Completed articles and projects should be directed to the editor at
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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
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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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