Why We Do What We Love To Do

After reading through both recent and past posts on the Hook and Eye blog, I marvel that these incredible women have any spare time to devote to a blog or to anything else. However, a few months ago a friend showed me a video that suggested a few reason why these women use their precious spare time to write a blog:



Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. This is Hook and Eye all the way. They all have autonomy: they are writing exactly the way they want, without a boss or an administrator looming over them. A nice change of pace from the University scene. One thing I have found to be congruent through most of the material I have read for this project is that even in a supposedly secure, tenured position, a professor is never truly secure or autonomous.

"...in the pre-tenure years but also to some degree afterward, you don't feel like you have security. Even though you can't really lose your job, you feel like you are constantly being scrutinized and found wanting. No matter how busy your days or long your weeks, the white space on your annual report - and I believe everybody feels this - comes at you like a moral reproach. Forgive me for saying this in a context where so many people have no job security, but the "tenure" in TT positions often feels tenuous."
-Heather Zwicker

The blog allows the authors to be editors, publishers and moderators, which means freedom to openly discuss instances of sexism and inequality within the University system and to invite like-minded people to challenge their opinions on the world's largest forum, the internet. They certainly have mastery. They are high up in the academic echelons and have worked hard to be there. Dedication is a major part of mastery and these women are dedicated to the exploration of their areas of expertise. And finally, I am an example of their purpose. I represent one of their many target audiences. I know that I want to teach, but thusfar my plans have been fairly fuzzy and my glasses rose-tinted. Heather, Aimée and Erin have taught me a whole lot very quickly about the academy and the reality of working within it. The advancement of online journalism and information sharing has changed the way we can teach and learn. I, for example, learn very well with a combined approach of kinaesthetic and visual modes of teaching. That is why the RSAnimate videos work so well for me, because I am being given a lot of information in a short amount of time, with both visual and physical elements. By harnessing technology that is appealing and accessible to the generation one is trying to reach, one establishes a connection between author and reader. The authors of the blog are sympathetic to the busy lives of their readership and so they adapt how they convey the necessary information to their audience. As a Master's student I am constantly reading. While I am vastly interested on the subject, were I to be handed a thesis or a text book on the subject of the realities of being a woman in the academy, I would have little time to devote to it. A blog, however, is much more manageable. The posts are short and concise enough for me to access and absorb them quickly, but the content is so effective that I feel like I have been reading much more extensive sources.

The women of the Hook & Eye have achieved their goal: to reach people who are interested in the current state of academia and the position of women in it and to discuss how to change it or deal with it. As friends and allies they want to help us arm ourselves with the tools to endure or succeed or both amidst the still-prevalent inequality. And in the span of a few weeks I have learned so much about the current state of affairs in the academic community and did it without neglecting my other schoolwork. As a teaching method it is effective, appealing and fulfilling for the reader and, I imagine, the author. And while a blog isn't a dissertation or a published novel, it is a publication of a kind. It means that the women of the Hook & Blog are still writing and publishing amidst and despite their busy schedules. Not only is the public getting a comprehensive account of teaching in universities, but these women are being immortalized in a blog that captures compassion and dedication to their fields. They are reaching and helping a younger generation in a new and exciting way, and I am grateful that they are willing to use their spare time to devote to such a cause.