Objectification and Sexualisation

Registration

Please note that we are currently only asking for registration for in-person attendance. 

To register, please email Robbie Morgan ([email protected]) and Rosa Vince ([email protected]), with the subject "Objectification Conference" and:

• Your name
• Any dietary requirements
• Any accessibility requirements
• Whether you would be interested in attending a workshop evening meal

Email filters can block emails with the word "sexualisation" in the subject or email body, so we advise against including this.

Speakers

Ana Cláudia Barbosa - Spectral Subjugation: Posthuman Objectification of Women in the Digital Age

Matthew J. Cull - Objectification in Posthumanist Feminism

Regina Fidelis Ilagan - A Consumable Monster: The South East Asian Sex Worker

Matthew Robson - Varieties of Sexual Exclusion

Kate Yuan - Sexual Humiliation as a State Project

Event Details

Objectification is a core concept in feminist thought, often used for articulating what is going wrong in phenomena like catcalling, sexist advertising, and unwelcome sexual attention. At the same time, treating one another as sexual agents, even sexual objects, has been defended as an often important and joyful part of life. Both concepts have seen a recent resurgence in discussions of newer forms online content-creation, from TikTok to OnlyFans. This conference will bring together philosophers and scholars in related disciplines engaged in groundbreaking work on objectification and sexualisation.

We are interested in hearing about any new work on sexualisation and objectification. We welcome contributions on questions such as (but not limited to):

• What is the difference between sexualisation and objectification?
• How do we sexualise and objectify others - is it a kind of paying attention? How does this work?
• What is the relationship, if any, between dehumanisation and objectification?
• When is objectification benign or good?
• Is it ever wrong to not sexualise someone?
• What is the relationship between sexual and non-sexual objectification?
• Is it possible for a person to objectify themselves?
• What is the impact of social media on objectification and/or sexualisation?

This event is organised by philosophers, but we welcome applications from those working in other disciplines too.

Access Information 

• Lunch and tea/coffee will be provided.  
• Dinner will be partially subsidised – details TBC 
• This will be an in-person event, but speakers who cannot travel to us will be presenting online.  
• The venue has a lift for wheelchair access.  
• The venue has accessible and gender-neutral toilets. 
• Please let us know accessibility requirements when you register. 
• AccessAble link: https://www.accessable.co.uk/university-of-leeds/access-guides/17-blenheim-terrace#a3ccb561-9415-f34f-8291-585f2c690c15 
• We want academic conferences to be accessible and enjoyable for all of us. This event adopts a Safer Spaces Policy, available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TemYNI_OitE9XaRaq83bOY5t8qi3vYS_93KpqJCpaLc/edit?usp=sharing Participants are expected to read this policy, and act in accordance with it.  

Talks will be 30 minutes, with 15 minutes for questions. 

This event is generously sponsored by the Society for Applied Philosophy and the Aristotelian Society. It is paired with another workshop at the University of Leeds, entitled "Sex, Deception & Consent", of which details to follow, to coincide with the UN's 16 Days of Activism.