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

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

From: Olga Gershenson <gershenson@judnea.umass.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@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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