cfp.english.upenn.edu

Call for Papers: Contemporary Gendered Performance and Practice
Queen’s University Belfast
12th–13th April 2013

Keynote Speaker: Prof. Elaine Aston, Lancaster University

In this postfeminist age, normative notions of masculinity and femininity are being challenged and questioned. Both internationally and locally, there is a renewed debate about women’s reproductive choice and freedom. On average, women continue to be underrepresented in government bodies and receive less pay than men in comparable employment. Whilst the female body remains a political site, notions of masculinities are also in flux. The recent worldwide economic downturn and subsequent increase in male unemployment contrasted with the image of the ‘metrosexual’/‘new man’ have challenged traditional hegemonic masculinities.

Within the panels and discussions of this conference, we wish to interrogate the changing gendered identities and spaces that now exist in our increasingly multicultural and international world. We seek to reinvigorate debate and critique about vital areas of public enquiry through workshops, discussions, and performances specifically designed to mediate opinions from academia and the wider community. To that end, we seek papers and performance proposals on, but not limited to:

• LGBTQ performance practice and critical approaches
• Feminist performance practice and critical approaches
• Gendered bodies and space in performance
• The performance of postfeminist masculinities and femininities
• The female gaze within the visual arts

We highly encourage postgraduate students at the MA and PhD level and practitioners from within theatre and the visual arts, including live/performance artists, to submit proposals.

Abstracts or proposals of no more than 250 words should be submitted to performinggender2013@qub.ac.uk by Friday 30th November 2012. All selected papers should be twenty minutes long.

For further information or enquiries please contact: performinggender2013@qub.ac.uk