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Lilly Singh: “A Seat at the Table” Isn’t the Solution for Gender Equity | TED

Women and girls are conditioned to believe success is “a seat at the table.” Creator, actress and author @Lilly Singh thinks we need to build a better table. In this hilarious, incisive talk, Singh traces the arc of her career from up-and-coming YouTuber to history-making late-night talk show host, offering four ways to build a…

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Women and girls are conditioned to believe success is “a seat at the table.” Creator, actress and author @Lilly Singh thinks we need to build a better table. In this hilarious, incisive talk, Singh traces the arc of her career from up-and-coming YouTuber to history-making late-night talk show host, offering four ways to build a more inclusive society where girls are encouraged and empowered to do great things.

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87 Comments

87 Comments

  1. Cheyenne Renee

    March 7, 2022 at 8:51 pm

    She is great!

  2. Cheyenne Renee

    March 7, 2022 at 8:51 pm

    I loved this

  3. Cheyenne Renee

    March 7, 2022 at 8:51 pm

    the boys in the comment section need to leave

    • Twuan Dixon

      March 8, 2022 at 12:23 am

      Stop being sexist you blind hypocrite.

  4. Arjun Aj

    March 7, 2022 at 9:12 pm

    I thought 💭 she became disappointed to many when her peoples (Farmers protest) need the most she 🤐 zipped ……

  5. Jasmine Ladleure

    March 7, 2022 at 9:30 pm

    Such a beautiful and strong presence

  6. Sassy Sassano

    March 7, 2022 at 9:36 pm

    Equity is such a terrible idea I can’t emphasize this enough. But I’m not sure what I expected coming from the mouth of this “comedian “. Maybe just stick to your cringe show and your cringe jokes.

  7. nandish cs

    March 7, 2022 at 9:52 pm

    You are not hilarious while on stage in videos yes.
    Farmers protest you think because it’s ur clan, whole of other states in India, was okay with govt reforms.

  8. Iskaral Pust

    March 7, 2022 at 9:56 pm

    Lily Singh is the reason dislikes were removed.

  9. Amanda Tayte-Tait Presents

    March 7, 2022 at 10:09 pm

    This was a great talk and this is valid regardless of how you felt about her tv show. It’s still so true!

  10. denat18

    March 7, 2022 at 10:48 pm

    lol 😉

  11. Steven John

    March 7, 2022 at 11:14 pm

    Wow, such an amazing Ted Talk!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾

    So much respect to you Lilly ❤❤

  12. Aamnah

    March 7, 2022 at 11:16 pm

    Beyond proud of her ❤️

  13. Emilio Deluca

    March 7, 2022 at 11:27 pm

    Sorry females, males have always been, are and will always be more valuable than you. Deal with it. You lose! End this useless equality nonsense and let’s all get back to whats really important….. FAMILY!

  14. Barbara Stockham

    March 7, 2022 at 11:27 pm

    GO LILLY!!! What a great talk!

  15. Paul Jack Vasilyev

    March 7, 2022 at 11:28 pm

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    • Rose Allen

      March 7, 2022 at 11:29 pm

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    • Rose Allen

      March 7, 2022 at 11:29 pm

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    • Abigail Prewitt

      March 7, 2022 at 11:30 pm

      @Rose Allen Please do you mind sharing any means of reaching out to him easily? I’m really interested.

    • Paul Jack Vasilyev

      March 7, 2022 at 11:30 pm

      @Abigail Prewitt just type Dmitry Goldin , look his name up on the internet and you will find everything you need to know about him.

    • Abigail Prewitt

      March 7, 2022 at 11:31 pm

      @Paul Jack Vasilyev Ok, just found his website, impressive, I will message him now, Thank you.

  16. Anjulique The Artist

    March 7, 2022 at 11:50 pm

    Wonderful talk Queen! 👏🏿🎉👏🏿🎉 thank you for sharing your story and giving us solutions to help create better spaces for women 😍🙌🏿😍🙌🏿

  17. J J

    March 7, 2022 at 11:56 pm

    Well said Lilly 👏❤️

  18. Sergey Berengard

    March 8, 2022 at 12:09 am

    The difference between her and a man in the same position
    is that a man doesn’t make a drama around being a man in this position, but he still puts the same amount of work as her to succeed.

