0:00:18.430,0:00:21.495
Hi. My name is Cameron Russell

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and for the last little while[br]I've been a model.

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Actually for 10 years.

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And I feel like

0:00:33.713,0:00:36.088
there is an uncomfortable tension[br]in the room right now,

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because I should not have worn this dress.

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(Laughter)

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So, luckily I brought an outfit change.

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This is the first outfit change[br]on a TED stage,

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so you guys are pretty lucky[br]to witness it, I think.

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If some of the women were really horrified[br]when I came out,

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you don't have to tell me now,[br]but I will find out later on Twitter.

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(Laughter)

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I'd also note that I am quite privileged

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to be able to transform[br]what you think of me

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in a very brief 10 seconds.

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Not everybody gets to do that.

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These heels are very uncomfortable,[br]so good thing I wasn't going to wear them.

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The worst part is putting[br]this sweater over my head

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because that's when[br]you'll all laugh at me

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so don't do anything[br]while it's over my head.

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All right.

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So, why did I do that?

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That was awkward.

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(Laughter)

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Well...

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(Laughter)

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Hopefully not as awkward as that picture.

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Image is powerful,

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but also image is superficial.

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I just totally transformed [br]what you thought of me in six seconds.

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And in this picture I had actually [br]never had a boyfriend in real life.

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I was totally uncomfortable [br]and the photographer was telling me

0:02:05.761,0:02:10.244
to arch my back and put my hand[br]in that guy's hair.

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And of course barring surgery, or the fake tan

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that I got two days ago for work,

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there is very little that we can do[br]to transform how we look.

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And how we look, though it is superficial

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and immutable has a huge impact on our lives.

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So today, for me, being fearless

0:02:30.922,0:02:35.321
means being honest,[br]and I am on this stage

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because I am a model.[br]I am on this stage

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because I am a pretty white women.

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In my industry we call that a sexy girl.

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And I am gonna answer the questions

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that people always ask me[br]but with an honest twist.

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So the first question is,[br]"How do you become a model?"

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And I always say,[br]"Oh, I was scouted,"

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but that means nothing.

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The real way that I became a model

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is I won a genetic lottery [br]and I'm the recipient of a legacy.

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And maybe you're wondering,[br]"What is a legacy?"

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Well, for the past two centuries[br]we have defined beauty

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not just as health and youth and simetry

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that we're biologically programmed to admire,

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but also as tall slender figures

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and femininity and white skin.

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And this is a legacy that was built for me

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and it's a legacy that I've been cashing out on.

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And I know there are pople in the audience

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who are skeptical at this point,

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and maybe there are some fashionistas[br]who are like,

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"Wait -- Naomi, Tyra, Joan Smalls, Liu Wen,"

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and first I commend you[br]on your model knowledge,

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very impressive.[br](Laughter)

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But unfortunately I have to inform you

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that in 2007 a very inspired NYU PhD student

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counted all the models on the runway,

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every single one who was hired,

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and of the 677 models that were hired,

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only 27 or less than 4% were non-white.

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The next question people always ask me is,

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"Can I be a model when I grow up?"

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And first answer is,[br]"I don't know,

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they don't put me in charge of that."

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But the second answer and what I really

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want to say to these little girls is,

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"Why? You know, you can be anything.

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You could be the President of the United States,

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or the inventor of the next Internet,

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or a ninja cardio-thoracic surgeon poet,

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which would be awesome because[br]you'd be the first one." (Laughter)

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If after this amazing list they're still like,

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"No, no, Cameron, I want to be a model",

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then I say, "Be my boss",

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because I'm not in charge of anything,

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and you could be[br]the editor-in-chief of American Vogue

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or the CEO of H&M[br]or the next Steven Meisel.

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Saying that you want to be a model[br]when you grow up

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is a akin to saying that you want to win

0:04:37.782,0:04:40.320
the Powerball when you grow up.

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It's, you know, out of your control,

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and it's awesome[br]and it's not a career path.

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I will demonstrate for you now[br]ten years of

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accumulated model knowledge,[br]because unlike

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cardio-thoracic surgeons[br]it can just be distilled

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right into it right now.

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So, if the photographer is right there

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and the light is right there like a nice HMI

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and the client says,[br]"Cameron, we want a walking shot."

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Well then this leg goes first,[br]nice and long,

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this arm goes back, this arm goes forth, [br]the head is at three quarters

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and you just go back and forth.[br]Just do that.

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And then you look back at your imaginary friends [br](Laughter)

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three hundred, four hundred,[br]five hundred times.

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It will look something like this[br]-- (Laughter) --

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hopefully less awkward than that one on the middle,[br]that was --

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I don't know what happened there.[br](Laughter)

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Unfortunately, after you've gone to school

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and you have a resume[br]and you've done a few jobs

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you can't say anything anymore, so --

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if you say you want to be[br]the President of the United States,

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but your resume reads[br]"Underwear model 10 years"

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people give you a funny look.

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The next question people always ask me is,

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"Do they retouch all the photos?"

