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[Katalin Fabian]

CALL FOR PAPERS

A special issue of Feminist Media Studies:



The Media Gendering of War and Conflict

Guest Editor: Dafna Lemish, Tel Aviv University





      Events such as the September 11, 2001 attacks on the USA
as well as war or conflict in Afghanistan, the former
Yugoslavia, Palestine, Chechnya and Iraq, to name but a few,
have all been at the centre of world media attention. The sad
truth is that war and conflict are an everyday reality for many
women, men and children all over the globe.

UN Security Council decision 1325 states that, "Most of the
victims of armed conflicts are civilians, especially women and
children, who become refugees in their own countries." The
Security Council's decision also affirms the significance of
women's ongoing contributions to "the prevention of conflicts
and in their peaceful solutions", as well as the importance of
their "equal participation and full involvement in every effort
towards peace and security."

      Despite this acknowledgement by the UN, world media
portrayals of war and conflict remains heavily dominated by
patriarchal and colonial reasoning. What is thus marginalized in
the media as well as in wider public discourses are voices that
might begin to challenge these dominant views. In what ways do
patriarchal and colonial discourses shape public knowledge of
war and conflict - their circumstances, consequences and
possible resolutions? Do women journalists offer different
frames and perspectives? What forms of masculinity are typically
represented in war stories? What is the nature of portraying the
victimization of women - sexual war crimes, war related slavery
of girls, or bereavement? What form of agency is assigned to
women as fighters in armed forces, as activists in peace
movements, or as political leaders? Has the media's discussion
of mothers' of suicide- bombers challenged our normative
conceptions of motherhood? Are the portrayals of war and
conflict-related suffering of women (and of children) sometimes
exploited by the media with the view to increasing audiences and
if so, with what wider social and political consequences? How
might audiences make sense of gendered representations of war
and conflict?

      This special issue will provide a platform for discussions
around the intersection of gender, war and conflict across media
genres - including the news, fictional film, factual and
entertainment television programming - and in all dimensions -
from media production, to texts and audience reception. Papers
will draw upon rich resources of feminist and critical gender-
sensitive critique and diverse methodological approaches to
produce engaging and challenging analyses of the discussion of
war and conflict in the media.



Interested authors should, in the first instance, submit an
abstract of 150-200 words to Dafna Lemish
(lemish at post.tau.ac.il) by no later than 15 September 2004. Upon
approval, completed articles of 8,000 words should be sent to
Dafna Lemish via e-mail by no later than 15 January 2005. The
special issue will be published as Volume 5, Number

3 of Feminist Media Studies, in November 2005.





Deadline: Sep 15, 2004
--
Katalin Fabian
Lafayette College
Department of Government and Law
Kirby Hall 103
Easton, PA 18042-1780

Tel: (610) 330-5392
Fax: (610) 330-5397