like,

i usmine koje izgledaju baš kako treba da izgledaju,

according to that one porn video you watched that one time.

sudeći po onom porno snimku koji ste onomad gledali.

Znate kojem.

You know the one.

If you've been with more than one sexual partner in your lifetime,

Ako ste bili sa više seksualnih partnera u životu,

and you line them up, one by one,

i ako ih poređate, jednog po jednog,

I guarantee you can identify them just by their genitalia.

sigurno ih možete identifikovati samo prema njihovim genitalijama.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Think about it.

Razmislite.

Go on.

Hajde.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I see you.

Razumem vas.

No judging.

Bez osuđivanja.

Just notice.

Samo razmislite.

All different, right?

Svi se razlikuju, zar ne?

The sex and gender binary are both so ingrained in our society,

I pol i rodna binarnost su toliko ukorenjeni u našem društvu,

that we never stop to think about it.

da nikada ne razmišljamo o tome,

We just automatically place each other into one box or the other,

već automatski smestimo ljude u jednu ili drugu kategoriju,

as if it actually matters.

kao da je to u stvari bitno.

Until somebody comes along to make you question it.

Dok vas neko ne natera da se zapitate.

And if you're thinking that I'm the exception, an anomaly, an outlier:

I ako mislite da sam ja izuzetak, anomalija, autsajder:

intersex people represent around two percent of the population.

interseksualni ljudi čine dva procenta populacije.

That's the same percentage as genetic redheads.

To je isti procenat kao i prirodno riđokosi ljudi.

It's about 150 million people, roughly,

To je oko 150 miliona ljudi, otprilike,

which is more than the entire population of Russia.

što je više nego cela populacija Rusije.

So there's a lot of us, needless to say.

Dakle, nepotrebno je reći da nas je mnogo.

We're not new or rare.

Mi nismo novost ili retkost.

We're just invisible.

Samo smo nevidljivi.

We've existed throughout every culture in history.

Postojimo u svakoj kulturi u istoriji.

Yet, we never talk about it.

Ipak, nikada ne pričamo o tome.

In fact, a lot of people might not know that they're intersex.

U stvari, mnogi ljudi možda ne znaju da su interseksualni.

Have you had a karyotype test to determine your chromosomes?

Jeste li radili test kariotipa da utvrdite koje hromozome imate?

What about a full blood panel for all of your hormone levels?

A kompletnu krvnu sliku da utvrdite nivo hormona?

A friend of mine found out last year, in his 50s.

Moj prijatelj je saznao prošle godine, u 50-im godinama.

The executive director of interACT,

Izvršna direktorka interACT-a,

which is the leading organization for intersex human rights here in the US,

koja je vodeća organizacija za prava interseksualnih osoba u SAD-u,

she found out she was intersex at age 41.

je saznala u 41. godini da je interseksualna.

Her doctors found out when she was 15,

Njeni lekari su saznali kada je ona imala 15 godina,

but they didn't tell her.

ali joj nisu rekli.

They lied and said that she had cancer,

Lagali su je i rekli da ima rak,

because that seemed like an easier option

jer je to delovalo kao bolja opcija

than finding out she wasn't "fully" a woman.

od saznanja da nije „u potpunosti“ žena.

This kind of thing happens a lot,

Ovakve stvari se dešavaju često,

where intersex people are lied to or kept in the dark about our bodies,

kada interseksualne ljude lažu ili drže u mraku po pitanju njihovih tela,

which comes as a surprise to a lot of people.

što je mnogim ljudima iznenađujuće.

But we live in a society that doesn't talk about sex or bodies at all,

Ali, mi živimo u društvu koje uopšte ne priča o seksu i telu,

unless it's to mock or shame each other.

osim kada se rugamo ili hoćemo da postidimo jedni druge.

I found out I was intersex at age 10,

Ja sam saznala kada sam imala 10 godina,

and for the most part, I was fine with that information.

i, uglavnom, mi je to bilo u redu.

It didn't really faze me;

Nije me stvarno zbunilo;

I was still developing my understanding of the world.

još uvek sam razvijala svoje razumevanje sveta.

It wasn't until I got older

Tek kada sam odrasla,

and realized I didn't fit society's expectations of me,

shvatila sam da se ne uklapam u društvena očekivanja,

that I didn't belong, that I was abnormal.

da tu ne pripadam, da sam abnormalna.

And that's when the shame started.

I tada je počeo stid.

How many times have you seen kids play with the "wrong" toys

Koliko često vidite da se deca igraju igračkama

koje „ne odgovaraju“ njihovom polu?

for their gender?

Or try on the "wrong" clothes?

Ili da isprobavaju „pogrešnu“ odeću?

All the time, right?

Stalno, zar ne?

Kids don't have these ideas about gender norm,

Deca nemaju pojam o rodnim normama,

they don't have shame about who they're supposed to be

ne osećaju stid zbog onoga što treba da budu

or what they're supposed to like or love.

ili onoga što treba da im se sviđa ili da vole.

