The Meaning of Misogyny

A two-day The Meaning of Misogyny Conference is taking place on the 30th of June to the 1st of July 2026 at the University of Manchester.

This conference aims to look at the work that specifically focuses on the meaning of misogynistic and/or gendered language. The topics will relate, but are not limited to, the following questions:

• What unique linguistic phenomena should be classed as misogyny, e.g. gendered slurs?
• Does misogynistic language differ semantically from, e.g., racist language?
• Does misogynistic language always carry a negative expressive/emotive component?
• How far can semantics go in explaining misogyny?

I am excited confirm that Professor Robin Jeshion will be our keynote speaker for the event. Her work on slurs, dehumanization & contempt, reclamation, and expressivism has been highly influential in Philosophy of Language, and we are very much looking forward to having her in Manchester.

Along with the keynote, there will be 3 invited talks, including one from myself:

Justina Berškytė (University of Manchester)

Christopher Cousins (University of Manchester)

TBA

TBA

We are looking for 4/5 more speakers to join us.

Please email your abstract and title to [email protected]. Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words (excluding bibliography), and the paper should be tailored to a 30-40 minute presentation followed by a 20-10 minute Q&A.

The deadline is the 15th of March 2026, at midnight (relative to your local time zone). The outcomes will be communicated by the end of March. Unfortunately, unless additional funding is secured, we will not be able to provide funding to successful applicants.

This conference is part of a larger Early Career Fellowship project titled The Language of Misogyny: Meaning, Function and Possible Interventions, funded by the Leverhulme Trust and the University of Manchester.