Mae Martin explores the science of gender and sexual fluidity in a new episode of The Nature of Things
Canadian comedian Mae Martin is a self-proclaimed "nerd for science," so it's no surprise they're hosting an episode of The Nature of Things — television's longest-running science program.
In Fluid: Life Beyond the Binary, Martin introduces some of the scientists responsible for recent discoveries about gender and sexual fluidity in both the human and non-human world.
Guided by eminent biologists Joan Roughgarden and Justin Rhodes, and famed primatologist Frans de Waal, Martin discovers a hermaphroditic ginger plant, sex-changing clownfish, and mammals — lions, hyenas and chimpanzees — that display surprisingly non-normative sex traits.
Martin and trans historian Jules Gill-Peterson look back on milestones in the flawed (but still influential) history of gender science, touching on conversion therapy, the shaming of kids whose behaviour strayed from gender norms, and an inspiring act of social justice.
Neuroscientist Gillian Einstein explains how variations in genes and hormones inform where each of us are on the gender spectrum, and neuroscientist Lise Eliot studies a scan of Martin's brain and explains why there's no such thing as a male or female brain. Eliot says research into a supposed gay or trans brain is harmful because it pathologizes those who don't conform to gender norms when there's really only one kind of human brain.
Martin meets with three trans and non-binary scientists who take a gender-diverse approach to their work. Neuroendocrinologist Simón(e) Sun, neuroscientist Daniel Pfau and statistician-epidemiologist Elle Lett hold a roundtable about their research and their experience studying gender research from diverse points of view. They all agree science as a whole needs more perspectives.
"What I would love to see, especially in … biology itself, is this acceptance of the need to have different ways of approaching the same question," Sun says.
For a look at the next generation, Martin introduces psychologist Kristina Olson, who has studied how a supportive environment can help trans and gender-diverse children. Olson's research has shown that when parents supported their gender-nonconforming children, the kids' mental health was very similar to the cisgender control group.
Martin also meets a group of trans youth who share their difficult life experiences and hopes for a future that is more inclusive and accepting. They hope the new generation of health-care professionals have a more informed and empathetic view on sex and gender.
Fluid: Life Beyond the Binary debunks dangerous pseudoscience and highlights fascinating examples of gender and sex fluidity in the living world. These discoveries reveal how, in a very real and measurable sense, we all experience gender fluidity.
