"SEXY FEMINISMS? TRANS-FORMATIONS IN FEMINIST SEXUALITY STUDIES"

In 1984, Signs held a forum on "female sexualities" that described two presumably opposing camps of feminist responses to sexuality debates: radical and libertarian. Contributors to this 1984 forum pointed out that both sides claim the other overlooks important aspects of female sexuality and pleasure. They concluded that these "opposing positions do not exhaust the possible feminist perspectives on sexual pleasure, sexual freedom, and danger" (107). In the two decades since that important critical moment, feminist sexuality studies has moved well beyond the limiting poles of danger versus pleasure or prudes versus progressives. Indeed, feminist sexuality studies since has faced new challenges in form of queer theory, transgender, and transnational scholarship, as well as critical race, whiteness and disability studies.

Given these transformations, this special issue of Atlantis seeks to survey the current states of feminist sexuality studies in the wake of the above theoretical and political influences. We invite submissions that contribute to an inquiry into the current relationship between "feminist" and "sexuality." We suggest that such inquiry circulates around two central questions: How have the above mentioned theoretical and political movements transformed how we do and understand feminist sexuality studies today? What kinds of changes can we observe in the longstanding conversation that feminist theory has about the status of sexuality?

For more info re topics, requirements, etc see the web address provided below.

Submission Deadline: February 1, 2006

Atlantis: A Women's Studies Journal / Revue d'Etudes sur les femmes, Institute for the Study of Women, Mount Saint Vincent University

Halifax NS B3M 2J6, Canada, tel: 902-457-6319, fax: 902-443-1352
email: atlantis at msvu.ca