Girlhood is a spectrum: interdisciplinary approaches in Girlhood Studies
Format: on Shaninka campus and online
Language: Russian, English
Moderators: Diana Gabitova (HSE student), Varvara Shindina (MSU student), Maria Chepeleva (HSE graduate)
Language: Russian, English
Moderators: Diana Gabitova (HSE student), Varvara Shindina (MSU student), Maria Chepeleva (HSE graduate)
Abstract
Girlhood Studies is an interdisciplinary, actively developing and relatively new field of study at the intersection of Gender Studies and Childhood / Youth Studies. Girlhood Studies emerged in the 1990-2000s but the scholars were mostly studying the experience of girls from English-speaking countries. In Russia, the discussion of Girlhood Studies as an independent field began in the 2010s by round table of Gorbachev-foundation and materials and translations by Olga Zdravomyslova published in journal «Inviolable Reserve [Неприкосновенный запас]» — and we want to continue this polylogue.
In this section of the Vectors Conference we are going to discuss the social aspects of girls' growing up, different aspects of «girl culture», and representation of girls in the media. We want to answer the question: «what does it mean to be a girl?» or — to put it more pop-culturally — «what are girls made of?»*. We believe that this question is to be approached by a team of interdisciplinary researchers so we call upon those engaged in the fields of cultural studies, cultural anthropology, sociology, gender history, media studies, and cinema studies.
Some of the research questions may be: what makes «girl dinner», «girl math» and «hot girl summer» so girly? How are girls' fan communities organised in the past and present — from «beatlemania» to swifties? What games do girls play — from hopscotch, Chinese jump rope and tamagotchi to Sims and Online Dress Up games? How to write books and make films about girls and for girls? How do the girls write and talk about themselves?
Our starting point is the specificity of the girl as an object of study and the incompatibility of Girlhood Studies to separate gender or age aspects. It must be noticed that we are not talking about girlhood but girlhoods — we encourage to consider multiple contexts: historical, geographical, economic, racial etc. In particular, we would like to continue (and in some way start) the conversation about Russian and Soviet Girlhood.
The organizers of the section are the researchers from the community «girlhood is a spectrum», which brings together students interested in Girlhood Studies and organizing a regular reading seminar.
* a reference to a famous soviet song by Yakov Khaletsky, which states: «What are our girls made of, what are our girls made of? / Of flowers and bells / Of notebooks and glances / Our girls are made of! <...> From handkerchiefs and balls of yarn / From riddles and jellybeans / Our girls are made of!»
In this section of the Vectors Conference we are going to discuss the social aspects of girls' growing up, different aspects of «girl culture», and representation of girls in the media. We want to answer the question: «what does it mean to be a girl?» or — to put it more pop-culturally — «what are girls made of?»*. We believe that this question is to be approached by a team of interdisciplinary researchers so we call upon those engaged in the fields of cultural studies, cultural anthropology, sociology, gender history, media studies, and cinema studies.
Some of the research questions may be: what makes «girl dinner», «girl math» and «hot girl summer» so girly? How are girls' fan communities organised in the past and present — from «beatlemania» to swifties? What games do girls play — from hopscotch, Chinese jump rope and tamagotchi to Sims and Online Dress Up games? How to write books and make films about girls and for girls? How do the girls write and talk about themselves?
Our starting point is the specificity of the girl as an object of study and the incompatibility of Girlhood Studies to separate gender or age aspects. It must be noticed that we are not talking about girlhood but girlhoods — we encourage to consider multiple contexts: historical, geographical, economic, racial etc. In particular, we would like to continue (and in some way start) the conversation about Russian and Soviet Girlhood.
The organizers of the section are the researchers from the community «girlhood is a spectrum», which brings together students interested in Girlhood Studies and organizing a regular reading seminar.
* a reference to a famous soviet song by Yakov Khaletsky, which states: «What are our girls made of, what are our girls made of? / Of flowers and bells / Of notebooks and glances / Our girls are made of! <...> From handkerchiefs and balls of yarn / From riddles and jellybeans / Our girls are made of!»
Main topics
- The boundaries of girlhood: the periodicity of girls' growing up, symbolic practices of transition to adulthood, study of tweens and adolescents.
- Representation of girls: coming of age, young adult, bildungsroman.
- Girls and media, subcultures, fan-communities.
- Girls and education, teaching and parenting practices.
- (Auto)ethnography of Girlhood: a study of personal experience, ego-documents and self-narratives.
- Transnational Girlhood.
- Pre-revolutionary, Soviet and Russian Girlhood.
Keynote speakers
- Olga Zdravomyslova, PhD in Philosophy, Executive Director of the Gorbachev Foundation.
- Ashley E. Remer, founder of Girl Museum, PhD in Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Research.
- Ksenia Romanenko, Associate Professor, Institute of Education, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
- Glafira Soldatova, Master's student in Children's Literature, Media and Culture at the University of Glasgow.
- Daria Mityakina, literary reviewer, writer.
- Olga Vlasenko, writer, fanfiction enthusiast.
Apply
The application form includes the name of the speaker, Institution, topic of the report and an abstract (up to 500 words).
Participants should send these data to girlhoodstudiesisaspectrum@outlook.com.
Applications for participation in the conference will be accepted
until 28 February.
*We have simplified the process of preparing the conference proceedings. To publish your work, please send an extended abstract to the email address of your panel's organizers and indicate your intention to publish in the email. Please note that submissions will undergo a selection process, more details at the following link.
Participants should send these data to girlhoodstudiesisaspectrum@outlook.com.
Applications for participation in the conference will be accepted
until 28 February.
*We have simplified the process of preparing the conference proceedings. To publish your work, please send an extended abstract to the email address of your panel's organizers and indicate your intention to publish in the email. Please note that submissions will undergo a selection process, more details at the following link.
Контакты
vectors@universitas.ru
Газетный пер., 3/5с1, Москва