SAN FRANCISCO — Digital studies and sexuality researcher Dr. Carolina Are will be presenting a talk in San Francisco this Saturday on her research about algorithmic bias against nudity and its relationship with the patriarchy and whorephobia.
The talk, “Pole Dancing Against the Algorithm: What Pole Dancing Can Teach Us About Big Tech's Power Over Bodies,” will be presented Saturday at Pole + Dance Studios in San Francisco.
Are, aka @bloggeronpole, is an Innovation Fellow at Northumbria University's Centre for Digital Citizens, researching the intersection between online abuse and censorship. Her work on social media moderation, platform governance and algorithm bias has been published in Feminist Media Studies, Porn Studies, First Monday and Journalism, and featured by The New York Times, the BBC, The Atlantic, MIT Technology Review, Business Insider, Vice, Wired and Mashable.
Are is also a blogger and content creator herself, as well as a writer, pole dance instructor and recipient of the 2019 Sexual Freedom Award for Activist of the Year.
During Saturday’s talk, Are will also share insights from her recent investigations into mass reporting of sex-positive activists and sex workers.
“You'll leave this talk with new ideas about what pole dancing can teach tech companies about content governance as well as with tips, gossip and concerns about Big Tech's power over our bodies,” a rep commented.
Are told XBIZ that she will be teaching a pole dancing workshop in conjunction with this talk, but that non-polers are welcome to buy a ticket just for the talk.
“I was asked by San Francisco Pole + Dance to present my research on algorithmic bias and platform governance, how it affects pole dancers and sex workers, and how platforms’ rules and running of their spaces can be improved,” she said. “It’s very exciting to do this in the Bay Area, because there’s the opportunity to reach the audience that will be working on what affects so many workers and sex-positive communities.”
Are said the upcoming talk is based on her own experiences of censorship, as well as on preliminary findings from her project at Northumbria’s Centre for Digital Citizens. Those findings have not yet been presented publicly.
For more information on the talk and/or the pole dancing workshop, visit PoleAndDanceStudios.com.
For more information on Dr. Carolina Are, visit BloggerOnPole.com and follow her on Twitter.