They don't care about any of this stuff.

Oni ne mare za ove stvari.

They don't have shame until we put it on them.

Oni ne osete stid dok im ga mi ne nametnemo.

I also had doctors lie to me.

I mene su doktori lagali.

At age 10, they told me that I would also get cancer

U 10. godini su mi rekli da ću dobiti rak

unless I removed my balls.

ako ne odstranim testise.

Then they proceeded to tell me that every year.

I to su mi govorili svake godine.

Until today, there are still doctors who want me to remove them.

Čak i danas ima doktora koji žele da ih uklonim.

But there's literally no reason.

Ali za to bukvalno nema razloga.

If a typical XY male, like yourself, has testicles,

Ako tipičan muškarac sa XY hromozomima, kao što ste vi, ima testise,

and one is undescended,

i jedan nije spušten,

there's a high chance of it becoming cancerous --

postoji velika šansa da on postane kancerogen -

or a higher chance of it becoming cancerous.

ili veća šansa da postane kancerogen.

They need to thermoregulated.

Potrebna im je termoregulacija.

So they drop down away from the body to cool off,

Oni se spuste da bi se ohladili,

or they shrink back up to get warm.

ili se skupe da se ugreju.

Mine don't need to do that.

Moji ne moraju to da rade.

They're not responding to testosterone, they're not producing sperm.

Ne reaguju na testosteron, ne proizvode spermu.

They're fine right here inside my body.

Dobro im je baš ovde u mom telu.

Yet, because there's such a lack of information about intersex people,

Ipak, pošto postoji nedostatak informacija o interseksualnim osobama,

my doctors never understood the difference.

moji lekari nikada nisu razumeli razliku.

They never really understood my body.

Nikada nisu stvarno razumeli moje telo.

As I got older,

Kada sam postala starija,

I had another doctor tell me that I needed to have surgery on my vagina.

još jedan lekar mi je rekao da moram da operišem vaginu.

She said that until I had an operation, until she operated,

Rekla mi je da, dok se ne operišem, dok me ona ne operiše,

I would not be able to have "normal sex" with my husband one day.

neću moći da jednog dana imam „normalne“ seksualne odnose sa suprugom.

Her words.

To su njene reči.

I didn't end up going through with the operation,

Na kraju nisam uradila operaciju,

and I'm incredibly grateful for that.

i zbog toga sam neverovatno zahvalna.

I'm not here to talk about my sex life.

Nisam ovde da pričam o svom seksualnom životu.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

But let's just say it's fine.

Recimo da je on u redu.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I'm fine, my body is fine.

Ja sam u redu, moje telo je u redu.

You actually wouldn’t be able to tell the difference

Zapravo, ne biste mogli da uočite razliku

između mene i nekog drugog osim ako vam kažem;

between me and another person unless I told you;

you wouldn't be able to tell that I was intersex unless I told you.

ne biste mogli da uočite da sam interseksualna osim ako vam kažem.

But again, because of the lack of understanding about bodies,

Ali opet, usled nerazumevanja naših tela,

my doctor didn't understand the difference.

moj lekar nije razumeo razliku.

And for the most part, my sex life is fine.

I, uglavnom, moj seksualni život je okej.

The only issue that really comes up

Jedini problem koji iskrsne

is that sometimes, sexual situations bring up memories of doctors touching me,

je da ponekad seksualne situacije izazivaju uspomene na to

kako su me lekari neprestano dodirivali od 10. godine.

over and over again since I was 10.

I've been really lucky to escape --

Jako sam srećna što sam izbegla -

I didn't think I would get emotional --

mislila sam da neću biti emotivna -

I've been really lucky to escape the physical harm

jako sam srećna što sam izbegla fizičku štetu

that comes from these unnecessary surgeries.

koja proizilazi iz ovih nepotrebnih operacija.

But no intersex person is free from the emotional harm

Ali nijedna interseksualna osoba nije oslobođena emotivne štete

that comes from living in a society that tries to cover up your existence.

koja proizilazi iz života u društvu koje pokušava da prikrije vaše postojanje.

Most of my intersex friends have had operations like these.

Većina mojih interseksualnih prijatelja je imala ove operacije.

Oftentimes, they will remove testes like mine,

Često uklanjaju testise kao što su moji,

even though my risk of testicular cancer is lower than the risk of breast cancer

iako je rizik od dobijanja raka testisa niži od rizika od dobijanja raka grudi

in a typical woman with no predisposition, no family history.

kod tipične žene bez predispozicija, bez istorije raka u porodici.

But we don't tell her to remove her breasts, do we?

Ali, ne govorimo ženama da uklone grudi, zar ne?

It's rare to meet an intersex person that hasn't been operated on.

Retkost je sresti interseksualnu osobu koja nije operisana.

