I feel like hiring a private detective to find out where February and March disappeared to, and preferably one that resembles Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon. It seems like last week I was coming back from Christmas vacation feeling not as refreshed and prepared as I'd hoped and suddenly my short form proposal for my thesis is due, my forty page portfolio for my prose workshop is needing to be filled and my final paper for the course that prompted this blog is looming like like a thunderstorm, imminent and ready to engulf my free time. What is different about grad school, however, is that so far I have loved every essay and project I have had to do this year. There are fewer of them, and they are worth more, but they are also closer to my heart and pertain to subject matters that I find vastly more fascinating than those of my undergrad. This, I think, makes it all worth it.
However, even in the midst of such projects I still need to take little breaks and read something else for a few minutes when I feel like I'm flagging. I came across this post and found it hugely edifying. Neil Gaiman is and has been one of my favorites, if not my favorite author since the age of twelve. He has spanned the mediums of novels, short stories, films, children's books and graphic novels and his is a career that I have aspired to follow. He reminded me of Roald Dahl in that I could tell he was having fun writing what he did, and that enjoyment spilled out onto the page. That was the moment I realized I wanted to be a writer. I am a very private person and the idea of celebrity-level fame repulses me. But the idea that you could spend your life doing something that was intrinsically fun for both you and your audience appealed to me more than anything else had.
The post articulates something that I have felt for some time. I have heard time and time again that serial writers are "irresponsible, lazy, selfish " and a myriad of other narrow-minded insults simply because they fail to produce the next installment of their work by the time it was expected. This frustrates me to no end. Anyone who has spent their time writing can tell you that to find time to write amongst the demands of daily life, be it on a thesis, a paper, a story, a poem/collection of poems and so on will tell you that there are always distractions, always pressing demands on your time. "But that's their job!" the readership cries. "That's what we're paying them to do!"
Gaiman articulates this particularly well in response to a few questions from a reader with related concerns: the writer does not work for you. They have a life, they have multiple deadlines and sometimes both get in the way. The advent of blogs have been both positive and negative for writers, as it allows a connection between author and reader, but it also allows for closer scrutiny of the author's actions. I think that it is unfair to assume that by making one's life as a writer that they should spend all of their time on their projects and forsake their personal time. There is a similar parallel in the university sphere: students e-mail their profs at 3am asking for extensions for a project due the next and get pissed when the prof doesn't answer them promptly. When a professor goes home, I believe they should have the right to have their personal time just like any one else. It is a job, and one many of them love dearly, but that does not mean that they should devote every waking minute to its demands. Likewise, while writers do have deadlines and contracts, these must sometimes be broken due to the unpredictability of life and the last thing we should do is condemn them for it.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Blog on blog
Also, some exiting news: I was invited to do a guest post for Hook & Eye! Feel free to read my account of a day in the life of this particular grad student here.
Music to Sustain You [through midterm season]
I am undoubtedly a morning person. I am also a massive music geek and I love listening to a really choice piece as soon as I get up. Morning people are only annoying, I find, if their morningness intrudes on your non-morningness. Thus, it is terribly convenient that a few years ago I bought myself DJ quality headphones that let me disappear inside the music if you close your eyes. Great headphones make SUCH a huge difference, especially if you've a hankering for some funk first thing and your partner isn't quite as enthusiastic about Parliament at seven am.
I grew up around music; I spent my first eighteen years in Prince Edward Island and in a particularly musical, hippy/ex-pat populated part of the Island. Both my parents are musicians - my mother plays fiddle and piano, my father plays acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, harmonica and bodhrán - and they have very distinct preferred genres. My mother favors classical, particularly baroque chamber music, while my father enjoys jazz and blues. While I adore classical, I favored my father and from about thirteen onwards I have immersed myself in old jazz and blues. I worked for HMV for nearly three years, though I didn't stay long after my jazz, blues and classical section became the jazz-blues-classical-rap-country-blue grass-folk-reggae-world music and adult contemporary (which is where people like Bette Middler and Barbra Streisand's music is placed, which I never knew). I mean,what the hell? Having the rap and classical sections in the same small space meant I got to watch the clientele try not to interact. The older gentlemen who came in every week to buy three Naxos albums for fifteen bucks tended to glare at the girls squealing about the latest Sean Paul album. I left when the pressure to upsell became an issue. It's too bad. I grew up on movies like High Fidelity and Empire Records to tell me what working in a record store was like. Turns out life isn't like a 90's movie.
