Bodies & Brains on International Women's Day was a succes

• Robotham told us about brain plasticity, and how the observable differences in brains do not mean that these differences are innate, since what we learn - from infancy - shapes brain structures. In a gender un-equal society, we should expect the un-equal gender situations to create gendered brain differences, and we should therefore also be critical towards claims about these differences meaning that we are determined by our brains. 
• Bencard next told us about how brain-gut-microbiome research fundamentally challenges Western to ideas about the subject. We are more eco-systems than individuals, and the complex interaction between brain, gut and microbiome challenges the notion of the brain as the 'director', moving us into ideas about subjecthood that points to our dependence on other material beings, both within and outside of the body. 
• And finally, Mortensen showed us pain in all its complexity through a performance talk, which gave voice to multiple, both theoretical and personal, perspectives on pain. This talk gave us a thought-provoking and moving experience, creating a space for contemplation about issues of power, pleasure, relations, norms, social structures, and more, related to pain.