“The More I Read, the More I Realized that There Were Some Problems:” Philosophy and Sexual Violence, with Amber Spence

In this episode, Public Educator Cindy McMann chats with Amber Spence, a doctoral student in philosophy at the University of Guelph who specializes in sexual violence.

We talk about how philosophy helped Amber in her journey as a survivor, what tools it can offer other survivors, how philosophy misses the mark in academic research on sexual violence and why that matters for the rest of us.

Content Warning: sexual violence, trauma and sexual harm

Resources:

Susan J. Brison, Aftermath: Violence and the Remaking of a Self

Karyn L. Freedman, One Hour in Paris

“Rethinking the Wrong of Rape”

"The Harm of Disempowerment," "The Problem with Consent," Amber Spence, forthcoming

Linda Martin Alcoff, Rape and Resistance

Nicole K. Jeffrey, “Is Consent Enough: What the Research on Normative Heterosexuality and Sexual Violence Tells Us”

Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score

Nicole Dular, “One Too Many: Hermeneutical Excess as Hermeneutical Injustice”

Madeleine Kenyon, "Speaking of ‘Violence:’ Figleaf Use in Sexualized Violence Contexts""