20th issue—Gender and Neurodiversity on Screen
Plan
Haut de page- 1 See French definitions on the following blog article published on the 11th of november 2019: « La n (...)
- 2 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
- 3 High intellectual potential.
- 4 Dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia etc.
Neurodiversity is a concept developed by the Australian sociologist Judy Singer at the end of the 1990s. When her daughter was diagnosed with autism, she realized that the same diagnosis could apply to both she and her own mother. This led her to rethink their condition as a difference instead of a disorder (Chamak, 2015b; Singer, 1999). While research on intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1997) and feminist disability studies (Garland-Thompson, 2004) continued to develop, neurodiversity was progressively taken into account in articulation with other categories of oppression such as class, gender and race (Strand, 2017), refining the social model of disability (Abberley, 1987; Albrecht, Ravaud et Stiker, 2001; Barton et Oliver, 1997; Goodley, 2017). The concept of neurodiversity was incorporated in the language of the autistic community as a symbol of a movement in favor of depathologizing autism, now considered a collection of distinctive characteristics regarding social interactions, special interests or perception. While neurodiversity and the variety of differences included in this spectrum are debated in French society (Chamak, 2021), we observe the generalization of a cultural movement around this concept among people with diverse traits formerly interpreted in terms of mental health. They prefer to identify with the figure of a person with a brain functioning atypically (Antonetta, 2005; Chamak, 2013; Martin, 2007). While neurodiversity recognizes the diversity of human neurology among neurotypical and non-neurotypical people, neurodivergence is understood as a natural human variation1 (Egner, 2019; Silberman, 2017), including different identities beyond autism, such as bipolarity, schizophrenia, ADHD2, HIP3, ‘dys’ profiles4, etc.
- 5 In France, we can mention the international conference Les représentations de l’autisme au cinéma, (...)
The evolution of thinking about autism through the neurodiversity paradigm in particular, is now led by emergent research around the world and also in France5 (Bagatell, 2010; Dachez, 2016; Lopera-Mármol and Malet, 2022). Some of them focus on the gendered dimension of the production of knowledge (Davidson, 2008; Jack, 2012; Laflamme et Chamberland, 2020) while neuroqueer approaches to autism are led by queer-autistic researchers (in the United States: Egner, 2018; Richter, 2017; Walker, 2023; Yergeau 2018 and in France: Coville and Lallet, 2023) who develop studies based on grounded theory and situated knowledge (Haraway, 2007; Harding, 2003; Hartsock, 1998). They follow the self-advocacy movement to question the place of autistic people in the process of production of knowledge about them.
Some of these works tackle the question of representations of autism in the media (Chamak, 2015a; Dean et Nordahl-Hansen, 2021; Draaisma, 2009; Groner, 2012; Loftis, 2015; Matthews, 2019; Murray, 2008; Poe and Moseley, 2016) and gender (Jack, 2014; McHugh, 2018; Primerano, 2023; Tharian et al., 2019). The special issue “Gender and Neurodiversity on Screen” aims at developing theoretical works questioning the concept of neurodiversity and its potential for empowerment (Manning et al., 2012) beyond the question of autism. Indeed, if autism has received many interest from the scientific community structuring critical autism studies (Woods et al., 2018), other types of neurodivergence tend to be neglected. More than analyzing the gendered dimension of representations of neurodivergence on screen, our ambition is also to examine carefully the place for feminist approaches to neurodiversity in audiovisual media (including cinema, television, video games, online videos and fanvideos etc.), whether in fiction, information or entertainment content.
Submissions can fit either into one or several of the themes listed below, or offer an original approach related to the general topic of the special issue.
Topic 1. Production, Representation and Reception of Neurodiversity on Screen Through the Prism of Gender
Articles of this topic will question the way TV series, films or other audiovisual productions interact with the social world to produce gendered representations of neurodiversity on screen. Authors are encouraged to articulate at least two levels of media analysis among production, representations and reception.
For instance, critical receptions of the first season of the American series Atypical were taken into account by its creator and influenced both production organization and the evolution of representations of autism in the following seasons (Lopera-Mármol and Malet, 2022). It would be particularly interesting to study the interactions between the three moments of production of meaning (production-representation-reception) and their influence on one another.
As the reception of media content by neurodivergent people seems to be largely invisible in reception studies, authors are also invited to focus on this aspect. The place of non-neurotypical people in the production process of audiovisual media, in relation with different identities, is also a topic welcome here. We can think for example about many professionals of the animation and video game field, who are actually concerned by both a form of neurodivergence and an atypical gender experience (Lallet, unpublished data). Articles could also focus on the development of sensitivity readers in the creation process.
