Unbound

6 December 2013

On December 6th 2013, speakers from a variety of backgrounds presented ideas worth spreading in UCL’s Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre, which you may recognise from Christopher Nolan’s 2010 motion picture Inception. But that’s not the most exciting part: this was the first ever TEDxWomen Conference held at UCL.

Our TEDxWomen conference was part of the international TED Women event, which took place in over 150 locations around the globe. We were part of this inspiring event that informs our listeners on how gender should no longer define or bind us; a movement which allows women everywhere to become unbound. Women who’ve been integral to the breaking down of antiquated gender stereotypes are so often ignored or not paid ample respect – and we want to put those women in the limelight.

Not too long ago, the only thing that would define a woman’s identity was exactly that: she was a woman, and therefore her options were limited to motherhood and domesticity. Gender stereotyping has no place in a decent, respectful world – and that’s exactly why we want to show how a woman’s gender is just one aspect of a multifaceted, multitasking human identity.

The battle is far from being won. Unfortunately, women all across the world still face thousands of limitations which are caused by gender stereotypes which bind them to specific roles. This conference was a showcase where people of all genders tell their inspiring tales of how they became unbound.

Talks

  • Making a small difference
    Dr. Ang Swee Chai
    Orthopaedic surgeon, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons
  • Bridging the Familiarity Gap
    Catherine Purkiss
    Neuroscientist
  • Men, women and language —
    a story of human speech
    Sophie Scott
    Neuroscientist
  • Treating disease in babies before birth
    Dr. Anna David
    Obstetrics Consultant, Senior Lecturer at UCL
  • Debunking the myth that intelligence is gender-based
    Adrian Furnham
    Professor of Psychology
  • Help I need a man
    Jude Kelly, OBE
    Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre
  • Cutting the rose:
    Female genital mutilation
    Efua Dorkenoo
    Mama Efua,
    Advocacy Director for Equality Now
  • Tech shouldn’t be a boys club
    Alice Bentinck
    Co-founder of Entrepreneur First, Founder of Code First:Girls
  • Why are ‘women’s issues’ a taboo subject?
    Iman Mujahed
    Hand in Hand for Syria
  • The xx factor: How working women are creating a new society
    Prof. Alison Wolf
    Hand in Hand for Syria