Women and their Body: Talk Series and Conference

Recent events have shown that it is urgent and fundamentally important to shed new light, through philosophical, linguistic, literary, scientific, medical and artistic perspectives, on the female body and the position of women in relation to their body. Too often it seems that women do not have the right to determine their own body, although men have never been deprived of this right. The question of power over the body is strongly linked to the distinction between men and women. It seems that men have more rights and power on their own body than women. But how is this possible? What is the status of the female body in culture and society? Why is the female body both, an object of desire and a battlefield for demonstrating male power? To what extent have medicine and technology interfered in recent years with the female body and with what consequences?

In the context of the New Voices Talk Series at the Center for the History of Women Philosophers and Scientists at Paderborn, we are inviting you to share with us your ideas about Women and their Body. We are inviting abstracts exploring any aspect of this urgent matter, covering categories like: Female Body in medicine (anatomy; childbirth, menstrual “tools” etc.); Female Body and Culture, Arts etc.; Body and Literature; Body Language; Body Experience; Body in Phenomenology; Female Body and Technology; Women on their body; Female Body as Battlefield; beauty mania; Female Body and Sports and even more.

New Voices on Women in the History of Philosophy is a group for emerging scholars who work on Women in the History of Philosophy organised in the winter term 2022/23 by Jil Muller. This term and subject intend to enlarge the network by making it more interdisciplinary, starting with a multidisciplinary Talk Series and Conference. Early scholars as well as established researchers are invited to send abstracts covering different fields in the humanities, speaking about Women and their body. New Voices is a place to connect and to foster communication on our work.

In the Talk Series from Winter 2022/23, there are at least 6 meetings/dates (completely on Zoom) to be covered, but depending on the number of people interested in this subject, an international, hybrid conference is also planned on March, 16^th and 17^th 2023. For both events, please send an abstract (300 words max.), and personal details, including a contact email, to contact@historyofwomenphilosophers.org, by the 1^st of September 2022 (indicating if you are available for both events, or if you prefer one or the other). You can expect to hear back from Jil Muller by September 12^th.

For further information or any question, please feel free to send an email to contact@historyofwomenphilosophers.org