Seventh Biennial ACS Gender Studies/Women’s Studies Conference

March 24-25, 2006
Centenary College of Louisiana

Snapshots of 2006 Gender Studies Conference

Governing Bodies: Reflections on the Self, Society, and State

This year’s conference focused on how bodies come to have different meanings and values across cultures and time periods, how these meanings are learned and policed, and how these meanings influence individual selves and social institutions.

Topics were the following:

The Self:
Public and private bodies
Women's health
Cosmetic surgery
The gendered self and autobiography/biography
Psychology of gendered behaviors
Gendered performances
Eating disorders, dieting, and body image
The sexual self

Society:
Gender and sexuality in social movements
Gender and family values
Gendered labor
Sex workers in the US and abroad
Domestic violence
Gender images in popular culture
Defining sins and legislating salvation
Gender and sexuality in education

The State:
Gay marriage
Reproductive rights
Gender and sexuality in the military
Gender and criminal justice
Utopian re-envisioning of the state
Policing the bedroom/domestic sphere
Legislating the body
Practices and policies in the global community

Crawfish Boil and Concert:  The conference concluded with a crawfish boil and a special concert by The Magnolia Sisters. This all female cajun band explained the folklore and traditions that undergird their music as they performed.  Read more about The Magnolia Sisters at www.magnoliasisters.com.

Visit the conference website for for more information.