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----Department of Historical and Critical Studies, University of Northumbria at Newcastle
RE:GENERATIONS WOMEN, AGE AND DIFFERENCE
Saturday 15th April 2000
Responses to Germaine Greer's The Whole Woman have been marked by a sense of internal division/conflict within popular feminism. Many critiques of the book have been based on Greer's lack of connection/relevance to the concerns and status of contemporary/younger women - she is not 'sexy' enough, 'young' enough; nor has she gained the 'dignity' of motherhood. Germaine Greer, along with other feminists at the forefront of the 'second wave', such as Kate Millett and Shulamith Firestone, are frequently portrayed as 'crones' or 'angry women', as opposed to the allegedly media-friendly face of the 'new feminism'. With these generational differences dominating media representations of feminism at the millenium, this interdisciplinary conference will offer a forum for informed debate about women, aging and difference. Such debate would, of necessity, return to the history, theory and practice of second wave feminist theory and its relationship with contemporary feminisms. Women and aging is an area which has not been central to feminist theory: while discourses surrounding race, ethnicity, sexuality and class have been at the forefront of discussion within the academy in the last twenty years, the aging woman and the aging feminist have been remarkably absent. Debate would not only focus on representations of aging, older or 'old' women but will consider theoretical questions regarding the 'difference' age makes for the female subject. How is a woman's age measured? Is it more than a physical and temporal process? How do the different 'times' of femininity - pre-menstrual/post-menopausal - produce ways of understanding women as aging subjects? Suggested areas may include: second wave feminism v 'post-feminism' representations of women and aging in post-war visual and textual media generational conflict between women gender, generation and difference The conference will be cross-disciplinary and we are specifically interested in responses which engage with literary and visual media, including film and design history. Abstracts of 300-500 words, or further enquiries to: Rosie White Department of Historical and Critical Studies University of Northumbria at Newcastle Ellison Place Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST e mail: rosemary.white@unn.ac.uk Tel: 0191 227 3100 *Deadline for abstracts is 7th October 1999*
=============================================== From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP@english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/ or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu ===============================================
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