The Sporty Sexologists 1st TASA Conference!
Application with a Twist
Applying for a presentation and scholarship for this conference was the first experience I had of sharing my PhD study in a public forum. As a Sexologist and endurance athlete researching how exercise impacts the sexual wellbeing of women, I wondered how, where and if my study (and me) would fit in at TASA. Because of this, instead of writing a formal criteria-based scholarship application, I chose to authentically write about who I am, what led me to my study topic and why it mattered to me. When I received my email of acceptance, I was deeply grateful to TASA for investing in a non-traditional but whole-hearted student like me. It truly felt like a sign that my study and I had found a home.
Face2Face Importance
Without a scholarship that covers a conference ticket AND flights from Perth (rare!) I would not have been able to attend the conference in person. So much of the discussion, connection and value of conferences comes from being with people who are experiencing the same thing at the same time. As you’ll see from my highlights below, meeting people and making connections were integral to my experience, making this scholarship an absolute gamechanger.
C Themed Conference Highlights
1) Cheng: Pictured here is Dr Jennifer Cheng (WSU), an academic hero of mine who has written some of my absolute favourite papers. I didn’t know that THE Jennifer Cheng would be at the conference at all let alone that I’d be linked with her as my conference buddy! As a Perth lass who didn’t know anyone else attending the conference I already thought this offering was genius and oh so thoughtful, but I could not have gotten any luckier if I tried! Getting to meet Jennifer (as well as her just as wonderful and welcoming colleagues Rohini and Michelle), truly gave me a sense of hope that there is a way to do academia that’s aligned to my values and personality – aka a potent source of inspiration!
2) Community: I hadn’t yet met (in person!) anyone else studying the intersections of sport and gender. Although it was often tough to choose between attending the sexuality/gender stream, or the sport stream presentations, I was SO excited to learn from and meet a whole community of feminist sport researchers (pictured). Who knew a heaven like this existed?! Dr Aurelie Pankowiak’s (VU) work researching safe and inclusive sporting spaces as well as social media knowledge translation (@SportSurvivorResearcher) was particularly impactful. Getting to meet such a passionate, authentic and friendly advocate in this space was an honour.
3) Canada: I was oh so grateful to meet Nicole Chateau - a fellow PhDer and athlete who understood my study from a personal and professional perspective. Nicole was so encouraging and even told her Safe Sport Lab team at the University of Toronto about my presentation/study topic. They agreed that they hadn’t heard of anyone looking into the links between sport and sexuality before – fingers crossed for an international collab in the future!
4) Clitoris: I firmly believe that no Sexologist can do a presentation or education session without giving at least
one shoutout to the clitoris. So, with this occupational expectation in mind, I (appropriately) followed suite for my TASA presentation debut. I was told it may very well have been the first time someone said clitoris in the sport presentation stream, and I will forever wear that badge with pride.
Thank you
Attending this conference has already made a significant contribution to my study, connections, knowledge and awareness of the sport, sociology and research space.
A very sincere thank you to:
· TASA for supporting and investing in ECRs,
· Sally, Penny and the committee for organising and managing the event, and
· Conference attendees for being so welcoming and inspiring.
I look forward to being further involved with TASA’s community.
Kindly,
Jordina Quain
Boorloo based PhD Candidate
Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS), La Trobe University.