  19. ugagradrn

    March 8, 2022 at 12:15 am

    As a first gen Indian American, I understand Lilly’s side of things, and it’s wonderful that she’s persevered and made it big, but the poor response to her show was never about her being a brown woman. It was because like 50% of her words were about being female, brown and bisexual rather than commentary about the world and entertainment. I don’t want to hear about any of the other guys being white and straight, either. All that said, it’s very impressive that she was able to make it into late night as a brown, bisexual female, but she spoke about all those things way too much, and the vast majority of people can’t relate. I think she could have done really really well if she’d cut back on talking about herself.

  20. Sumona Sen

    March 8, 2022 at 12:16 am

    Lilly- Wow!! Every seat you take becomes a throne! You truly are ‘Superwoman’

  21. Twuan Dixon

    March 8, 2022 at 12:17 am

    Ted is like a religious page now. Not really an intellectual channel more just ideological narratives and constantly pushing ideals true or not.

  22. che rocha

    March 8, 2022 at 12:39 am

    When they disabled the Likes/Dislikes on a video despite YouTube already having removed Dislikes lol. I wonder if she specifically requested that?

  23. Bobby Trill

    March 8, 2022 at 12:40 am

    A female “comedian” who talks about relationships and pop culture and also complains about everything? Wow, so unique 😐

  24. Sommy Nriama

    March 8, 2022 at 12:48 am

    13:06 “all the things that men don’t want to do are handed over to women”, as if men are not the ones doing all those suicidal jobs that women don’t want to do. Hippocrisy at its peak.

  25. Sommy Nriama

    March 8, 2022 at 12:54 am

    15:25 “Make Space for us???!” Someone should please help me verify, did I hear that correct, because I believe I lost a few brain cells somewhere in that region in the video?

    15:42 I also think I heard something like when more men show up at the table, more women kill each other or something.

  26. Kay _

    March 8, 2022 at 7:48 pm

    I really enjoyed this, Lilly is so inspirational bravo 👏👏👏👏

  27. Sarah R

    March 8, 2022 at 7:52 pm

    💜🧡💜🧡

  28. Snarey Shot

    March 8, 2022 at 7:53 pm

    She is such an eloquent person! I love everything she stands for!

  29. Anusree Basu

    March 8, 2022 at 8:07 pm

    I really loved how beautifully and symbolically Lilly spoke about women empowerment. ❤️ Thanks Lilly for encouraging us and being a true example of your words. Love you always 😭❤️

  30. Asadullah Nizamani

    March 8, 2022 at 8:20 pm

    LOVE U LILLY!!!!!!

  31. August MJ

    March 8, 2022 at 8:23 pm

    GO LILLY GO! ⭐️💐

  32. August MJ

    March 8, 2022 at 8:23 pm

    💞💞💞💞🌷🌷🌷🌷🌷💞💞💞💞💞💞

  33. crazysox305

    March 8, 2022 at 8:44 pm

    The people who are mad at her in the comments are proving her point 🥸

  34. Prongs

    March 8, 2022 at 8:49 pm

    The number of trolls spending their last few braincells on mental gymnastics to somehow criticise Lilly with the stupidest most convoluted unreasonable reasoning. When this is such a sound logic n delivery n tone n setting n accessible easy to understand MASTERPIECE compared to the average quality of Ted Talks…
    Is a testament to how much of a threat she is to all oppressive status quos n she does it with so much grace. N without losing her initial relatability n approachability.
    Also if Lilly made the illustrations in the slides, n the going by the sheer TALENT in her draw my life video, Lilly please please PLEASE also try delving into animation or animatics n join the YouTube animators community they’re mostly really cool ppl tho not as cool as you. I REALLY hope this reaches her or her team.

  35. Yousif Hamza

    March 8, 2022 at 8:57 pm

    Lilly’s close circle wya??

