On Thursday, February 19, 2026, the ORION Sexteens club held its second Sex’pop scientific aperitif at the Mac Carthy pub in Nancy. From 6:30 pm to 8:45 pm, about thirty participants engaged in a discussion on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a series adapted from Margaret Atwood’s novel, to analyze the role of women in this dystopia which has become a major reference in contemporary culture.
Through two roundtable discussions, the conversations intersected perspectives from law, philosophy, and information and communication sciences, fully demonstrating the multidisciplinary richness of the ORION clubs.
Bioethics and the right to one’s body
The first roundtable discussion focused on bioethics and the right to control one’s body, led by Camille Augustin, a doctoral student and manager of the club, and Ophélie Mantion, an excellence ORION scholarship holder and club member.
In the world of Gilead, where fertility has become a scarce resource, some women are assigned to procreation in the name of a supposed “biological destiny.” Using this fictional framework, the discussions questioned contemporary legal foundations and the tensions within bioethics.
Sophie Dumas-Lavenac, a lecturer in private law at the François Gény Institute (University of Lorraine), provided legal insights on the concept of body autonomy and the normative frameworks surrounding it.
Anna Zielinska, a philosophy lecturer at the Henri Poincaré Archives (University of Lorraine), enriched the discussion with a philosophical approach, examining the relationships between autonomy, constraint, and responsibility.
The interactions with the audience highlighted the power of fiction as a tool for critically analyzing reality.
Consent and women’s freedoms
The second roundtable discussion focused on consent and women’s freedoms. It was led by Cyrielle Gualandris, a doctoral student and club manager, and Bérénice Bouvret, a ORION program student and club member.
In the society of Gilead, the distinction between sexual violence and “legally sanctioned rapes” reveals a system where domination is ingrained in the legal framework itself. Between deindividuation, possession, and marital duty, the concept of consent is deeply distorted.
Maxence Christelle, a lecturer in public law at the University Research Center on Public Action and Politics (University of Picardie Jules Verne), analyzed these mechanisms through the lens of public law and exceptional regimes.
Laurence Corroy, a university professor in information and communication sciences at the Mediation Research Center (University of Lorraine) and scientific supervisor of the club, shed light on the media representations and social imaginaries at work in the series.
The intersection of these disciplines deepened the reflection on women’s freedoms and contemporary forms of body control.
Relying on a widely known fiction, the evening highlighted the essential role of research in accompanying societal changes, analyzing contemporary issues, and structuring collective reflection on rights, freedoms, and equality.
