Call for Papers: Temporalities: The Sixth Annual Critical Femininities Conference
Virtual
Organization: The Critical Femininities Research Network (York University)
Call for Papers: Temporalities: The Sixth Annual Critical Femininities Conference
The Critical Femininities Network invites abstracts from scholars, researchers, activists, and artists for the sixth annual Critical Femininities Conference on the theme of ‘Temporalities.’ The conference will take place virtually on August 7 - 9, 2026.
Temporalities refers to the state of existing within or having some relationship to time. In what might be referred to as unprecedented times, uncertain times, or even the worst possible timeline, femininity has the potential to expand our temporal horizons and offer new possibilities. Critical conceptions of femininity can help us reach to the temporal fringes to de-centre patriarchal, colonial, white supremacist, cisheteronormative, capitalist, anti-fat, ableist, and other oppressive temporal frameworks.
Reclaiming our collective time and a critical conception of femininity can surpass the traditional conception of futurity, a legacy which reaches into the past and foresees potential for a non-traditional future. A queer, femme temporality has the potential to shift the expectations and desires of the feminine future, critiquing reproductive futurism (Edelman, 2004), anti-fat temporal rituals (Edwards and Cronin 2025), and chrononormativity (Freeman, 2010) and demanding something different, something abundant, something previously unimagined, something more (Aguas 2025, Cummings 2019, Freeman 2010).
Critical Femininities is a growing field that seeks to develop nuanced critiques of femininity in all its variations. Those who work in Critical Femininities aim to go beyond its characterization as a patriarchal imposition. A key aspect of Critical Femininities analysis is an understanding that femininity is not synonymous with ‘woman’ (Dahl 2012, Taylor & Hoskin 2023, 79). Rethinking femininity as a concept opens space for a dialogue on the complex, multidimensional feminine expressions beyond heteronormative relations. Additionally, the field of critical femininities offers alternative frameworks centering temporalities through community building and a love politics that emphasizes a praxis of care extending beyond the personal and into the building of political communities (Nash, 2019).
Together, we aim to spend time exploring the possibilities that emerge when we resist the timelines set by white supremacy, colonization, ableism, transphobia, misogyny, and the other violent structures that devalue our femininities. This year, we are embracing temporalities not just as our theme, but in our structure. The conference will host panels continuously over the 24 hours of each conference day to bring together presenters from across the globe.
We invite you to spend time with us through submissions that reflect diverse critical temporalities for the sixth annual Critical Femininities Conference. Possible themes may include (but are not limited to):
- Femme readings on media and literary representations of temporality
- Femme re-imaginings of temporality and futurism
- Trans-femininity and queerings of the chrononormative temporal (Freeman 2010)
- BIPOC, trans, queer, disability, and femme interventions in and reinterpretations of temporalities
- Black feminist reflections on temporality around and with femininity
- Artistic representations of femme temporality and crafting beyond the temporal
- Historic femininities, femme lineages, and moving beyond traditional conceptions of time
- Decolonial, postcolonial, and Indigenous critiques and cultures of femininities and the colonial,
- neoliberal conceptions of timeliness and “ideal” temporal paths
- Reclaiming alternative femme futurities: the spinster, the crone, and other deviant femme futures
- Femme desire and its temporal possibilities
- Intersections between critical femininities and other conceptions of temporalities like crip time, queer time, fat temporalities, anti-social temporality
- Subjugated and ephemeral knowledges found between popular cultural production and low theory, including zines, reality television, street art, or internet cultures
- Femme and femininities assessments of “herstory” and other feminist perspectives on historiography
- Feminine readings of climate change and other complex long-term histories and changes across the world
- Transnational perspectives on time and space across or against nation-state borders
- Indigenous, Indigiqueer, and Two-Spirit cosmologies, histories, timelines, of and perspectives on femininity
- Digital and technologically-mediated feminine temporalities, pasts, and futurities
- Expanding and reconfiguring femininities in fat, disabled, BIPOC, trans, and queer temporalities
Submission Guidelines
Submissions can take the form of single-author or co-authored academic papers, experimental or artistic presentations, including autotheory, personal narrative, artist talks, visual art and film, poetry, music, storytelling, life-writing, and performance. We welcome submissions from undergraduate students, graduate students, emerging and established scholars, artists, and those working beyond the university.
Submissions will be reviewed for their appropriateness to the conference’s topic and theme. In particular, submissions should involve a critical analysis or exploration of femininity. This means that (for example) a discussion of women and/or feminism without a clear focus on femininity is not appropriately suited to the conference’s focus.
Our virtual conference is based is Tkaronto/Toronto, but we are interested to hear from scholars across the globe. We make an effort to offer a range of time zones for online presentations. We are particularly keen to hear from scholars in Africa, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region as we work to explore temporalities both thematically and in concrete terms. Please submit your timezone and the days and times you are generally available with your submission so we can try to accommodate virtual presenters.
Please send submissions to critfemininities@gmail.com by March 13, 2026.
For single presentations: Please submit a 250-word abstract that indicates your main argument or focus and the format for your presentation and a 100-word bio (50-word bio for multiple authors). Single presentations should be 15-20 minutes in length and will be organized into thematic panels. Please note that we will only accept one presentation per presenter
For panel presentations and roundtables: Please submit a 250-word abstract that indicates the main theme and format of the panel presentation/roundtable and a 50-word bio for each presenter (minimum of 3 panellists). Group presentations should be no longer than 60 minutes to allow time for Q&A.
Please note: Due to the evolving politics around artificial intelligence (AI), our conference currently strongly discourages the use of AI, including generative AI, such as ChatGPT, in both abstract submissions and final conference submissions from presenters. Should AI be used in any capacity, we ask for full acknowledgement and disclosure in abstract and final submissions.
For more information and updates, you can follow us @crit_fem on Instagram.
Check out our website for our bibliography and other information about the conference
https://www.criticalfemininities.net/conference
Hannah