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Women’s bodies and work

,
Past
  • Free
  • Discussion
  • British Sign Language
  • Speech-to-text
  • Speech-to-text online
Photograph six women seated on the stage as part of a panel discussion in the Henry Wellcome Auditorium.
Panel discussion in the Henry Wellcome Auditorium, Thomas S.G. Farnetti. Source: Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

What you’ll do

Join us for a panel discussion on the long and complicated history of women and their bodies in the context of work. The panel will share their research and lived experience on a range of topics such as Black women’s bodies, reproductive health, fertility, miscarriage and birth trauma.

This event is inspired by Helen King’s book ‘Immaculate Forms', which examines the gate-keeping role of medicine and religion over women’s organs. It is also influenced by our exhibition 'Hard Graft: Work, Health and Rights', which explores experiences of physical work and its impacts on health and the body.

The discussion will be followed by tea, coffee, book signing and further conversation.

Dates

,
Past

Need to know

Location

We’ll be in the Henry Wellcome Auditorium. To get there, take the stairs or the lift down to level −1. The auditorium is fitted with a hearing loop.

Place not guaranteed

Booking a ticket for a free event does not guarantee you a place. You should aim to arrive 15 minutes before the event is scheduled to start to claim your place. If you do not arrive on time, your place may be given to someone on the waiting list.

British Sign Language

This event will have British Sign Language interpretation.

Speech-to-text

This event will be live-transcribed. The captions will be displayed on a screen in-venue.

Speech-to-text online

This event will be live-transcribed for online viewers. Online ticketholders will receive a link to view the captions in a separate window.

For more information, please visit our Accessibility page. If you have any queries about accessibility, please email us at access@wellcomecollection.org or call 0 2 0. 7 6 1 1. 2 2 2 2

Our event terms and conditions

About your contributors

Head and shoulders photo of a woman with shoulder length brown hair wearing a red velvet jacket and black blouse

Elizabeth Lynch

Facilitator

Elizabeth Lynch MBE works with artists, organisations and communities as a strategic advisor and researcher. She is interested in arts and science collaborations, youth arts, creative ageing practices and in making cultural democracy.

Helen King

Speaker

Helen King is Professor Emerita of Classical Studies at the Open University. She is a historian of medicine and the body, and has held visiting posts at Gustavus Adolphus College, Minnesota, the Peninsula Medical School, and the universities of Vienna, Texas, Notre Dame and British Columbia. She is also an elected member of the General Synod of the Church of England, where she is vice-chair of the Gender and Sexuality Group. Since her first monograph, ‘Hippocrates’ Woman: Reading the female body in ancient Greece’ (1988), including her latest release ‘Immaculate Forms’, she has published on aspects of gynaecology and obstetrics from classical Greece to the 19th century.

Photograph of Annabel Sowemimo

Annabel Sowemimo

(she/her)
Speaker

Dr Annabel Sowemimo is a doctor, activist and writer. As well as being a sexual and reproductive health consultant in the NHS, she is also the founder of community-based organisation Reproductive Justice Initiative, formed to address the colonial history of sexual and reproductive health. Annabel is a PhD candidate and Harold Moody Scholar at King’s College London. Her first book, ‘Divided’ (Wellcome Collection/Profile Books) is an exploration of race and health.

Black and white photo of the head and shoulders of a young woman with her hair in a tight bun. She is smiling and looking directly at the viewer.

Emma Smith

Speaker

Emma Smith is a visual artist who is based in the UK and works internationally. Her work is research- and production-based, and often involves bringing together multi-disciplinary teams, including collaborations with academics, professionals and hobbyists. She has a social practice and creates platforms for people to share research, experience and knowledge on human relationships and the places we cohabit, with a particular interest in the hidden and invisible. She has exhibited widely in the UK and Europe.