Dr. Martine Delvaux will be putting on two talks in Brandon. Dr. Delvaux first talk will be “Take Lemons and Make Lemonade: Serial Girls and the Question of Race.” This talk will be in English, on October 26th, from 7pm-8:30pm and will be happening in the Program Room of the Brandon Public Library. The second talk will be “Des filles en serie au boys’ coub, ou quand les hommes sont entre eux.” This talk will be in French and is on October 27th, from 11:40am-12:30pm in Clark Hall, Room 104. Both talks are free and open to faculty, students and the public.

According to Brandon University’s website, the talk in English will “broach the question of race in relation to the image of serial girls in literature and visual art.” It will also have a more specific focus on how seriality affects women of color. It also showcases the way seriality can be used by artists of color as a means of resisting white cultural supremacy and misogyny.

A quick question arises, of what exactly does the term “serial girl” mean? According to Dr. Delvaux’s book it is when femininity is defined according to the ideals that doll-like sameness is a desirable thing and how images like Barbie, beauty pageants and cover girls show this narrow, patriarchial idea. The book also looks at how this can be used as a form of resistance.

The French talks description is in French, so thank god for google translate. According to google, this talk is on the patriarchy, and how men are superior in this system and talks about the idea of the “boys club.”

If anyone would like to purchase the book prior to attending the talks, Dr. Eftihia Mihelakis has copies. They are $20, and can be purchased at Dr. Mihelakis’s office in CHO09.