0:00:02.460,0:00:06.883
(Music: Edith Piaf, "La Vie En Rose")

0:00:15.681,0:00:19.456
Cecily: Ah, well,[br]I feel rather frightened.

0:00:19.480,0:00:22.385
I'm so afraid he will look[br]just like everyone else.

0:00:22.409,0:00:23.559
(Algernon sniffs)

0:00:26.718,0:00:27.869
Cecily: He does.

0:00:27.893,0:00:31.234
Algernon: You are my little[br]cousin Cecily, I'm sure.

0:00:31.258,0:00:33.577
Cecily: You are under some grave mistake.

0:00:33.601,0:00:34.760
I'm not little.

0:00:34.784,0:00:38.863
In fact, I do believe I'm actually[br]more than usually tall for my age.

0:00:38.887,0:00:40.735
But I am your cousin Cecily

0:00:40.759,0:00:43.776
and you, I see, are also here[br]helping Jo Michael Rezes

0:00:43.800,0:00:45.592
with their TEDx talk.

0:00:45.616,0:00:48.982
And you are my cousin Ernest.

0:00:49.006,0:00:51.260
My wicked cousin Ernest.

0:00:51.284,0:00:54.593
Algernon: Oh, well, I'm not really[br]wicked at all, cousin Cecily.

0:00:54.617,0:00:56.299
You mustn't think that I am wicked.

0:00:56.323,0:00:59.157
Cecily: Well, I hope you haven't[br]been leading a double life,

0:00:59.181,0:01:02.268
pretending to be good[br]and being really wicked all the time.

0:01:02.292,0:01:03.760
That would be hypocrisy.

0:01:03.784,0:01:07.125
Algernon: Well, of course[br]I have been rather reckless.

0:01:07.149,0:01:09.082
Cecily: I am glad to hear it.

0:01:09.720,0:01:13.063
Algernon: But the world[br]is good enough for me, cousin Cecily.

0:01:13.087,0:01:15.634
Cecily: Yes, but are you[br]good enough for it?

0:01:15.658,0:01:17.602
Algernon: I'm afraid I am not that.

0:01:17.626,0:01:19.571
That's why I want you to reform me.

0:01:19.595,0:01:22.204
Cecily: Well, I'm afraid[br]I have no time this afternoon.

0:01:22.228,0:01:24.378
The TED talk and all.

0:01:24.402,0:01:25.402
(Laughter)

0:01:25.427,0:01:28.524
Algernon: Well, would you mind[br]my reforming myself this afternoon?

0:01:28.548,0:01:30.569
Cecily: Oh, that's rather[br]quixotic of you,

0:01:30.593,0:01:31.903
but I think you should try.

0:01:31.927,0:01:33.077
Algernon: Good.

0:01:33.101,0:01:34.268
I feel better already.

0:01:34.292,0:01:36.156
Cecily: You're looking a little worse.

0:01:36.180,0:01:39.403
Algernon: Well, might I have[br]that pink rose?

0:01:39.427,0:01:40.578
Cecily: Why?

0:01:40.602,0:01:43.348
Algernon: Because you are[br]like a pink rose, cousin Cecily.

0:01:43.372,0:01:45.852
Cecily: Well, I don't think[br]it could be right for you

0:01:45.876,0:01:47.043
to talk to me like that.

0:01:47.067,0:01:49.352
Algernon: You are the prettiest[br]girl I ever saw.

0:01:49.376,0:01:52.481
Cecily: But -- well, I -- I --

0:01:52.505,0:01:54.513
Algernon: And, and ahem --

0:01:54.537,0:01:57.553
Cecily: All good looks are a snare and --

0:01:57.577,0:02:02.220
Algernon: Well, it's a snare that every[br]sensible man would like to be caught in.

0:02:02.982,0:02:04.132
(Sighs)

0:02:06.680,0:02:09.184
JMR: I'm so sorry, I --

0:02:11.053,0:02:13.259
I didn't finish rehearsing.