Oftentimes, these surgeries are done to improve intersex kids' lives,

Često, ove operacije se izvode kako bi poboljšale život interseksualne dece,

but they usually end up doing the opposite,

ali u stvari imaju suprotan efekat,

causing more harm and complications,

i izazovu više štete i komplikacija,

both physical and emotional.

i fizički i emotivno.

I'm not saying that doctors are bad or evil.

Ne kažem da su lekari loši ili zli.

It's just that we live in a society that causes some doctors to "fix"

Samo živimo u društvu u kojem neki lekari „popravljaju“

those of us who don't fit their definition of normal.

one koji se ne uklapaju u njihovu definiciju normalnog.

We're not problems that need to be fixed.

Mi nismo problemi kojima treba rešenje.

We just live in a society that needs to be enlightened.

Samo živimo u društvu koje mora biti osvešćeno.

One of the ways I'm doing that

Jedan od načina na koji to radim

is by creating a genderless puberty guidebook

je stvaranje bezrodnog pubertetskog priručnika

that can teach kids about their bodies as they grow up.

koji može da nauči decu o njihovim telima dok odrastaju.

Not their girl bodies or their boy bodies --

Ne o telima devojčica ili dečaka -

just their bodies.

već samo o njihovim telima.

We often place unrealistic expectations on the things that our bodies do

Često postavljamo nerealna očekivanja od stvari koja naša tela rade

that are outside of our control.

koje su izvan naše kontrole.

I mean, if one man can grow a full, luxurious, hipster beard,

Mislim, ako jedan muškarac može da ima pravu, raskošnu, hipstersku bradu,

and the other can only grow a few mustache hairs,

a drugi samo nekoliko dlačica,

what does that mean about who they are as men?

šta to govori o tome ko su oni kao muškarci?

Nothing.

Ništa.

It literally, most likely, just means

To bukvalno, najverovatnije, samo znači

that their hair follicles respond to testosterone in different ways.

da njihovi folikuli dlake drugačije reaguju na testosteron.

Yet, how many times have you heard a man ashamed about something like this?

Ipak, koliko puta ste čuli da se muškarac postidi zbog nečega ovakvog?

Imagine a world where we could live in a society

Zamislite svet u kome bismo mogli da živimo u društvu

that teaches us not to have shame

koje nas uči da se ne stidimo

about the things that our bodies do or do not do.

stvari koje naša tela rade ili ne rade.

I want to change the way that we think about biological sex in this society --

Želim da promenim način razmišljanja o biološkom polu u ovom društvu -

which is a lot to ask for.

što je mnogo.

You could say it's ballsy, I guess.

Mogli biste reći da je kuražno.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

But eventually we accepted the world as round, right?

Ali na kraju smo prihvatili da je zemlja okrugla, zar ne?

We no longer diagnose gay people with mental disorders

Gej ljudima ne dijagnostikujemo mentalne poremećaje

or women with hysteria.

ili ženama histeriju.

We don't think epilepsy is caused by the devil anymore, so that's cool.

Više ne mislimo da epilepsiju izaziva đavo, tako da je to okej.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

We constantly change and evolve, the more we understand as a society.

Mi se stalno menjamo i razvijamo, što više razumevanja imamo kao društvo.

And biological sex is on a spectrum.

A biološki pol se nalazi na spektru.

It's not black or white.

Nije crn ili beo.

Not only could that knowledge save intersex kids

Ne samo da bi to saznanje spasilo interseksualnu decu

from physical and emotional harm,

fizičke i emotivne štete,

I think it would help everyone else, too.

nego bi i pomoglo svima.

Who here has ever felt inadequate or ashamed

Ko od vas se ikada osećao neprikladno ili posramljeno

because you weren't girly enough, you were too girly,

jer niste bile dovoljno ženstvene, jer ste bile previše ženstvene,

you weren't manly enough, or too manly?

jer niste bili dovoljno muževni, ili ste bili previše muževni?

We constantly shame people for not fitting into a box,

Stalno posramljujemo ljude jer se ne uklapaju u kategoriju,

but the reality is,

ali realnost je da,

I think we shame others because it prevents them from seeing

po mom mišljenju, posramljujemo druge da oni ne bi videli

that we don't fit inside our boxes, either.

da se ni mi ne uklapamo u našu kategoriju.

And the truth is that nobody actually fits in a box,

Istina je da se niko ne uklapa,

because they don't exist.

jer kategorije ne postoje.

This binary, this false male-female facade is something we constructed,

Ova binarnost, lažna muško-žensko fasada je nešto što smo mi stvorili,

we built ourselves.

sami smo je izgradili.

But it doesn't have to exist.

Ali ne mora da postoji.

We can break it down.

Možemo je uništiti.

And that's what I want to do.

To je ono što želim da uradim.

Will you join me?

Hoćete li mi se pridružiti?

Thanks.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)