Seminar by Professor Kathy Davis

CIGS is delighted to welcome Professor Kathy Davis (Vrije Universiteit, Netherlands), who will be giving a paper as part of the SSP Research Seminar Series on Weds 10th February (12 -1.30pm). All are welcome and no registration is required - you can find the link to join the seminar at the bottom of this post.

"Look at me!": Post-mastectomy transformation politics

Breast cancer is one of the most urgent women’s health issues. It has inspired considerable activism, the most famous being the Pink Ribbon movement. The Pink Ribbon movement has been criticized by many feminist scholars, however. They have decried what they call the ‘pink-washing’ of breast cancer through consumerism and the insistence that breast cancer survivors should ‘look  good in order to feel good. In my talk, I explore an alternative to the sentimental politics of pink ribbon campaigns. This alternative activism takes the form of artistic projects – fashion, art, photography and other forms of aesthetic  expression. Drawing upon the work of the queer theorist Dina Georgis (2012), I show how this alternate activism provides a ‘better story’ about the experience of living with breast cancer and offers inspiration for a more transformative feminist politics of the body.

Joining information

Zoom meeting link: https://universityofleeds.zoom.us/j/86973876650?pwd=TVM3SUNnWlN1UTVIM1hzcHp6UXBDQT09

Meeting ID: 869 7387 6650
Passcode: 273691