0:02:14.104,0:02:17.028
Um, well it's not because[br]I can't walk in heels,

0:02:17.052,0:02:18.635
I'm actually really good at that,

0:02:18.659,0:02:21.492
and I can prove it to you, too,[br]but I really am sorry.

0:02:21.516,0:02:22.881
Hold on.

0:02:24.993,0:02:26.445
Uh, um.

0:02:29.255,0:02:30.405
No matter.

0:02:30.906,0:02:32.056
No matter.

0:02:32.819,0:02:33.969
Right.

0:02:34.390,0:02:35.855
Right, introductions.

0:02:35.879,0:02:37.559
It's a TEDx talk, right.

0:02:38.625,0:02:39.775
Hi, there.

0:02:41.990,0:02:43.783
My name is Jo Michael Rezes

0:02:43.807,0:02:47.716
and I'm a PhD student here[br]in theater and performance studies.

0:02:48.347,0:02:51.204
And I specialize in the study[br]of queer identities,

0:02:51.228,0:02:54.323
as they maneuver and affect[br]the perceptions of time

0:02:54.347,0:02:56.147
in the performance of camp.

0:02:56.956,0:02:58.106
You know camp?

0:03:00.036,0:03:02.353
Sincerity in irony's clothing?

0:03:03.210,0:03:05.599
Making the kitsch feel like home?

0:03:05.623,0:03:06.774
No?

0:03:06.798,0:03:08.149
The Met Gala theme from 2019

0:03:08.173,0:03:11.903
that was thoroughly misunderstood[br]by over 95 percent of its attendees?

0:03:11.927,0:03:13.078
No?

0:03:13.102,0:03:14.253
OK, anyway.

0:03:14.277,0:03:16.926
I'm also an actor/director[br]and theater educator at large

0:03:16.950,0:03:18.267
in the greater Boston area.

0:03:18.291,0:03:20.188
Oh, and where are my manners?

0:03:20.212,0:03:23.140
The friends I brought with me today[br]are Algernon and Cecily

0:03:23.164,0:03:25.640
from Oscar Wilde's famously[br]well-known play

0:03:25.664,0:03:27.656
"The Importance of Being Earnest."

0:03:27.680,0:03:29.306
And they'll be back, don't worry.

0:03:29.330,0:03:30.902
I've only scared them off a bit.

0:03:30.926,0:03:33.068
And let's be honest,

0:03:33.092,0:03:34.349
it wouldn't be a TEDx talk

0:03:34.373,0:03:36.965
without things wrapping up nicely[br]at the end, would it?

0:03:36.989,0:03:38.139
(Laughter)

0:03:39.246,0:03:42.380
You know, I hope[br]that wasn't too awful, though.

0:03:42.404,0:03:44.817
It was awkward, I know, to watch me fail.

0:03:45.237,0:03:47.714
To fail at what exactly, though?

0:03:48.061,0:03:51.633
To play a man and a woman[br]at the same time?

0:03:51.657,0:03:54.585
I mean, to play a man and a woman[br]when I'm actually neither?

0:03:55.125,0:03:56.998
Why does it feel so awkward

0:03:57.022,0:03:59.363
when we see someone fail at gender

0:03:59.387,0:04:00.772
and why do we care?

0:04:00.796,0:04:04.033
I mean, obviously me screwing this up[br]was done on purpose.

0:04:04.057,0:04:06.343
Obviously I had this all[br]perfectly memorized

0:04:06.367,0:04:08.498
and rehearsed for today, right?

0:04:08.522,0:04:09.704
Right?

0:04:09.728,0:04:10.728
(Laughter)

0:04:10.753,0:04:14.210
Well, I'm here today to talk[br]about gender performativity.

0:04:14.234,0:04:16.805
And the ways in which I've used[br]my acting classroom

0:04:16.829,0:04:20.847
as a space to disrupt the finality[br]of gender performance,

0:04:20.871,0:04:25.170
to open up a looser space[br]for thinking about gender identity

0:04:25.194,0:04:27.368
through supportive failure,

0:04:27.392,0:04:30.542
generous mistakes[br]and honest communication.

