An academic friend in the midwest sent this call for papers my way and I figured Portland, being so famous for the bearded, men and ladies, queer and hetero, needed a voice. So I encourage you all to submit.
To date, no monograph length text has been produced that looks at beards from both an academic and community based perspective that is critically engaged. This book seeks to carve out a space to discuss the social cues and meanings of facial hair, specifically beards and other bulk masses of visible hair, on queer(ed) bodies.
Specifically, we seek out submissions that unpack, address and consider: the historical figure of the bearded lady and facial hair on people who are assigned or identify as women, the pathologizing of facial hair, hair and hair use among gender transgressive folks, racial and class-based implications of hair, facial hair among multiple trans communities, the use of beards in gay male spaces (including cis and trans men) and the use of ‘beards’ within poz communities or the fashioning of beards to index particularly sexual practices (leather, kink, etc) and so forth.
We imagine this book as an intersectional project that will bring together a range of perspectives and disciplines, including both academic pieces, personal stories as well as artwork and performance pieces.
Submit works to queeringbeardsproject@gmail.com by June 30th, 2011.