  36. Sonal Pandey

    March 8, 2022 at 9:18 pm

    You go girl. Make the way for the rest! So empowering. Saw you had a TeD talk on your IG and rushed over here 🙂

  37. LachyTV Faithmediaco

    March 8, 2022 at 9:21 pm

    Beautifully said ” don’t just fight for one spot for you…but for us”

  38. Lièle

    March 8, 2022 at 9:39 pm

    Her speech was amazing, she is so eloquent, I love to see her shine like that

  39. Josefin Börzsei

    March 8, 2022 at 10:12 pm

    Amazing, THANK YOU😍

  40. Farah A.

    March 8, 2022 at 10:16 pm

    0:26 I felt!

  41. Farah A.

    March 8, 2022 at 10:18 pm

    I don’t understand the “you should have a boy” as if we have a damn choice.

    Desi families are weird. We need to end this sexism.

    • Marie E.

      March 9, 2022 at 12:55 am

      I am not desi, but I support this message

  42. XOXO Strawberry

    March 8, 2022 at 10:23 pm

    Lilly you are one of the greatest YouTubers I’ve watched since 2012… it’s so good and refreshing to see you speak on such a controversial but important topic. #gosuperwomen

  43. Vance H

    March 8, 2022 at 10:31 pm

    Equality, Truth, and Peace for All.

  44. SkoczMiNaPukiel

    March 8, 2022 at 10:37 pm

    I’m the best worker at my office and they pay me the same as the guy that sucks (and another guy that sucked more but he got fired yayyy). I’ve had enough of this shit, this year’s goal is to find a better job where I’ll feel appreciated.

  45. Amanda Reed

    March 8, 2022 at 11:18 pm

    Yesssss girl!

  46. rahul

    March 8, 2022 at 11:27 pm

    she is from well to do family, probably upper middle class as her family had settled in Canada a long time ago, why does she speak as she belongs to the oppressed rural villages in India. She is more Canadian than Indian, even in Indian villages they don’t discriminate against daughters and they love their daughters but she begins her ted talk by already being a victim ? what kind of Bollywood bullshit movies has she been watching ?

    • Pankti Desai

      March 9, 2022 at 1:12 am

      Bruh. Yes they do. Shut up

  47. Jazz Music

    March 8, 2022 at 11:38 pm

    😅🤣😂 seat at the table 😅🤣😂 please. All I hear is me me me, your show failed because of you, own your decisions, mistakes and failures. A note to yall watching, stop LISTENING her. THIS CHICK WAS BORN RICH, LIVES RICH AND WILL DIE RICH. Race and being a bi woman has nothing to do with it!!!!!

  48. Shyna Gandhi

    March 9, 2022 at 12:45 am

    You are an inspiration lilly.. we are so proud of you

  49. Marie E.

    March 9, 2022 at 12:56 am

    Wow!!! Wonderful, 🦸‍♀️

  50. Andrea Defour

    March 9, 2022 at 1:09 am

    👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

  51. Gus 6

    March 9, 2022 at 10:04 am

    “being grateful and treated fairly isn’t mutually exclusive” 👏🏻👏🏻❤️

  52. Kaylee Yee

    March 9, 2022 at 10:34 am

    So cool and congratulations on Lilly on having a TED talk!!

  53. lina

    March 9, 2022 at 11:57 am

    I loved this ted talk. It was so warm, funny, heartening and it brought so many significant points in the conversation. I just know this will be impactful

  54. GemInMeg

    March 9, 2022 at 1:13 pm

    Lilly’s content has been nothing but impactful, educational, hilarious all at the same time. I’m so happy and proud of how far she’s come! You go Lilly!

  55. GIRLFRIEND

    March 9, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    Wao Lilly!! What a Great talk! the gratitude …. you open my eyes!

  56. Remembrance Runyowa

    March 9, 2022 at 2:19 pm

    Profound !

  57. Defintity _

    March 9, 2022 at 2:25 pm

    I feel like she is just trying to cover up the fact that people just didn’t feel she was funny.