Topic 2. The Role of Media Genre and Cultural Context in Gendered Representations of Neurodiversity
Analyses proposed here are invited to contextualize gendered representations of neurodiversity through different media genres such as fiction (TV, cinema, video game, etc.), information content (news, documentaries, etc.) or entertainment (TV games, reality TV, TV shows, etc.). Contributions can examine the specificities of a particular genre or will adopt a comparative approach.
Articles can focus on the way one or several media genres (and their specific arrangements) tend to systematically reproduce gendered stereotypes of neurodiversity, or on the contrary, help to deconstruct them. We can mention for instance the archetypal figure of the “autistic male genius” (Chamak, 2015a; Coville and Lallet, 2023) recently embodied by the TV series Good Doctor (released in France on TF1) or by TV games candidates (such as Paul El Kharrat in Les Douze Coups de midi on the same channel). It will be useful to question the emergence of the feminine counterpart of this representation, observed by Adrien Primerano (2023) in fiction (French TV series Astrid et Raphaëlle on France 2 and Corean TV series Extraordinary Attorney Woo on Netflix). The cliché linking desire of empowerment by women and madness, through the archetypal figure of the “madwoman” (Donaldson, 2002), as well as the association between madness and mental health (Rohr, 2015), can also be reinterrogated through the paradigm of neurodiversity in relation with different media genres.
It will also be relevant to evaluate the ability of “realistic” genres, such as documentary or magazine (for example Les Rencontres du Papotin, France 2), to propose diversified gender identities among non-neurotypical spokespersons chosen. Finally, it will be interesting to observe if media genres influence the tendency to focus on certain forms of neurodivergence rather than others, and have an impact on the possibility to develop feminist approaches of neurodiversity on screen.
Submissions could also compare the treatment of gendered representations of neurodiversity within a same mediatic genre depending on the cultural context. For instance, Khadija Ejaz (2019) shows that Indian remakes of American films tend to represent characters with autism differently, with more romantic and social interactions and a stronger link to religion.
Topic 3. Intersectional Approaches and Situated Knowledge
In this topic, we broadly encourage contributors to question the place of non-neurotypical people in the research field on gender and neurodiversity on screen, in articulation with other power relations.
Submissions on this topic will particularly insist on an intersectional approach of their subject, integrating several dimensions beyond gender and neurodiversity. For instance, articles articulating gender and neurodiversity to race, age or class are particularly welcome here, as those questions tend to be neglected in studies focusing on gender and neurodiversity.
We also wish to encourage articles giving a central place to the discussion of the subjective position of the researcher concerning questions of gender, neurodiversity and intersectionality. In particular, this special issue aims at developing studies produced by neurodivergent researchers among others, as a specific mode of access to different fieldworks (films, TV programs, video games, fan studies etc.), and different moments of media analysis (production, representation or reception).
Submission Guidelines
Papers should not have been published in any other journal or conference proceedings. Abstracts should present and justify their disciplinary approach and/or methodology, as well as their position in the existing literature on gender and explain how neurodiversity issues are addressed.
We welcome submissions in French or English, including an abstract of 500-800 words in length, as well as key bibliographical references and a short biographical notice. Abstracts should be addressed to the coordinator of the special issue (melanie.lallet@yahoo.fr; sandra.hamiche@gmail.com and marine.malet@u-paris2.fr) and copied to the journal (genreenseries@gmail.com).
Abstract submission deadline: February 3rd 2025.
Notification of acceptance/rejection: March 3rd 2025.
Final paper submission deadline: June 30th 2025.
Submissions will be subjected to double blind peer review by members of the scientific committee for a publication in the spring of 2025.
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Notes
1 See French definitions on the following blog article published on the 11th of november 2019: « La neurodiversité : histoire, signification, vocabulaire », last accessed on 22th June 2024: https://tapsychophobiemenvahit.wordpress.com/2019/11/11/la-neurodiversite-histoire-signification-vocabulaire/.
2 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
3 High intellectual potential.
4 Dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia etc.
5 In France, we can mention the international conference Les représentations de l’autisme au cinéma, organized by Hélène Vial, Marie Izaute and Caroline Lardy, which will take place from 12th to 16th November 2024 in Clermont-Ferrand. See call for communications online, last accessed on 22th June 2024: https://calenda.org/1148080?file=1.
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