November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Women Talk Back!, the Feminist Student Society at the University of Bristol, will mark the occasion by hosting a public meeting with researchers whose scholarship focuses on, or concerns women’s lives and experiences.

‘Feminists Academics Talk Back!’ invites both our University of Bristol community and members of the public, to listen and engage with feminists researchers as speakers address the advances women have made within academia and the struggles facing feminist scholars, as instrumental to public debate and the democratic process. This issue is particularly important in the current age of the thoughtless mob and the targeting of female critical thinkers inside universities, across the UK.

Although a bleak and disillusioning subject, the Women Talk Back! Feminist Student Society at the University of Bristol is keen to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by hosting 'Feminist Academics Talk Back!', in light of the way that academic institutions have historically condoned and continue to enable the abuse of female staff and students, inside university campuses.

As some of you may recall, we were scheduled to host this event on the 13th of March, in commemoration of International Women's Day, but had to postpone due to the global, COVID-19 health crisis. We are delighted to be able to reconvene all our speakers, minus Dr Emma Williamson who is unable to attend due to being on study leave at the moment. We look forward to hosting her, and many more brilliant women, in the future.

About our Speakers

Dr Meagan Tyler (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology RMIT) is a senior lecturer whose research interests are based mainly around feminist theory and gender inequality in a range of contexts. Her work in these areas has been widely published, including in Rural Studies, Women’s Studies International Forum, Violence Against Women, and Women and Therapy as well as several edited collections including 'Everyday Pornography' (Boyle ed., 2010) and 'Prostitution, Harm and Gender Inequality' (Coy ed., 2012) and 'Freedom Fallacy:The Limits of Liberal Feminism' (Kiraly & Tyler, ed. 2015).

Dr Emma Hilton (University of Manchester) is a developmental biologist and University Lecturer. She has published more than twenty manuscripts on developmental biology and genetics and was named Outstanding Young Investigator by the European Society of Human Genetics, for her research.

She spends her days picking through mammalian reproductive systems, and in her leisure time she is a marathon runner, weightlifter and netballer. A strong advocate for women and girls, Emma tweets as @FondofBeetles.

Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans (King's College London) is a social theorist and philosopher with a particular interest in the work of Michel Foucault and in feminist philosophy and politics of the body. She has taught and researched at numerous universities in the UK, including Goldsmiths, the London School of Economics, the University of Leicester, and latterly King’s College London.

She currently researches the relationship between medicine and the gendering of male and female bodies, and is developing a research base for PhD scholarship on sexology, the body and pornography. Her first book is entitled The Sexualized Body and the Medical Authority of Pornography: Performing Sexual Liberation. Most recently, she has collaborated again with Michele Moore on the 2018 book Transgender Children and Young People: Born in Your Own Body.

Dr Michele Moore (London South Bank University) is editor of the world-leading journal Disability & Society and an expert in the field of Inclusive Education. She works on developing inclusion in communities at local, regional, national and international levels. She leads consultative participatory human rights projects across the world to support children, their families and those who work with them. She has published widely on education, childhood and family life, disability and inclusion.

Dr Kathleen Stock (University of Sussex) is a Professor of Philosophy. She has written extensively on the nature of fiction and imagination. Kathleen has a growing interest in feminist philosophy: the nature of sexual objectification, the nature of womanhood, and how to manage the many clashes of interests between females and trans women in the realm of law and public policy. She is also interested in the nature of sexual orientation, and lesbian rights.

About the Women Talk Back! Feminist Student Society

Women Talk Back!, the Feminist Student Society at the University of Bristol, provides a weekly space for women to engage in lively discussion and debate. We are open to all women, regardless of student status, income or social background. We are in pursuit of global liberation from all forms of patriarchy. We therefore centre women who experience misogyny, but who may also face racism, anti-lesbianism, classism and other forms of structural discrimination that arise from male domination.

Women Talk Back! are committed to the power of sisterhood and believe that it is only through an understanding of our similarities and differences that we can liberate ourselves from patriarchy. We believe that dialogue with each other is the first step towards liberation from oppressive structures and practices. We welcome women from all backgrounds to join and take part in all aspects of the group. We aim to foster a culture of collective responsibility, care, and honesty with ourselves, and one another.

Event Details

This will be an online event, free of charge for members of the public. Our public events are open to everyone who wishes to participate. Once you register to the event, you will receive a link to join us. Registered attendees will be able to submit questions in advance to our speakers (send them to our email) but not during the live event. Please make sure you register and submit them to us prior to the event.

Contact Us

twitter.com/womentalk_back

facebook.com/womentalkback

womentalkback.bristol@gmail.com