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and yeah, they pretty much[br]retouch all the photos,

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but that is only a small component[br]of what's happening.

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This picture is the very first picture[br]that I ever took

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and is also the very first time[br]that I had worn a bikini,

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and I didn't even have my period yet,

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I know we are getting personal,

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but, you know, I was a young girl.

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This is what I looked like with my grandma

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just a few months earlier.

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Here's me on the same day as the shoot

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-- my friend got to come with me --

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Here is me at a slumber party a few days[br]before I shot French Vogue.

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Here's me on the soccer team[br]and in V Magazine.

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And here is me today.

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And I hope what you are seeing is that

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these pictures are not pictures of me, [br]they are constructions,

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and they are constructions by professionals,

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by hair stylists, and make up artists[br]and photographers and stylists

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and all of their assistants,[br]and pre-production,

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and post-production,[br]and they built this.

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That's not me.

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OK, so the next question[br]people always ask me is,

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"Do you get free stuff?"[br](Laughter)

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I do have too many eight inch heels

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which I never get to wear,[br]except for earlier,

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but the free stuff that I get[br]is the free stuff

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that I get in real life and that is what

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we don't like to talk about.

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I grew up in Cambridge and one time

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I went out to a store[br]and I forgot my money

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and they gave me the dress for free.

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When I was a teenager[br]I was driving with my friend,

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who was an awful driver,[br]and she ran a red and of course

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we got pulled over,[br]and all it took was a

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"Sorry, officer" and we were on our way.

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And I got these free things[br]because of how I look,

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not who I am,[br]and there are people paying a cost

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for how they look and not who they are.

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I live in New York, and last year

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of the 140.000 teenagers[br]that were stopped and frisked,

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86% of them were black and Latino [br]and most of them were young man.

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And there are only 177.000 [br]young black and latino man

0:07:25.283,0:07:27.313
in New York, so for them it's not a question

0:07:27.313,0:07:28.514
of "Will I get stopped?" but

0:07:28.514,0:07:30.804
"How many times will I get stopped? [br]When will I get stopped?"

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When I was researching this talk[br]I found out that

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of the 13 year old girls in the United States

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53% don't like their bodies.[br]And that number

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goes to 78%[br]by the time they are 17.

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So the last question people ask me is,

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you know,[br]"What is it like to be a model?"

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and I think the answer[br]that they're looking for is

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if you are a little bit skinnier[br]and you have shinier hair

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you will be so happy and fabulous.

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And when we are backstage[br]we give an answer

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that maybe makes it seem like that,

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we say "It's really amazing to travel" and

0:08:01.609,0:08:04.400
"It's amazing to get to work with creative inspired

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passionate people,"[br]and those things are true,

0:08:07.362,0:08:09.784
but they're only one half of the story,[br]because the thing

0:08:09.784,0:08:13.092
that we never say on camera, [br]that I have never said on camera is

0:08:13.092,0:08:17.054
"I am insecure."[br]And I am insecure because

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I have to think about[br]what I look like everyday,

0:08:20.611,0:08:24.641
and if you ever are wondering, you know,

0:08:24.641,0:08:28.111
"If I have thinner thighs and shinier hair, [br]will I be happier?"

0:08:28.111,0:08:29.973
you just need to meet group of models, because

0:08:29.973,0:08:31.680
they have the thinnest thighs[br]and the shinniest hair

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and the coolest clothes[br]and they are the most

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physically insecure women[br]probably on the planet.

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So when I was writing this talk[br]I found it very difficult

0:08:40.249,0:08:43.297
to strike an honest balance,[br]because on the one hand

0:08:43.297,0:08:46.058
I felt very uncomfortable[br]to come here and say,

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look I received all these benefits from a deck

0:08:48.012,0:08:49.745
stacked in my favour.

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And also I felt really uncomfortable[br]to follow that up with

0:08:51.562,0:08:55.687
"And it doesn't always make me happy".

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But mostly it was difficult to unpack

0:08:58.267,0:09:00.737
a legacy of gender and racial opression

0:09:00.737,0:09:04.012
when I'm one of the biggest beneficiaries.

0:09:04.012,0:09:07.530
But I am also happy and honoured to be up here

0:09:07.530,0:09:10.834
and I think that it's great I got to come,[br]you know, before

0:09:10.834,0:09:12.305
ten or twenty or thirty years had passed and

0:09:12.305,0:09:15.217
I had more agency on my career,[br]because maybe then

0:09:15.217,0:09:17.484
I wouldn't tell the story of how I got my first job,

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or maybe I wouldn't tell the story[br]of how I paid for college,

0:09:20.032,0:09:23.141
which seems so important right now.

0:09:23.141,0:09:24.837
If there is a take away to this talk,

0:09:24.837,0:09:27.460
I hope is that we all feel more comfortable

0:09:27.460,0:09:30.129
acknowledging the power of image

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in our perceived successes

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and our perceived failures.

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Thank you.

0:09:36.206,0:09:41.682
(Applause)