[Englecturers] FYI: Toilet Papers: The Gendered Construction of Public Toilets (1/15/06; collection)

[englecturers at lists.ucr.edu]

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-cfp at lists.sas.upenn.edu [mailto:owner-cfp at lists.sas.upenn.edu]
On Behalf Of Olga Gershenson
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 5:48 AM
To: cfp at english.upenn.edu
Subject: CFP: Toilet Papers: The Gendered Construction of Public Toilets
(1/15/06; collection)


Call for Papers


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 one's 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 at 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. 

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