[NextGenderation]
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Abstracts are invited for the Feminist and Women's
Studies Association
(UK & 
Ireland) 18th Annual Conference to be held at the
University of
Aberdeen, UK  
on the 9th-11th of September 2005. 
GENDER AND VIOLENCE:An Interdisciplinary Exploration
News coverage of the role of women in recent events in
Iraq has
confirmed that 
the relationship between gender and violence is still
a highly charged
issue. 
On the one hand media reports of the activities of
female soldiers and 
terrorists and,in other contexts, 'girl gangs' suggest
that women are
just as 
capable of violence as men. On the other hand, the
horror expressed in
these 
reports - perhaps mixed with a certain salacious
satisfaction -
reinforces the 
traditional view that violence is not 'natural' for
women, and that
violent 
women are therefore monstrous anomalies. In a British
context, 
responses
to 
Myra Hindley, even after her death, and to Maxine Carr
show the same 
ambivalence. And equally, is it fair to assume that
violent men are not 
monsters, but merely extreme versions of the norm? 
This conference aims to explore male and female
violence, and the
complex 
relations between reality and representation, in a
variety of 
practices,
fields 
and discourses. It will provide an opportunity to
investigate the many
forms in 
which 'violence' has been expressed historically and
continues to be
expressed 
globally, and the role that gender plays in all those
manifestations. 
In
addition to inviting papers from all disciplines, we
particularly
welcome 
papers which are inter-disciplinary in approach.
Contributions from
activists 
as well as academics are most welcome.
Conference themes include:
Domestic Violence -- Sexual Violence -- Medical
perspectives --
Pornography -- 
Cross-cultural practices -- Female Genital Mutilation
-- Historical 
Perspectives -- Gender and Terrorism -- Women and War
-- Violent
Offenders -- 
Legal/political initiatives on sexual/domestic
violence --
Cultural/media 
representations of violence -- Cosmetic surgery and
body modification
Abstracts (250 words including title of paper) and
short biographical
details 
should be submitted to:
Dr. Jeannette King
School of Language and Literature
King's College
University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen 
AB24 3FG 
j.m.king@???
Deadline for Abstracts is 30 April 2005.
Further information can be obtained from the
Conference Administrator,
Dr. 
Joyce Walker (j.a.walker@???) or by visiting
the conference
website:
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/womens/conference.htm 
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