In this episode, Asha Metcalfe and Rosie Hillary sit down with Lauren Sayers and Rosie Freeman after the debate: This House Would Abolish Prisons, held by Gender Agenda, the University of Cambridge’s largest feminist collective. 

In our first episode out in the field (breaking free from the recording studio), we are joined by two fellow Human, Social, and Political Science students to discuss abolitionism, crime, and systems of power and oppression. We move beyond the prison system to discuss theorists like Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Max Weber to explore the ways power and surveillance can be theorised in society. We apply these theories to our lives to examine how relationships and institutions are impacted by systems of power and control. What do we gain from understanding these topics? What is the benefit of social critique? 

If you are interested in our discussion, consider reading:

The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan

Experiments in Imagining Otherwise by Lola Olufemi

The New Spirit of Capitalism by Luc Boltanski and Ève Chiapello

Decolonial Feminism in Anya Yala: Caribbean, Meso, and Southern American Contributions and Challenges by Espinosa, Lugones and Maldonado Torres - particularly the chapter by Iris Hernandez Morales

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow us on Instagram and Substack!

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In this episode, we explore commercial sexual exploitation: its specificities, how it can be combated, and its evolving technological manifestations. In an era of rapid digital expansion, how can feminist organising and policy-making respond to this growing form of misogynistic violence?

Drawing on eighteen years of experience across research institutions, frontline child protection services, and policy-making, Gemma Kelly unpacks the perverse dynamics of commercial sexual exploitation and its increasingly digital nature. Her work highlights the centrality of structural change, particularly through legislative and regulatory interventions, in addressing exploitation at its roots.

This conversation probes the contradictions at the heart of feminist debates: how can we reconcile individual choice with structural misogynistic violence? Can the former ever truly be disentangled from the latter?

We also discuss attempts to regulate the online space, often perceived as opaque and impenetrable, where regulatory efforts frequently fall short despite mounting harms.

About the Guest

Gemma Kelly is a Policy Consultant at the SERP Institute (Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute), Ireland’s only independent research body dedicated to the study of sexual exploitation.

Throughout her career, she has worked on combatting human trafficking and addressing sexual exploitation in both online and offline contexts, with a particular focus on women’s rights, gender-based violence, and child rights.

She holds an MA in Human Trafficking, Migration and Organised Crime from St Mary’s University, an MA in Equality Studies from University College Dublin, and a BA in Social Care from Dublin Institute of Technology.

Get in Touch

If you’d like to respond to something discussed in this episode or propose an episode of your own, get in touch via email at [email protected] or on Instagram @the_feminist_files.

Credits

Hosted by Helena Kondak and Astrid Healy Carrasco

Joined by Gemma Kelly

Edited by Rowan Berkley

Cover design by Madeleine Baber

Music by Jacob Carey

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In this episode, hosts Asha Metcalfe and Rosie Hillary are joined by Reese Marley Robinson, a recent Cambridge graduate, to discuss her sociology dissertation exploring the lived experiences of Black girls in Britain’s private schools. Drawing on interviews and her own experiences, Reese explains the “affective cost of inclusion” and the emotional labour of navigating elite, predominantly white institutions which marginalise the experiences of racial minorities. We discuss topics like misogynoir, structural racism, code-switching, hair politics, and the racialised politics of visibility. We explore how Black peer networks can be sites of resistance and care, and talk about what meaningful institutional change could look like for Britain’s education system. 

Here are some readings that are related to our discussion!  

• Anti-Community: The Kitchen & Our Cooked Community https://radicalblackbrits.substack.com/p/anti-community-the-kitchen-and-our
• The Brixton Balck Women’s Group https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2024/07/30/book-review-speak-out-the-brixton-black-womens-group-milo-miller/
• Farleigh’s Place: Wealth, Privilege and Whiteness by Reese Marley Robinson https://www.thecambridgestudent.co.uk/culture/farleighs-place-wealth-privilege-and-whiteness
• Lewis, Amanda E., 1970-. Race in the Schoolyard : Negotiating the Color Line in Classrooms and Communities. New Brunswick, N.J. :Rutgers University Press, 2003.
• Nash, J.C. (2019). Black Feminism Reimagined: After Intersectionality. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv111jhd0
• Carby, Hazel V. (1982) ‘White woman listen!: Black feminism and the boundaries of sisterhood’ in Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
• Davis, Angela (2016) Freedom is a Constant Struggle Chicago: Haymarket Books.

