Speculative lunch: protective shields and the female body

An event to explore the extent to which the privacy or modesty of the body is protected in the public sphere via various kinds of boundaries

You are invited to the next event in the Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute Speculative Lunch Series, 2019-20.

Lunch conveners

Jacki Willson (PCI) and Azadeh Fatehrad (FAHACS)

Research Context

Set against the wider context of GDPR, cyber violations, non-consensual assault and other kinds of national border control, how do protective shields operate? How much do women feel protected or indeed violated and exposed? The conveners of this lunch seek to understand the way that shields operate as a threshold point - as a material, psychological, social or ideological fabric - between private bodies and the public arena. They ask who controls, monitors, takes ownership of this protection? Medically this could mean procedures of confidentiality or respect for modesty in terms of curtains or a gowns. Geographically this may relate to body checks at border control. Legally this may relate to the problem of Upskirting and Cyberflashing.

The event is open to members of academic staff, postdoctoral researchers, and postgraduate researchers from any discipline or Faculty.

The conveners specifically welcome a range of disciplinary approaches to the issue of public privacy (Warner 2002) with a view to developing future collaborative projects. As legal scholar Ann Phillips (2011) has argued, understanding the ethical and political notion of bodies as connected and socially embodied may help to underscore our collective responsibility towards this shared sense of a public body.

If you would like to attend this event, please register your interest by emailing the LAHRI administrator. Places are limited to 16, and are allocated on a first come first served basis. In the event of oversubscription you will be put on a waiting list.

A full vegetarian lunch will be provided by the Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute.