[ecrea] Call for Papers: Arab Women, Media and Sexuality Conference

Call for Papers: Arab Women, Media and Sexuality Conference


We are delighted to invite you to the Arab Women, Media, and Sexuality 
one-day conference at the University of York, to be held on the *26th of 
May 2012*. The conference is hosted by the Centre for Women's Studies 
and focuses on the interdisciplinary study of sexuality, media, and 
gender from an Arab perspective and the intersection between all three. 
It aims to provide grounds for discussion and analysis of these three 
disciplines and to encourage debate, research and networking in these 
fields. Scholars, early career researchers, and practitioners are 
encouraged to submit abstracts for 20 minute papers to Ebtihal Mahadeen 
(im <mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>544@ <mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>york 
<mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>. <mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>ac 
<mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>. <mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>uk 
<mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>) by* November 30th, 2011* on or around the 
following themes:


- Representations of Arab women's sexuality in Western and/or Arabic 
media (media as an umbrella term encompassing traditional, online, new 
media, and so on). How are Arab women's sexualities represented in 
various forms of media? Do these representations differ between Western 
and Arabic media? Are women active agents in these representations or 
passive images? What do these representations reveal about Arab and 
Western societies' perceptions of Arab women's sexualities? What do they 
reveal about gender and power relations inside and outside Arab 
cultures, and where do Arab women fit in this picture?


- Approaches to sexuality in Arabic media. How does media content like 
home-grown talk shows and foreign series present sexuality to Arabic 
audiences? What can we make of the ubiquity of provocative music video 
channels alongside conservative Islamic channels beamed to Arab homes? 
What sexualities are socially acceptable and what, on the other hand, 
are some of the unacceptable sexualities as presented by the media? How 
are these sexualities reinforced or challenged by media?


- Arab women's perceptions of their sexuality vis-à-vis the media. How 
do Arab women claim their sexuality in light of media emphasis on 
certain sexual images and certain sexualities? What meanings do sexual 
symbols such as the veil and virginity hold to contemporary Arab women? 
How do Arab women navigate the images, expectations, and stereotypes of 
their sexuality as portrayed in different media?

We strongly encourage presenters based in the Arab region to submit 
abstracts as we may be able to arrange long-distance conferencing 
services for participants who are not able to travel to York. We welcome 
papers and posters and invitation is open to all. The registration fee 
is £25 (to cover lunch, tea, coffee, water, and programme copies and 
payable by all attendees and presenters). Accepted presenters will be 
notified by January 10th, 2012.

Two or three papers will be selected for publication in /Sexuality in 
Focus/, a special edition of the Graduate Journal of Social Science 
(http://gjss.org/). Presenters who would like their papers to be 
considered for publication must submit a copy of their full papers on 
the day of the conference, the 26^th of May 2012. Selected papers will 
be announced in due course. Papers submitted to the GJSS undergo an 
initial selection by the guest editors and then go through a 
double-blind peer review process. The special issue will be published in 
*December 2012.*

*Important details:*

Conference page: http://awmsconference.wordpress.com/__

Conference Facebook event: 
https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=285286671498203 
<https://www.facebook.com/#%21/event.php?eid=285286671498203>

Abstract submission deadline: November 30th, 2011


Abstracts of 250-300 words should be submitted to Ebtihal Mahadeen 
((im544 /at/ york.ac.uk) <mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>) containing the following 
information and in this order: name(s), email address, affiliation, 
abstract title, abstract body.


Notification of accepted papers: January 10th, 2012


Registration deadline: March 1^st 2012


To be considered for publication in the GJSS special edition, /Sexuality 
in Focus/, full papers must be submitted on the day of the conference.


If you have any queries or comments please contact Ebtihal Mahadeen 
(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk) <mailto:(im544 /at/ york.ac.uk)>_ _or Rachel Thwaites 
(ret508 /at/ york.ac.uk) <mailto:(ret508 /at/ york.ac.uk)>

** Please distribute widely **

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