Finding your body

How do we navigate movement and gender as queer people?

From the football pitch to the dance floor to the skating track, different forms of physical expression carry different gender codes and for queer people, navigating both these codes as well as what movement itself feels right can be daunting. This panel brings together people whose physical lives span different physical movement spaces from sports, dance and performance, to talk honestly about where they've felt free to inhabit their bodies and where they haven't.

For example, why do some queer women feel more themselves in spaces traditionally coded as masculine and less so in spaces coded as feminine, like dance? What does it mean to perform your sport in a way that feels true to who you are? And what would it look like to have genuinely open physical spaces where movement isn't gendered? How much of the way you move is conscious expression, and how much is just... you?

We invite you to an honest conversation about bodies, belonging and the quiet politics of how and where we are allowed to move and explore what feels right for us.

Panel:
Raine Check, Oslo Roller Derby
Manu, Queer Sweaty Social Club
Pål Bergman, Oslo Tango Queer

Moderator: Princess, Oslo Roller Derby

Some themes we will explore together:

Personal expression:
Have you ever experienced a moment — in sport, dance, play — where gender just fell away completely? What was that like? Was there a moment — in sport, dance, play — where movement felt like a form of self-discovery?
Do you adapt the way you move to the context, either to feel more like yourself, or to fit into a space? What did that cost you?
What would you tell a younger queer person who is still figuring out their expression?

Spaces:
Have you ever found a physical space that felt like yours? What made it feel that way?
What happens to your body when you're in a space where you don't feel free to move the way you want to? How you move when you feel safe, as opposed to when you don't?
Is there a version of yourself that only exists in certain physical spaces?
What does it feel like when a space actually allows you to explore movement on your own terms — a space where identity and body align?
What would a genuinely genderless/or non-pressured physical space feel like to you?

Building spaces:
As members of communities that work consciously with body and space, what are some things you are doing right, that take us towards genuinely open physical spaces?
Do you have any advice for someone who wants to build genuinely open spaces within their sport or activity?

Final thoughts
What would you want physical spaces to look like for the next generation of queer people finding their bodies?