Feminism: from Medieval drama to menstrual data

Period tracking apps, smart breast pumps, bluetooth-enabled vibrators: FemTech is all around us! FemTech is viewed as the next ‘big thing’ in healthcare, empowering users with greater understanding of their bodies and health. But what happens to the data collected by these apps? How might this be used in ways that harm both individual users, and women and gender minority groups collectively? What would feminist data justice look like in the context of FemTech? Join us to discuss these questions.

Late medieval and early modern public drama was very much a male affair: they wrote, produced, and performed these plays. It was also very didactic, intended to teach its audiences civic and religious virtues. And yet, there are a few female characters used to undermine this ideal of authoritative, didactic drama. From women who interrupt the performance, to women who learn the wrong lesson, to women who just don't get it - female characters in prologues and epilogues shed light on anxieties about the role of drama and, above all, about women in medieval times. We explore women's involvement in drama and how they carved out their own authority in a generally misogynist society.