Objectification and Sexualisation

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.

Talks will be 30 minutes, with 15 minutes for questions.  This will be an in-person event, but we aim to provide provision for speakers who cannot travel to join us online.

This event is generously sponsored by the Society for Applied Philosophy. 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