Where most scientific research over the past seventy years has assumed a division in biological sex, Richard Prum argues that the sexual binary is not actually essential to human genes, chromosomes, or embryos. Rather, a fertilized zygote matures into an organism with tissues and organs, immune defenses, neurological control, and gender and sexual behavior through performance.
By blending decades of queer feminist thought with rigorous scientific research, Prum challenges the societal narrative that sex and gender exist in a binary.
Join us at Town Hall, where Richard Prum will discuss the ways in which feminist theory can offer scientists a radically different understanding of the human body.
Richard O. Prum is a biologist, ornithologist, and Pulitzer Prize finalist, whose new book, Performance All the Way Down, brings feminist thought directly into conversation with biology. The idea that gender is performed has been a tenet of queer feminist theory since the nineties and nowadays has reached the realm of popular thought. Prum not only agrees with this perspective based on scientific research but goes further to suggest that the sexual binary itself is a performative act.
Presented by Town Hall Seattle.