    • Ryan Paladino

      March 9, 2022 at 4:18 pm

      She’s a hack. Her comedy is flat. Her ideas are basic. Her takes arent fresh.

  58. Fernanda Mena

    March 9, 2022 at 2:32 pm

    You’re such an inspiration 💛💛💛

  59. analogue dragon

    March 9, 2022 at 2:34 pm

    Here is a partial list of occupations where women are almost completely excluded from: long-distance truck drivers, miners, power plant workers, plumbers, sewage treatment workers, garbage collectors, construction workers, fishers, farmers, loggers, and a few others. It’s about time we end this shameful discrimination and make sure women are 50% of this workforce.

    • Retrosky

      March 9, 2022 at 6:40 pm

      Most trades you mentioned are physically intensive and time bound. Employers prefer men for these occupations because they are stronger which can get the work done in time. As for logging, I can say that there are many communities where being a lumberjill is openly accepted.

      As for your point, wouldn’t it be better for women to stop getting discriminated at modern day workspaces with respect to the gender wage gap and receive more high profile leadership positions? For instance my fiancee works as a project lead. She gets constantly overlooked by her boss and the spotlight is on her colleague (also a project lead) simply because the board of directors prefer men taking the reigns.

  60. Fernanda Mena

    March 9, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    You re great at public speaking. What a powerful message. THANK U

  61. Nadie_

    March 9, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    SHE IS THE SUPERWOMAN!!

  62. Ryan Paladino

    March 9, 2022 at 4:15 pm

    They are hiding likes even with dislikes disabled.

  63. Ryan Paladino

    March 9, 2022 at 4:16 pm

    Yo. This is wack.

  64. Jon G

    March 9, 2022 at 4:18 pm

    So proud of her ❤️

  65. Boe Cat

    March 9, 2022 at 6:09 pm

    This woman will red pill more men than anything I can think of. She is so creepy. Trying to act ‘strong’ but comes off as ‘desperate’.
    edit- and look at Ukraine, they are letting women leave the war zone, but all men 18-60 are being forced to stay… So much for equality, this nonsense is all so situational it sickens me.

  66. EvelynRobinson

    March 9, 2022 at 6:11 pm

    Shame that she didn’t talk about all the female late night hosts that came before her and the amazing ones that are killing it as day time hosts (Drew Barrymore, Kelly Clarkson) sure, the day time talkshow format and landscape is very different to late night, but I think it’s worth acknowledging

    • peace

      March 9, 2022 at 6:28 pm

      Why are you moving the needle? She is the first late night host on a major network. When Joan Rivers hosted her show on Fox in the 1986, the show among the just launched Fox’s first line up. No shade on the other late night talk show hosts, who were/are ground breakers, smart and hilarious.

    • z_z_s

      March 9, 2022 at 8:22 pm

      @peace needle mover 🙄 no such thing. Wanda Sykes was first in late night.

  67. Cynacist

    March 9, 2022 at 7:36 pm

    YES! Dismantling and rebuilding the system is the only way. Being a “token” isn’t enough

  68. Rachana Macha Billava

    March 9, 2022 at 7:55 pm

    Brilliant 👏👏👏

  69. Robot Boyz

    March 9, 2022 at 8:05 pm

    a seat at the table is the least they deserve for cooking

    • dahlia

      March 9, 2022 at 9:42 pm

      Go and laugh with the Boyz about your funny comment!

  70. Qwerty

    March 9, 2022 at 8:39 pm

    Gender equity is a myth as long as men don’t become pregnant.

  71. Nathan Prindler

    March 9, 2022 at 9:08 pm

    “Dislikes disabled.” 😂

  72. Aanya Chand

    March 9, 2022 at 9:52 pm

    So perfectly communicated 💗

  73. Gino V.

    March 9, 2022 at 11:17 pm

    Look at all these mind warped comments, b**** go fetch me a sandwich!

  74. Tahmena Ferdous

    March 10, 2022 at 1:08 am

    Lilly is absolutely magical

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