Chairperson: Anthea McTiernan

What message does our hypersexualised culture and its airbrushed version of femininity send out to women and young girls whose ambitions often stop at fame, glamour and endorsement by men? To what degree are we limiting their futures, and what actions can we, as a society, take to counter the slide?

In Living Dolls – written more than a decade after her seminal The New Feminism –  broadcaster, writer and critic Natasha Walter asks how its watchwords – 'choice', 'empowerment' and 'liberation' – have become so distorted, and at what cost? Natasha Walter has worked as a reviewer, columnist and feature writer at the Independent, the Observer and Guardian. She is a passionate advocate for the rights of women and in 2006 founded the charity Women for Refugee Women. 

Susan McKay is an award-winning journalist, author and campaigner. She is currently director of the National Women's Council of Ireland. Her debut book Sophia's Story was a potent and provocative best-seller. She has also written the history of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, and was instrumental in setting up the Belfast equivalent. Her other books include Bear in Mind These Dead (2008) and Northern Protestants, an Unsettled People (2000).

Join Natasha and Susan for a pressing debate on the return of sexism.