Sat, Apr 18 · 7:00 PM BST
If an alien landed in Britain of 2026, it might well conclude that things have never been worse for women. That to be a woman in the neoliberal, post-sexual revolution West is just a vale of tears: bodily, emotionally, reproductively, and socially. Except, that's not at all the truth, is it?
In Good Slut, Zoe Strimpel argues the exact opposite, that things have never been better for women, and the fact that this is a taboo shows how far off the right piste we're going. She takes aim at what she sees as a culture of female victimhood, arguing instead that women in the modern West enjoy unprecedented freedom—socially, sexually, and economically. The book is a forceful defence of the sexual revolution and a call to embrace agency, ambition, and desire without apology. It argues for a proud promiscuity: not just sexual, but in all other things too.
This argument has sparked sharp disagreement. Critics have questioned whether Strimpel downplays the real costs of modern dating culture, from the effects of pornography and dating apps to the persistence of exploitation and dissatisfaction. Others argue that her dismissal of “victimhood” overlooks genuine problems—or that her vision of liberation risks collapsing into a defence of whatever currently exists. 
Join us for a candid conversation on sex, freedom, and the deeper ideas at stake: what does genuine independence actually require—and is modern culture helping us achieve it, or standing in the way?
