folklore feminists communication
Newsletter of the AFS Women's Section
Announcements and Calls for Papers
CFP: Toilet Papers [15 January 2006]
Toilet Papers: The Gendered Construction of Public Toilets
Editors:
Olga Gershenson (University of Massachusetts-Amherst)
Barbara Penner (University College-London)
"You know what they say about men who hang around women's
lavatories. They're asking to have their illusions
shattered."
-Georgina to Albert, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
We invite contributions for the edited collection Toilet Papers: The Gendered Construction of Public Toilets.
Public toilets are amenities with a functional, even a civic, purpose. Yet they also act as the unconscious of public spaces. They can be a haven: a place to regain composure, to check ones face, or to have a private chat. But they are also sexually-charged and transgressive spaces that shelter illicit sexual practices and act as a cultural repository for taboos and fantasies.
This collection will work from the premise that public toilets, far from being banal or simply functional, are highly charged spaces, shaped by notions of propriety, hygiene and the binary gender division. Indeed, public toilets are among the very few openly segregated spaces in contemporary Western culture, and the physical differences between gentlemen and ladies remains central to (and is further naturalized by) their design. As such, they provide a fertile ground for critical work interrogating how conventional assumptions about the body, sexuality, privacy, and technology can be formed in public space and inscribed through design.
We welcome papers which explore the cultural meanings,
histories, and ideologies of the public toilet as a gendered space. Any
subject is appropriate: toilet design and signage, toilet humour and
euphemisms, personal narratives and legal cases, as well as art sited in
public toilets. We invite submissions in the format of traditional
academic papers of no more than 7000 words (including footnotes).
We also welcome the submissions of design and art projects that expose
the gendered nature of the 'functional' toilet spaces and objects.
Completed articles and projects should be directed to the editor at
gershenson@judnea.umass.edu. All submissions must be received via
electronic file no later than January 15, 2006. We encourage prospective
authors to contact the editors with questions about submissions.
posted 4/15/2005
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