Hanne Blank, author and activist, writes books about the nexus of bodies, self, and culture. Joyfully spanning the town/gown divide as well as the mind/body split, her books include the histories Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality and Virgin: The Untouched History, the cult classic sex and body-acceptance book Big Big Love: A Sourcebook on Sex for People of Size and Those Who Love Them, The Unapologetic Fat Girl’s Guide to Exercise and Other Incendiary Acts, and numerous others.
She is an engaging lecturer about body image and body respect, as well as about the history and politics of mainstream sexuality. Her work has been featured in periodicals ranging from Penthouse to Bitch. Hanne is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Denison University and has taught in various capacities on campuses including Brandeis and Tufts. She lives with her partner of 15 years in a 175-year-old mill cottage on a dirt road in the middle of Baltimore.
She has spoken in venues ranging from the inaugural Femme Conference in San Francisco to Harvard University. Hanne’s list of talks includes: “Virgins and Other Indefinite Articles: Thinking Historically about Sexuality, Definition, and Experience,” “‘Mommy, Where Do Heterosexuals Come From?’ A Brief History of Sexual Orientation,” and “Learning from Big Big Love: What A Decade of Talking to People about Weight and Sex Has To Tell Us About Size and Sexuality.”
Topics
Interdisciplining History: Developing Intersectional Analysis for Social and Cultural History (graduate or upper-level undergraduate, minimum 2 hours)
My Big Fat Sex Workshop (general audiences, 18+, minimum 90 minutes)
