APA 2013 Annual Meeting scheduled for Seattle, Washington
Call for Papers for Panel Sponsored by the Women’s Classical Caucus

 

SEXUAL LABOR IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

Allison Glazebrook (aglazebrook@brocku.ca), Brock University, Organizer

Date & Time, TBA

Location, TBA

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 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 various types of sexual labor, the connections between sexual labor and gender and/or the body, between sexual laborers and social/legal status in the ancient world (including Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Mesopotamian) or the appropriation of the ancient hetaira/sacred prostitute in modern prostitute discourse theory. Papers that examine methodologies for the study of ancient sexual labor, present new archaeological evidence and/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 sexual labor? How can the study of ancient sexual labor inform modern discussions of sex work? What types of sexual labor/laborers existed in the ancient world? How did male and female sexual labor differ? What terminology distinguished male versus female sex laborers? Were female prostitutes a unique category of slave? What distinguished the bodies of sex laborers from those of other subjects? How did sexual labor relate to issues of gender and citizenship in the ancient world more broadly?

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@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.