Gender and Power M Gessen hosted by Annamarie Jagose

  • Talks and Ideas
  • Curious
  • Playhouse
  • Run time – 60 minutes, no interval
  • Seating map

We need to talk about gender

With ‘gender wars’ spreading across the western world placing lives at risk, M Gessen, one of the most insightful thinkers of their generation, examines the dark forces behind gender panic and why it has fallen on such fertile ground.

Unrivalled in their ability to see connections others miss, M Gessen, examines the intersections of gender, control and power that have seen trans and nonbinary people denied basic civil rights. How have movements for recognition, equality and tolerance become perceived as threats – even among allegedly liberal, open-minded people who themselves have benefited from an expansion of rights? What hope might there be for a world that looks different from the one we are living in now? 

Co-presented with the University of Sydney

Event details

Gender is something that happens between me and other people. It doesn’t actually happen inside my body. It’s what people see, what I want them to see, what I feel when they see one thing and not the other thing.

M Gessen

Co-presenter

You may also like

Live Journalism

28 Sep 2025

With her characteristic razor-sharp wit, your host Annabel Crabb turns the Sydney Opera House into an innovative live radio magazine. Featuring audio-rich storytelling with an ear for the important, the quirky, the sublime.

  • Talks and Ideas
  • Curious

Is it Fascism Yet?

28 Sep 2025

Is the world’s most powerful democracy failing? Jason Stanley and M Gessen join Anna Funder, for this timely and chilling discussion on the state of the US.

  • Talks and Ideas
  • Curious

Is this AI’s Black Mirror Moment?

28 Sep 2025

Hallucinating chatbots, conspiracy spirals, deepfake drama. Has AI gone mad? Join Dr Karl and a panel of experts as they unpack the strange, seductive and unsettling effects of AI.

  • Talks and Ideas
  • Curious

Attending this event

Plan your visit

Address

Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Getting to the venue

The Opera House is a 7-10 minute walk from Circular Quay, and is easily accessible by car, train, ferry, lightrail, bus, bike and on foot.

Location and access

Playhouse

The Playhouse is located in the north-western corner of Sydney Opera House, best accessed through the Western Foyers.

Checking availability