CFP: Sexual Labor in the Ancient World (APA 2013 Panel)

Seen on the Classicists list:

*Please note the February 1, 2012 deadline*

Sexual Labor in the Ancient World
Sponsored by the Women’s Classical Caucus
Organized by Allison Glazebrook

The Women’s Classical Caucus invites proposals for a panel session on
sexual labor to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Philological Association in Seattle, WA in 2013.

Since the mid-1990s, there has been much interest in sexual labor in the
ancient world. At one time marginalized by feminist historians, the
female prostitute is an important locus for the study of women, gender
and sexuality. Scholars more broadly further acknowledge that the study
of sexual labor connects to social, cultural, legal and economic history
and reveals much about gender relations, attitudes towards sexuality,
and the urban landscape of ancient cities. The hetaira in particular is
central to discussions of sex work outside the field of Classics. More
recently, focus within the discipline has turned to the variety of
venues for sex and of sex laborers, to male prostitutes and to
prostitutes as slaves.

This panel invites papers that explore the connections between sexual
labor and gender and/or the body, and between sexual laborers and
social/legal status in the ancient world. Papers that examine
methodologies for the study of ancient sexual labor, present new
archaeological evidence, explore the appropriation of the ancient
hetaira/sacred prostitute in modern prostitute discourse theory or
employ new theoretical approaches to the ancient sex market are welcome.

Questions that individual papers might consider, but are not limited to,
are: What modern terminology best describes the ancient practice:
prostitute, courtesan, sex laborer, sex worker, brothel, red-light
district? How do we read the evidence for prostitution? How can the
study of ancient sexual labor inform modern discussions of sex work? How did male and female sexual labor differ? What terminology distinguished male versus female sex laborers? Were female prostitutes a unique category of slave? In what ways were prostitutes unique as bodies? How did sexual labor relate to issues of gender and citizenship in the ancient world more broadly? In what ways do the literary, visual and material evidence converge and diverge?

Abstracts of 500 to 800 words, suitable for a 15-20 minute presentation, should be sent as an email attachment (pdf) to: Ted Gellar-Goad, gellar AT email.unc.edu.

You may also send submissions by regular mail to:
Ted Gellar-Goad, Murphey Hall, UNC CB #3145, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.

All abstracts will be judged anonymously. Please do not identify
yourself in any way in the abstract itself. Please follow the formatting
guidelines for individual abstracts that appear on the APA website. All
proposals must be received by February 1, 2012.