0:04:30.566,0:04:32.820
We all, actors or otherwise,

0:04:32.844,0:04:35.586
can play with gender[br]in our everyday lives.

0:04:35.888,0:04:39.237
And I call this gender rehearsativity.

0:04:39.261,0:04:43.872
Now before all of the queer theorists[br]and women studies degree holders

0:04:43.896,0:04:45.930
and Judith Butler fanatics in the audience

0:04:45.954,0:04:50.771
start to tear the half-and-half,[br]hyper-binary costume off of my body,

0:04:50.795,0:04:52.887
let me first explain where popular culture

0:04:52.911,0:04:56.188
has already begun to misunderstand[br]gender performativity,

0:04:56.212,0:04:59.910
before I move into[br]the rehearsativity I hold so dear.

0:05:01.053,0:05:02.459
Now as an educator

0:05:02.483,0:05:05.640
and as a youngish[br]20-something-year-old trans person,

0:05:05.664,0:05:08.870
I'm constantly hearing from my[br]20-something-year-old students,

0:05:08.894,0:05:12.441
friends and colleagues[br]that gender is "over."

0:05:12.465,0:05:15.727
That gender is so fluid and carefree

0:05:15.751,0:05:17.592
and that society, film and television

0:05:17.616,0:05:19.933
are so inclusive of transgender people,

0:05:19.957,0:05:22.395
that it's basically over.

0:05:22.419,0:05:26.434
Now I don't ascribe to the binary,[br]as a nonbinary person myself.

0:05:27.133,0:05:29.521
But gender definitely isn't over.

0:05:29.950,0:05:32.241
Or at least I don't think it is.

0:05:32.617,0:05:37.570
And maybe, just maybe,[br]gender is always beginning.

0:05:38.077,0:05:39.586
This last semester,

0:05:39.610,0:05:43.006
at roughly 10:23 am,

0:05:43.030,0:05:44.355
two of my acting students,

0:05:44.379,0:05:47.791
while embodying delicious caricatures[br]of fraternity brothers --

0:05:47.815,0:05:50.172
forgive me, I don't remember[br]his or his name --

0:05:50.196,0:05:51.982
Well, they rounded up the class,

0:05:52.006,0:05:55.506
and these two women in [unclear][br]and baggy clothing

0:05:55.530,0:06:00.404
[unclear] to reveal lacks jaws[br]and lacks bro mentalities.

0:06:01.633,0:06:05.037
And astounding as it was to watch,

0:06:05.061,0:06:10.720
these women fluctuated[br]between irony and satire,

0:06:10.744,0:06:15.942
the uncanny and the ruthlessly so,[br]pain and joy, until ultimately

0:06:15.966,0:06:19.490
they failed to be the men[br]they were choosing to embody.

0:06:19.514,0:06:21.380
They simply stopped talking.

0:06:22.109,0:06:23.339
Silence.

0:06:23.363,0:06:24.538
A lull hit the class

0:06:24.562,0:06:27.807
and time seemed to be[br]sucked clean out of the room.

0:06:27.831,0:06:30.752
And in this moment of loud stillness,

0:06:30.776,0:06:32.847
one of the women,

0:06:32.871,0:06:35.204
still using her frat bro voice,

0:06:35.228,0:06:38.989
though fully out of character,[br]said nearly in a whisper

0:06:39.871,0:06:43.243
"Gender is a social construct."

0:06:45.200,0:06:48.962
I'll admit, I laughed along[br]with my students that morning.

0:06:48.986,0:06:52.557
Partially at the comedic timing[br]that my student had in her delivery

0:06:52.581,0:06:57.518
but also at the fact that society[br]has turned gender performativity

0:06:57.542,0:07:00.470
into gender as social construct.

0:07:00.494,0:07:02.094
Now, listen to this.

0:07:02.704,0:07:06.688
I think that this idea has come[br]from renowned queer studies scholar

0:07:06.712,0:07:07.863
Judith Butler,

0:07:07.887,0:07:10.393
whose seminal work[br]in the performativity of gender

0:07:10.417,0:07:12.133
has gone on to be a staple

0:07:12.157,0:07:15.410
in undergraduate classrooms[br]at liberal arts institutions.

