Episode 33: Helen talks to Dr Victoria Bateman

Women in Focus - Helen talks to Dr Victoria Bateman

Helen talks to Dr Victoria Bateman, the Cambridge economist known for using her own naked body in art and protest, about breaking free of "the cult of female modesty" and why women's economic freedom depends on freedom over their own bodies.

Helen talks to Dr Victoria Bateman, a Fellow in Economics at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, and the economist and author who has spent over a decade using her own naked body for art and in political protest. Victoria explains how she broke free of what she calls the "cult of female modesty" in her thirties, the story behind the Anthony Connolly nude portrait that caused a media storm in 2014, and the "Brexit leaves Britain naked" protest she staged in Cambridge the day after the 2016 referendum result. Ten years on, she marked the anniversary with a month-long protest in which she rolled a die each morning to decide whether she'd wear an EU flag dress, just a skirt, or nothing but shoes. Victoria argues that women's economic freedom can never be separated from freedom over their own bodies - pointing to Afghanistan and America's purity-pledge movement as examples of how policing women's modesty locks them out of education, work and healthcare. Helen and Victoria compare notes on body freedom, street harassment, deepfakes and online trolling, and why being comfortable naked helped them both notice changes in their own bodies early. Victoria's new book, Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth, and Power, is out now.

Links for Dr Victoria Bateman:

Website: vnbateman.com
Instagram: instagram.com/vnbateman
Instagram (Economica): instagram.com/women.wealth.power
Economica book website: women-wealth-power.com
Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/vnbateman.bsky.social
Women In Naturism website: womeninnaturism.uk
British Naturism Events: bn.org.uk/events-home
Join British Naturism: bn.org.uk/membershipinfo

Contact Women in Focus: womeninfocus@bn.org.uk