Event Details
In today’s prevailing culture, intimacy is often shaped around the ideal of a heterosexual, monogamous romantic relationship—one that follows a familiar trajectory: falling in love, getting married, having children. This script is so deeply embedded in our social lives that it feels “natural,” reinforced by strong gender expectations. Even within LGBTQ+ communities, heteronormative ideals subtly persist. From a young age, many of us are taught that intimacy should look a certain way: one-on-one, faithful, long-term, and ideally leading to marriage and family life. For some, this offers comfort and stability. But for others, it can feel stifling, confusing, or simply misaligned with who they are. Maybe the problem isn’t us—but the so-called “right” way to do intimacy.
2046: Imagining New Forms of Intimacy is an open discussion taking place on the grass in Victoria Park. We invite you to join us in rethinking what intimacy could mean—for you, and for our collective future.
Programme
Discussion Leads: Haoyue Tan and Mengyun He
Haoyue Tan is a PhD student in Sociology at the Social Research Institute, University College London (UCL). His current research focuses on the continuities and changes in the culture and conduct of fatherhood among urban middle-class men in contemporary China. His broader academic interests include family sociology, intimacy, gender studies, and qualitative research methods.
Mengyun He is a PhD researcher in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and formerly an episode director of the documentary series Life Matters (Ren Jian Shi). Her doctoral research explores the socio-cultural mechanisms behind mediated intimacy and the traffic-driven digital economy. Using ethnographic methods, she observes and documents how grassroots youth navigate, struggle, and strategise within the volatile world of digital “traffic hustling.”