0:07:15.434,0:07:18.132
Now, this sparknotes version[br]of Butler's work

0:07:18.156,0:07:23.918
is found in the idea that gender exists[br]in repeated words and actions.

0:07:23.942,0:07:27.114
And these performatives create[br]and are created

0:07:27.138,0:07:29.418
by the bodies of real human beings.

0:07:29.442,0:07:30.633
Now listen to this.

0:07:30.657,0:07:33.268
"Moreover, in a 1988 essay,

0:07:33.292,0:07:39.394
Butler claims that gender is an act[br]which has been rehearsed.

0:07:40.022,0:07:41.212
In this way,

0:07:41.236,0:07:45.831
gender through repetition[br]becomes a recognizable script

0:07:45.855,0:07:48.736
which requires actors to reproduce it."

0:07:49.110,0:07:50.284
Huh.

0:07:50.308,0:07:55.181
Much like my attempt[br]at "The Importance of being Earnest."

0:07:55.205,0:07:57.117
Oh, I mean, look at my costume.

0:07:57.141,0:08:01.125
(Deep voice) Why does this half[br]make me feel manly, masculine, swath,

0:08:01.149,0:08:04.871
(High voice) and this half makes me feel[br]girly, fabulous and feminine?

0:08:04.895,0:08:08.290
I mean, some of us even forget[br]that gender is there,

0:08:08.314,0:08:11.351
because it is so well-rehearsed[br]into our bodies.

0:08:12.002,0:08:15.978
But there's always an ideal of gender[br]that we can never quite achieve.

0:08:16.537,0:08:18.750
But it's up to us to play with it.

0:08:19.125,0:08:22.720
Now, I've played with gender[br]throughout my own career as an actor

0:08:22.744,0:08:25.142
and in one semester[br]as an undergraduate student,

0:08:25.166,0:08:27.992
I was cast in two roles simultaneously.

0:08:28.016,0:08:30.241
Brad Majors in the "Rocky Horror Show,"

0:08:30.265,0:08:33.468
and Charlotte Ivanovna[br]in "The Cherry Orchard."

0:08:33.809,0:08:37.492
One man, one woman and one me.

0:08:38.652,0:08:40.707
I would go from one rehearsal,

0:08:40.731,0:08:43.953
playing the manly, aggressive Brad,

0:08:43.977,0:08:46.875
only to be pulled,[br]moments later, into a wig

0:08:46.899,0:08:50.037
and delicately blended[br]eyeliner as Charlotte,

0:08:50.061,0:08:51.823
a German governess.

0:08:52.363,0:08:55.006
The constant push and pull[br]of these identities

0:08:55.030,0:08:58.387
was not only invaluable[br]to my work as an actor,

0:08:58.411,0:09:02.164
attempting to span the spectrum[br]of gender and my work,

0:09:02.188,0:09:03.871
but it also revealed to me

0:09:03.895,0:09:06.196
that my own queer identities

0:09:06.220,0:09:10.418
are deeply indebted to embodying[br]the extremes of gender.

0:09:11.125,0:09:14.910
These characters held important[br]facets of my identities,

0:09:14.934,0:09:16.339
of my body,

0:09:16.363,0:09:17.799
my daily pain,

0:09:17.823,0:09:20.807
of my social interactions, of my memories,

0:09:20.831,0:09:25.736
and rehearsing these characters[br]allowed me to explore those identities,

0:09:25.760,0:09:29.212
which has opened up my need[br]as an acting teacher

0:09:29.236,0:09:32.656
to show the importance[br]of playing with gender in rehearsal.

0:09:33.458,0:09:36.088
So when I present to you all

0:09:36.112,0:09:37.334
(high voice) Cecily

0:09:37.358,0:09:39.024
and (deep voice) Aldernon,

0:09:39.048,0:09:42.913
there are these parts[br]of these two characters that I respect,

0:09:42.937,0:09:45.760
understand implicitly[br]oppressions I can relate to,

0:09:45.784,0:09:47.383
fears I can embody,

0:09:47.407,0:09:49.940
aggressive tendencies[br]that I try to forget.

