Body talk: society’s expectations of how women should look

Body talk: society’s expectations of how women should look

The School of Psychology at the University of Auckland is holding a half-day symposium called “Body Talk: A showcase of contemporary critical feminist research” that will discuss the expectations our culture has on the way women should look.

The School of Psychology at the University of Auckland is holding a half-day symposium called “Body Talk: A showcase of contemporary critical feminist research” that will discuss the expectations our culture has on the way women should look.

The Symposium features Professor Rosalind Gill of City University, London, who will talk about contemporary depictions of women in popular culture and media.
Professor Gill will also hold a public lecture the day before the Symposium on sexting and young people’s use of mobile online technologies. She argues that online behaviour cannot be understood without reference to normalised sexism.
Symposium speakers:

Associate Professor Virginia Braun of the University of Auckland will discuss how what counts as appropriate body hair changes over time and varies by gender. Her talk, “Beyond hipster beards and hairy legs: body hair, gender and the contemporary ‘Western’ body” looks at a range of New Zealand studies and discusses how, while social expectations of body hair are changing over time, they are strongly mapped to gender.

Professor Rosalind Gill, City University, London will discuss women’s attitudes to their bodies in a talk titled, “Love your body but hate it too: postfeminism, neoliberalism and the contemporary ‘twist’ in body image discourses”.

With a PhD in Social Psychology, she will discuss questions of power, ideology and identity. Her work has a particular focus upon changing dynamics and practices of discrimination and inequality, and a sustained interest in the relationship between culture and subjectivity.
University of Auckland PhD candidate Michelle Ong will discuss her research on ageing migrant women and how appearance is deemed important in meeting expectations of desirability and femininity and for avoiding discrimination. Her research focuses on Filipina women who have migrated to New Zealand.
Doctoral student George Parker’s topic, “Mothers at large: Governing fat female embodiment in the context of reproduction”, looks at the growing focus in government health policy on women's weight before, during and after pregnancy as the cause of the so-called 'obesity epidemic’.

The Symposium is free and all are welcome. It will be held from 1.30-6pm on Friday, 28 November at 22 Symonds St, University of Auckland in Engineering Lecture Theatre 439. It will be followed by refreshments in the ‘Neon Foyer’.

ends

© Scoop Media