Episode Edited by Rowan Berkley

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In this episode, Helena Kondak is joined by Zoe Abrams, DPhil student in Sociology at the University of Oxford, to discuss her latest work: Explaining Societal Shifts in Victim Blaming and Perpetrator Culpability for Sexual Violence: Evidence From the #MeToo Era.

Abrams studied Politics and Sociology at the University of Cambridge before pursuing an MSci in Sociology at the University of Oxford, where she was awarded the A. H. Halsey Prize for Best Performance. She is now pursuing a DPhil in Sociology, focusing on the gender gap in political mobilisation among young people.

During the interview, Abrams and I discussed whether individuals reacted to the shift in public discourse concerning sexual violence after the MeToo movement in the same way that institutions did. Zoe's focus on Scotland was crucial to understanding how feminist politics and influence in policy-making led to Scotland being the only country to collect data on attitudes towards sexual violence.

"From the founding of the Scottish Parliament, the feminist movements were there, framing the key issues and collecting data on attitudes towards women".

Here is a list of the resources mentioned in the episode:

Diana E. H. Russell, & Howell, N. (1983). The Prevalence of Rape in the United States Revisited. Signs, 8(4), 688–695. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3173690

Wilson, L. C., & Miller, K. E. (2015). Meta-Analysis of the Prevalence of Unacknowledged Rape. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 17(2), 149-159. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838015576391 (Original work published 2016).

Want to respond to something said in this episode? Or propose an episode of your own? Get in touch via email: [email protected] or via Instagram: @the_feminist_files

You can also find us on Instagram: @the_feminist_files

Credits:

Hosted by Helena Kondak

Joined by Zoe Abrams

Edited by Rowan Berkley

Cover design by Madeleine Baber

Music by Jacob Carey

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Women’s college-level football has recently taken the form of an informal intercollegiate league following the banning of transgender women from participation in college-affiliated league matches, in line with the UK Supreme Court ruling earlier this year. What are captains, colleges and Cambridge University doing in light of this legislative pressure? What does this mean for inclusivity and the future of women’s football as a whole? Faith Cunningham discusses this sensitive and complex issue with guests Lara and Tia, members of the college women's football league.

For any welfare concerns, please get in contact with Louisa, the CUAFC Welfare Officer. If you have any questions or comments, please email [email protected]

Follow The Feminist Files on instagram:

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In this episode, we are joined by Sam McQuaker and Ella Perkin, founders of Cambridge society, Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE) to discuss impact and institutionalisation of sexual exploitation. We discuss perspectives on topics like porn and the decriminalisation of sex work, and question how existing institutions need to be reconfigured for gender and sexual equality to be achieved. This episode discusses themes of sexual exploitation and abuse which may be distressing to some listeners. If you have experienced sexual violence or abuse, consider reaching out to a trusted support service or helpline in your area for assistance.

• Cambridge Women’s Aid: 01223 361214 or via email at [email protected] 
• Cambridge Rape Crisis Centre: 01223 245 888 or via [email protected]
• Rape Crisis England and Wales, Rape and Sexual Abuse 24/7 support line: 0808 500 2222
• Galop run a helpline for LGBTQ+ survivors of sexual violence: 0800 999 5428

Here are links to any articles or reports we mention in the podcast:

Takedown: Inside the Fight to Shut Down Pornhub for Child Abuse, Rape, and Sex Trafficking, Leila Mickelwait https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Takedown-by-Laila-Mickelwait/9780593542019?srsltid=AfmBOooCumndxCQkyq7crODi-8drrXZRhj30cBPSsqjWZkrF5t59hCQL

Hot Money Podcast: https://www.ft.com/hot-money

Children’s Commissioner, Children’s Experiences of the Online World:

https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/ive-seen-horrible-things-childrens-experiences-of-the-online-world/

Lost Boys Report:

https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/library/lost-boys

The Online Degradation of Women and Girls That We Met with a Shrug, Nicholas Kristof:

​​https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/23/opinion/deepfake-sex-videos.html

Elly Hanson’s work:

https://fullyhuman.org.uk/

Josh Pieter’s documentary with Lily Phillips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFySAh0g-MI&t=6s