0:09:50.649,0:09:53.363
But there are also[br]plenty of characteristics

0:09:53.387,0:09:56.120
with which I have no personal experience.

0:09:56.458,0:09:58.022
Nothing I can draw from.

0:09:58.046,0:10:01.672
And sometimes in a flurry of rehearsal,

0:10:01.696,0:10:03.117
of reading a script,

0:10:03.141,0:10:04.680
of creating a character,

0:10:04.704,0:10:07.402
well, we make a mistake.

0:10:08.466,0:10:11.234
Aldernon's aggressive[br]flirtation towards Cecily

0:10:11.258,0:10:12.585
doesn't sit well in my body

0:10:12.609,0:10:16.372
or Cecily's calm demeanor,[br]as written by Oscar Wilde,

0:10:16.396,0:10:18.077
just doesn't sit right,

0:10:18.101,0:10:19.781
and I literally trip up.

0:10:20.538,0:10:22.949
Now, this TEDx talk is a performance

0:10:22.973,0:10:26.711
in front of so many people.

0:10:26.735,0:10:29.925
And it differs quite drastically[br]from my classrooms in that regard,

0:10:29.949,0:10:34.014
but there is such a recognizable[br]pressure in our daily lives

0:10:34.038,0:10:36.171
to perform our gender,

0:10:36.195,0:10:37.457
our selves,

0:10:37.481,0:10:39.560
on a stage like this.

0:10:40.962,0:10:42.120
Quite frankly,

0:10:42.144,0:10:45.525
failure to pass as a man[br]or a woman, effectively,

0:10:45.549,0:10:48.807
is still dangerous for transgender[br]and gender nonconforming people.

0:10:49.224,0:10:50.596
And listen to this.

0:10:50.620,0:10:54.149
According to the 2015[br]US transgender survey,

0:10:54.173,0:10:56.212
nearly half of respondents voiced

0:10:56.236,0:10:58.769
that they had been verbally[br]harassed in the past year

0:10:58.793,0:11:01.173
because of their gender[br]identity or expression.

0:11:01.483,0:11:05.039
And that number has shown[br]only to increase in communities of color.

0:11:05.500,0:11:08.486
Many of us now claim[br]to view gender on a spectrum.

0:11:09.548,0:11:11.341
And that's great,

0:11:11.365,0:11:14.214
including 60 percent[br]of Generation Z individuals

0:11:14.238,0:11:16.736
who reported to the Pew[br]research center in 2019

0:11:16.760,0:11:20.085
that they believe forms with boxes[br]for male or female

0:11:20.109,0:11:22.069
should include more gender options.

0:11:22.815,0:11:24.418
But in spite of this,

0:11:24.442,0:11:28.528
there is still latent fear[br]of making gender mistakes

0:11:28.552,0:11:30.933
in offices, in classrooms,

0:11:30.957,0:11:32.504
in the eyes of the government,

0:11:32.528,0:11:34.266
in romantic situations,

0:11:34.290,0:11:36.123
and for some of us,

0:11:36.147,0:11:39.004
even in the mirror[br]when we wake up in the morning.

0:11:39.973,0:11:44.044
But our gender mistakes[br]have the potential for something good.

0:11:44.687,0:11:45.902
Even in the binary,

0:11:45.926,0:11:48.283
approaching life on the stage[br]as a man or a woman,

0:11:48.307,0:11:51.371
we can support each other[br]in experimentation.

0:11:51.395,0:11:54.188
Trips and stumbles,[br]two hour-long meditations [unclear]

0:11:54.212,0:11:57.006
or five-second costume[br]changes with gender.

0:11:57.030,0:11:59.029
And failure is a key part

0:11:59.053,0:12:01.522
of Judith Butler's theory[br]of performativity.

0:12:01.546,0:12:03.736
But I do believe that for most people,

0:12:03.760,0:12:05.122
like you all out there,

0:12:05.146,0:12:09.386
you might hear "performativity"[br]and hear "perform."

