Body and life

Religions clearly divide the roles of men and women: the body of the childbearing woman is associated with the private; the body of the man with the public. Childbirth marks this distinction between the sexes, but also forges bonds, according to religious interpretations of sexual morality, marital love and fertility. What unites religions is their desire to control the bodies of women. The body is therefore the place where an essentially masculine power is exercised over the believer — especially over the female believer. What do women think of that?

PETRA DE SUTTER

Petra De Sutter, expert in fertility and professor in gynecology at the University of Ghent, has been a senator for Groen since 2014 as well as a member of the European Council. She is occupied with minority rights, sexual health, bioethics and the relationship between environment and health. Next to that, she is vice-president of the European Forum for Population and Development.

VIVIANE DE MUYNCK

The trajectory of Belgian actor Viviane De Muynck is far from stereotypical. After working as a management secretary until her late twenties, she gave up the office life to study theatre at the Conservatory in Brussels. She worked closely with playwright and director Jan Lauwers, portraying strong female characters time after time. Her capabilities are almost unlimited: she acts in five languages and has played a wide arrange of characters.

HANS ALMA

Next to being a psychologist, Hans Alma is a professor at the University of Brussels and at the Humanistic University of Utrecht, after having been rector of the latter. Her research focuses on the meaning of life, the transcendent and the expression of these subjects through different art forms. That brought her to her own theory surrounding meaning, one she teaches as well as uses in her coaching sessions.

Flagey, Le Soir, RTBF, ULB, VUB