CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Call for Submissions #1
Deadline: August 1, 2003

Young Feminists Take On the Family (part of a special issue of THE SCHOLAR & FEMINIST ONLINE, www.barnard.edu/sfonline)

From George Bush's insistence that the two-parent family still provides the best environment for building civic stability, responsibility, and character to Hillary Clinton's claim that it takes a village, "family values" has become an indispensable catchword of politics across the spectrum. But what exactly does the term mean? And how come in all this talk, no one mentions values, only family form? Both liberals and conservatives claim that they have moved away from the untenable and exclusive mythology of a white, middle-class patriarchy in order to account for the complex social, legal and economic realities of today's world. But if this were truly the case, then why do discussions of the family continue to revert to fantasies of race, class, gender, and sexuality befitting Ozzie and Harriet?

"Young Feminists Take on the Family," a special issue of the new webjournal THE SCHOLAR & FEMINIST ONLINE, invites critical essays, poetry, art, audio, visual and multimedia contributions that explode current myths of the American family and offer analyses of the larger culture that has helped shape and produce these myths. This special issue-intended to create a fuller picture of American families and deeper, richer understanding of their values-will inaugurate the webjournal's Feminist Futures series. Contributions with a sharp analytic focus will be given preference.

The issue will be guest edited by writer-activists Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards. Selected contributions will appear alongside comments from a conversation launched at Barnard College in February 2003 on this topic. Panelists include Noelle Howey, author of Dress Codes: Of Three Girlhoods - My Mother's, My Father's, and Mine; Irshad Manji, author of Risking Utopia: On the Edge of a New Democracy and the forthcoming The Trouble With Islam: A Wake-Up Call for Honesty and Change; Cathy McKinley, author of the The Book of Sarahs: A Family in Parts and editor of Afrekete: An Anthology of Black Feminist Writing; and Leora Tanenbaum, author of Slut: Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation and Catfight: Women and Competition.

Submissions might address any of the following questions and issues:

* A great majority of Americans define a family as "a group of people who love and care for each other," according to a survey published by the Massachusetts General Life Insurance Company. Yet current law and policy preferences the two-parent family at the expense of the diverse groups that make up an ever-greater proportion of American families. What effect is this discrepancy between public and private values having on the growing number that do not conform to the idealized, married, heterosexual model?

* While feminists have done a good job of "adding" to family, for example, through adoption and remarriage, we haven't yet separated biology from family. How can family be based on emotions and relationships, rather than biology?

* How do young feminists manage the disconnect between changing attitudes and unchanging messages and ideals about who should work, who should stay home, the unmediated evils of divorce, and the perpetual myth of "balance"?

* Looking globally, how does our definition of "family" change?

* What do young feminists make of the politicization of marriage-from President Bush among others "mandating marriage" as a solution to welfare to the Defense of Marriage Act?

* Gay marriage and family: Will including (and extending rights to) gay people transform the institution? Are assumptions changed about discipline, housework, and nurturing when both parents are the same sex? o

* Where do we currently stand vis-a-vis "the mommy wars"? Contemporary takes on competition, judgment, and parenting? o What would feminist family configurations actually look like? Where do we presently find them? What would it take to make such configurations possible?

* Cross-racial and cross-national adoption: Who benefits?

Submission Guidelines

The deadline for submissions is August 1, 2003. You will be notified by November 15 if your work is to be included. Essays should be no longer than 2500 words-and shorter 1000 to 1500 word essays are encouraged. Please submit text documents as Microsoft Word files. Images should be formatted as jpegs or gifs. Please consult The MLA Manual of Style for proper manuscript form. If you would like your materials returned, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Send all materials to:

Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards
C/o Soapbox
201 East 2nd Street, #5D
New York, NY 10009
or jenandamy

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About S&F Online

S&F Online (), a new breed of interactive webjournal and academic zine, provides public access to the Barnard Center for Research on Women's most innovative programming by posting written transcripts, audio and visual recordings, and links to relevant intellectual and social action networks. The journal builds on these programs by publishing related scholarship and other applicable resources.

For further information about the webjournal or the Feminist Futures Series, contact:

Deborah Siegel
Editor, S&F Online
Center for Research on Women
Barnard College
dsiegel

Call for Submissions #2
Deadline: February 1, 2004

PARENTS FOR CHOICE: Writings on Abortion

Are you a parent who believes in safe, legal, and dignified abortion?
Are you involved in the reproductive rights movement?
Have you had an abortion (or multiple abortions)?
Are you in a relationship with or have you known someone who has had an abortion?
Are you raising your children to be pro-choice?
What does a pro-choice political family look like?

Parents for Choice is an anthology of writings by pro-choice parents about the complex and important issue of abortion. We want to challenge the misconception that mothers and women who have abortions are two separate categories of women. To that end, the anthology will examine how these two experiences (parenthood and abortion) intersect and the many ways that one choice can influence and shape the other. You needn't have had a direct experience with abortion to share your pro-choice views and politics with us.

We are looking for first-person, non-fiction essays of 1500-3000 words. Poetry will be considered and can be shorter. We are interested in hearing about diverse experiences and opinions as they relate to abortion and reproductive choice.

We welcome contributions from fathers, and all kinds of mothers, including stepmothers, biological mothers, and adoptive mothers. We want to hear from people who "came of age" both before and after Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in 1973.

Questions are welcome. You will be given the option to use a pseudonym. Academic writing is welcome, but the style and content should be accessible to a general audience.

Submissions should be sent as attachments to:

Krista Jacob
F ounder and Editor, Sexing the Political
sexinthepolitical

Call for Submissions #3
Deadline December 1, 2003

SEXING THE POLITICAL: GENERATION X TAKES ON SEXUAL POLITICS

After two successful years of internet publication, "Sexing the Political: A journal of third wave feminists on sexuality" (STP) will be available in paper form.

"Sexing the Political" (www.sexingthepolitical.com) averages 1500-2000 visitors per day. We have a diverse, loyal readership, which includes both women and men and everyone in between. We've received enthusiastic feedback from feminists of all varieties, those on the edge of feminism, and people from various racial and economic backgrounds.

STP has featured the writings and artwork of third wave feminists from racially and economically diverse backgrounds and because this diversity is important to us, we want to see it reflected in our book. If you have published in STP or have something you want to contribute to STP, we want to hear from you. We are seeking contributions in the form of editorials, personal essays (nonfiction), book and music reviews, artwork, and photographs by third wave feminists.

We are interested in your thoughts on any of these topics, as well as any other topics related to third wave feminism and sexuality that you may be thinking about. "Sexuality" and "sexual politics" are defined broadly and include, but are not limited to:

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