0:12:09.780,0:12:12.050
That's to say, performance-ready

0:12:12.074,0:12:14.121
or if not performance-ready,

0:12:14.145,0:12:18.355
perhaps performance in general[br]gives you anxiety.

0:12:18.379,0:12:21.876
Or the stage fright that I have[br]to this very day.

0:12:23.075,0:12:26.130
What we need to understand[br]is that failing at gender

0:12:26.154,0:12:30.313
can and should be a positive,[br]generative process.

0:12:30.750,0:12:33.909
The mistakes we make with gender[br]can only help us grow

0:12:33.933,0:12:37.541
and better understand the multitudes[br]of gender around us.

0:12:37.565,0:12:40.465
But we need to make space[br]for these mistakes.

0:12:40.795,0:12:43.398
We need to hold space for failure.

0:12:44.138,0:12:47.146
And that's where rehearsativity[br]comes into play.

0:12:47.836,0:12:51.463
Now, one of the main points[br]I like to make with my acting students,

0:12:51.487,0:12:55.125
when they're last minute panicking[br]about a monologue or a scene,

0:12:55.149,0:12:58.331
is that no one is ever actually ready.

0:12:59.268,0:13:02.369
I mean, we're never actually[br]done rehearsing,

0:13:02.393,0:13:05.099
we're just put in front of an audience.

0:13:05.932,0:13:08.718
When I taught a workshop[br]on gender bending this last summer

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at Somerville Arts for Youth,

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I made it quite clear[br]to a group of middle school-aged students,

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that you cannot be a bully

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and a good actor at the same time.

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It's impossible.

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There is something[br]about the act of embodiment

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that requires empathy to survive.

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Bullying prohibits the creative process.

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As these middle schoolers[br]moved about the room,

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trying on the extremes[br]of binary gender presentation,

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this dissolved into galumphing,

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laughter,

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parodying of stereotypes[br]they see in movies and on television,

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joy in the failure to understand gender.

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Even my college students,[br]in Introduction to acting,

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jumped on the opportunity[br]to play with gender

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when I restricted their time to think.

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On Halloween last year,

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I asked my students[br]to come to class in costume

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and to, well, to throw their hats[br]into the middle of a circle,

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metaphorically and literally,

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and the only rule of the game

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was that they had to go[br]into the center of the circle,

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take on a hat, pick a character,

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and then switch.

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No time to think.

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And it wasn't until two men in the class

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noticed no one running[br]to the center of the circle

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that they jumped into the center,

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and one became

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(Deep voice) a British chauvinist,

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(High voice) and the other[br]a high-pitched coy British lady.

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Time stood still.

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Laughter,

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mimicry,

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joy, again,

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in the failure to understand gender.

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That's the potential[br]of gender rehearsativity.

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And I challenge you all

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to think of your days as mini rehearsals.

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Cultivate spaces in your life[br]to explore gender.

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And allow other people[br]to explore their gender.

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Fail at gender.

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I wish I could give you more tangible ways[br]to go out and do this.

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But gender is funny like that.

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Gender is an act which had been rehearsed.

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Some acts more rehearsed than others.

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But gender is far from being perfect.

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And sometimes,

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just like in rehearsal,

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when we support each other[br]in times of play,

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in times of joy and times of pain,

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we wind up succeeding more[br]than if we hadn't tried or failed at all.

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Algernon: Well, I think[br]that has been a great success.

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I'm in love with Cecily[br]and that is everything.

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But I must see her before I go.

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Oh, there she is.

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Cecily: Oh, I merely came back[br]to water the roses.

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I thought we were at a TEDx talk with Jo.

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Algernon: Oh.

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Well, they've gone to order[br]the dog-cart for me.

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Cecily: Oh.

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Are they going to take you[br]for a nice drive?

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Algernon: They're going to send me away.

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Cecily: Oh.

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So we have to part.

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Algernon: I'm afraid so.

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The very painful parting.

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Cecily: Well, the absence of old friends[br]one can endure with equanimity.

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But even a momentary separation

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from anyone whom they've just met

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is almost unbearable.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)