[Air-L] Call for Papers: Arab Women, Media and Sexuality Conference

[Ebtihal Mahadeen]

** Apologies for cross-posting **


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 <im544 at york.ac.uk>
544@ <im544 at york.ac.uk>york <im544 at york.ac.uk>.
<im544 at york.ac.uk>ac<im544 at york.ac.uk>
. <im544 at york.ac.uk>uk <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 26th 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

Abstract submission deadline: November 30th, 2011


 Abstracts of 250-300 words should be submitted to Ebtihal Mahadeen (
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 1st 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* *or Rachel Thwaites ret508 at york.ac.uk


** Please distribute widely **