Everyone’s Invited:

https://www.everyonesinvited.uk/

Andrew Norfolk interview about the struggle to expose the Rochdale grooming gangs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHntVVOQRGY 

Naked Truth Project:

https://nakedtruthproject.com/get-educated/

Episode edited by Rowan Berkley

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In this episode, we are joined by Angèle Albrengues to discuss how current EU legal frameworks fail to address the risks of gender discrimination associated with artificial intelligence models. We discuss how AI technology reinforces the biases it is fed, reproducing inequality in both overt and covert ways. We highlight how sexism, misogyny, and gender-based violence cannot be escaped in digital spaces. Despite the prevalence of this issue, we explore how AI’s lack of transparency and lack of legal personhood makes it challenging to legislatively address the discrimination it perpetuates. Angèle discusses how existing frameworks can be used to confront this issue, and we consider whether AI can be reprogrammed to champion the feminist perspective.

If you are interested in this topic, here are some further reading suggestions:

• ‘Weight of gender in artificial intelligence models’ implementation in the European Union non-discrimination laws’ by Angèle Albrengues and Lerong Lu https://www.elspub.com/papers/j/1912463123407900672 
• ‘Generative AI exists because of the transformer’ written by Madhumita Murgia for the Financial Times https://ig.ft.com/generative-ai/ 
• ‘Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: An Overview’ by Suzie Dunn https://www.cigionline.org/publications/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-overview/ 
• New Age of Sexism by Laura Bates
• To check out the charity Angele works for: https://stopfisha.org/, https://www.instagram.com/stopfisha/ 

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow our instagram and substack!

https://www.instagram.com/the_feminist_files_/

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How can our political beliefs be shaped in the classroom?

In this episode, hosts Rosie Hillary and Asha Metcalfe talk with Australian teacher and PHD Candidate, Alice Elwell about the power of feminist pedagogy in promoting democratic citizenship among students. Knowledge is never politically neutral; we discuss how feminist pedagogy conceptualises the classroom as a space for socio-political activism, aiming to challenge patriarchal paradigms in education. Alice discusses how teachers can use critical literacy to become 'affective curators' by harnessing feelings of discomfort among students. Feelings of affective dissonance emerge from one’s embodied sense of self, and the self we are socially expected to be. When these feelings arise among students in the classroom they can be a catalyst for political change.

Media mentioned in this podcast:

• New Perspectives on Education for Democracy: Creative Responses to Local and Global Challenges by Alice Elwell https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003145806-13
• Feminist pedagogies in a time of backlash by Alice Elwell and Rachel Buchanan https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2019.1680810
• We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• Affective Economies by Sara Ahmed https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Affective-economies-by-Ahmed-Sara-1.pdf
• The problem of anti-feminist 'Denfluencer' Andrew Tate in Australian schools: women teachers' experiences of resurgent male supremacy by Stephanie Wescott https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2023.2292622
• Exploring the online experiences of young men and boys: what influences, motivates, shapes and informs their experiences by Deakin University https://theconversation.com/i-dont-really-wanna-consume-his-content-what-do-young-australian-men-think-of-andrew-tate-233654
• Why doesn't this feel empowering? Working through the repressive myths of critical pedagogy by Elizabeth Ellsworth https://mariaacaso.es/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/56fb22eadc6312a9894c7ad84547022b.pdf
• See the works of Jessia Ringrose https:///profiles.ucl.oc.uk/48638-jesaica-ringrose
• See the works of EJ Reynolds https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/reynold

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In this episode, co-hosts Niamh Cafferty and Ellen Brewster delve into the complexities of gender roles and expectations within queer relationships, challenging traditional norms and binaries. Through open conversation, personal reflection, and community voices, they explore how gender is navigated, expressed, and understood beyond the heteronormative framework. Whether it's discussing emotional labour, presentation, or power dynamics, this episode offers an honest and nuanced look at what it means to love and connect in queer spaces.

Want to respond to something said in this episode? Or propose an episode of your own? Get in touch via our instagram @gender.agenda and @collective.phoenix

Credits:

Hosted by Niamh Cafferty and Ellen Brewster

Edited by Ellen Brewster

Cover design by Madeleine Baber

Music by Jacob Carey

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