Most people don't think much about human biology after high school. Which is a real problem!
Because most people also assume that biological sex is obvious, simple, and binary: people are either male or female. However, the closer biologists look, the more that simple perspective falls apart.
In The Binary Delusion, biologist Ari Berkowitz reveals how chromosomes, hormones, genitals, brains, and more defy the binary categories people take for granted. We explore what this complexity means for intersex and transgender people, why biology has become a political battleground, and how recognizing the full range of human variation could free all of us from restrictive expectations about sex and gender.
The stakes go way beyond scientific accuracy: they touch on bodily autonomy, personal freedom, and the right to live without being forced into stereotypical gender expectations that just don't fit.
Full transcript is available here at relationscapes.org.
Show Notes
Eleanor A Maguire, Katherine Woollett, and Hugo J Spiers, "London taxi drivers and bus drivers: a structural MRI and neuropsychological analysis," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Fellow Traveler Episodes
Daphna Joel, The Incredible Brain Science About Sex and Gender
Matthew Gutmann, Testosterone, Y Chromosomes, and Other Manly Excuses
About the Guest
Ari Berkowitz is a Presidential Professor in the Department of Biology and Director of the Cellular and Behavioral Neurobiology Graduate Program at the University of Oklahoma. He is author of The Binary Delusion: How Biology Defies the Myth of Two Sexes.
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