The State Library’s talk Salon After D’arc: Myths, Misdiagnoses and Misinformation brings forward what is kept away from the light. It exposes how myths can masquerade as empowerment, serving to correct the record on misinformation—particularly about women and POC’s bodies. The event was structured as three talks by three different professionals, held together by the MC Jamila Rizvi who asked insightful questions and was an overall engaging speaker.

The first act was spoken by Vyom Sharma, a doctor by day and magician by night. Sharma used his position as two diametrically opposed professions to highlight how they are not actually dissimilar and how illusions pervade both. He spoke with the tone of both a doctor and comedian, articulating really interesting insights on the rise of anti-vaxxers and the harms they can cause while remaining engaging.

What lost me though was the structure of his talk. He interpolated magic tricks which I thought were quite underwhelming and not that impressive. Near the end of his talk he discussed the inaccuracy of pulse oximeters on black and brown skin but didn’t delve further or link it to his overarching topic of illusions in medicine, although it’s important to note that this lack of detail could be due to the lack of research available on this topic.

Once his speech was over, the audience received a 10 minute break to either look through a collection of books relating to the topic curated by the State Library team or have a break. At this point I was quite parched and needed some water, but on my way I found something even better. A charcuterie board. Cheese, crackers, bread. The highlight of my evening. I could delve further on the flavour and texture of the cheeses but this isn’t a food review—just know it alone was worth the ticket.

The next speaker, Hannah McDougal, is a paralympic swimmer and cyclist who used her own experience to highlight how medical data and a patient’s medical history can intertwine but also conflict. She narrates her experiences as a paralympic athlete, the accomplishments she’s achieved and navigating the highs and lows of her health. Despite her circumstances being rare, what grounded her work was relatability: being given unreliable nutrition advice that does not account for the needs of a woman’s body, being undermined and given false information by doctors, feeling insecure in your own skin—these are all common facets of a woman's experience. Despite being barely researched, she emphasised that we still exist—just because you don’t know it, doesn’t mean it’s not there.

“Another break! More cheese!” My friends and I naively thought once the speech was over. But, once we reached where it once sat, all we saw left were the crumbs on the floor. The table was gone, and so with it the board. There has to be a metaphor in there…

The final act, spoken by Associate Professor Jenny Hayes, guided us through the misinformation around and the demonisation of the vulva that pervades history. She revealed this through how it is depicted in scientific anatomy books and art, beginning with Jamie McCartney’s installation Great Wall of Vagina, which is actually a misnomer as it depicts the diversity of vulvas and ends with anatomy books’  shrinking of the clitoris throughout time. What piqued my interest most though was how culture can pervade science, allowing misinformation to spread in ways that can seriously damage our perception of 50 per cent of the population. I couldn’t help but be both outraged by the fall of the clit in textbooks and laugh at how ridiculously misinformed even scientists are about women’s bodies.

Whilst the speech was definitely a downer, there is some good news that I want to share. Firstly, the clit will rise again! The next addition of Gray’s Anatomy (the textbook not the TV series) will be illustrated by Hayes herself alongside Dr. Meredith J. Temple-Smith. Secondly, the art piece is now correctly titled The Great Wall of Vulva. Yay!

Salon After D’arc: Myths, Misdiagnoses and Misinformation makes visible what is once hidden and calls out what scientists neglect to mention. Interspersed with amazing cheese, the talks were incredibly insightful, giving me knowledge on incredibly important topics that feels like a privilege to hold.

The Salon After D’arc series will continue with ​​Dreams, Creativity and the Subconscious on 10 September.