I explored both rock and pop in my teens and I discovered Ben Folds early on. My best friend has, and always has had phenomenal musical taste. Even when it isn't my cup of tea, I can see the quality in what she likes. She introduced me to all the formative bands and artists of my life: Tori Amos, Ben Folds, Sublime, Dave Matthews Band (though I discovered him on my own and have never stopped admiring his work), Cake, Phish and Streetlight Manifesto, though Tori Amos remains number one, for sure. Holy empowered, Batman. This woman taught me that you can write about your pain and it doesn't make you a victim. Hearing and seeing that in her work at thirteen, when everything was changing in my life was invaluable. I saw her live in Toronto; my best friend asked her parents and I asked mine if, for her birthday she and I could go to the show, stay with her sister and come home. We could do it all in two days and with no other expenditures than the flights and tickets, which were surprisingly cheap. They said yes.
Tori played three pianos: her grand, a tiny organ and an old, wooden one that had superb lower end, I remember that. I was, as I am now, obsessed with music that has great piano or bass and I tend to look for both in everything I listen to. Ben Folds opened the show for her, which was perfect. He, in contrast to her billowing white ensemble, wore a khaki shorts and tennis shoes and put on one of the best performances I've ever seen. He is such an enthusiastic,present, gifted pianist and strangely, even though I usually can't listen to lyrical music when I'm reading, there's something about his work that negates that works for me as study music. I can have Redneck Past banging away and be writing a critique without issue at the same time.
This morning is bright and lovely. It is early and Concordia is quiet and empty. Saturday of Reading Week: most of us are either scrambling to get done the work we shirked while we visited NYC with our friends or we're still partying and will face our demons later in the week. Except, if you're me, you've been up at 7am every day this week to work on the fifteen page paper that was born out of a blog. This blog, actually. But, I have a friend from PEI staying with me and in order to be able to work and hang out I wake up super early, work until noon and then hang out and relax for the rest of the day. Yesterday we drank a nice red, caught up and made cocoa-honey facials. We may go skating this afternoon, but for now, I've got to write.
I'm in the library building, but not the library. I need somewhere where I can munch on almonds without needing to be silent and covert. I'm avoiding caffeine and going for pure protein route with raw, unsalted almonds. And tons of water. I can't stand the crash of sugar and caffeine any more. I did it too much in my undergrad and it doesn't really help me study. So, I'm downstairs in the extra study area they've set up in the mezzanine; it's empty and quiet and it's dive back in to my essay, but I'm bleary and uninspired. Then "Lullabye", by Ben Folds comes on my morning mix. I can't explain why but this particular song consistently makes me happy and excited to write. I realized have a few songs like this so I thought I'd make a playlist to share with any of you who might be struggling to get into the work that is due for Monday:
This also puts me in a good mood, though perhaps slightly more subdued.
Chill stuff, but still groovy:
Man. At minute 2:50 it just gets me.
Rather beautiful, I think. A nice way to start the morning.
Mmmm. So chill. This one centers me and I often find that I'm ready to start thinking critically after listening to it.
Stunning. Nice to study to if you like jazz.
And if you need a study break pick-me-up:
She makes me smile and I don't mind having her stuck in my head. Being in a good mood before I start working tends to make me more productive. (I also love seeing interesting, fun choreography that isn't narcissistic and vapid as many pop videos seem to be.)
This just rocks.
Happy and mood improving.
Danish alt pop. Amazing.
So good I included a second song.
More Parov Stelar. I feel invincible after listening to this. And that clarinet! Meanwhile, the video makes me yearn for days when dancing was this theatrical.
And of course, these guys are consistently awesome.
There you have it. My eclectic taste in music and the odd, empowering effect it has on me. Oh, and if you see a bleary-looking redhead in the Library mezzanine rocking out to her music, that'll be me. And now, I'm ready to write.
I grew up around music; I spent my first eighteen years in Prince Edward Island and in a particularly musical, hippy/ex-pat populated part of the Island. Both my parents are musicians - my mother plays fiddle and piano, my father plays acoustic and electric guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, harmonica and bodhrán - and they have very distinct preferred genres. My mother favors classical, particularly baroque chamber music, while my father enjoys jazz and blues. While I adore classical, I favored my father and from about thirteen onwards I have immersed myself in old jazz and blues. I worked for HMV for nearly three years, though I didn't stay long after my jazz, blues and classical section became the jazz-blues-classical-rap-country-blue grass-folk-reggae-world music and adult contemporary (which is where people like Bette Middler and Barbra Streisand's music is placed, which I never knew). I mean,what the hell? Having the rap and classical sections in the same small space meant I got to watch the clientele try not to interact. The older gentlemen who came in every week to buy three Naxos albums for fifteen bucks tended to glare at the girls squealing about the latest Sean Paul album. I left when the pressure to upsell became an issue. It's too bad. I grew up on movies like High Fidelity and Empire Records to tell me what working in a record store was like. Turns out life isn't like a 90's movie.
I explored both rock and pop in my teens and I discovered Ben Folds early on. My best friend has, and always has had phenomenal musical taste. Even when it isn't my cup of tea, I can see the quality in what she likes. She introduced me to all the formative bands and artists of my life: Tori Amos, Ben Folds, Sublime, Dave Matthews Band (though I discovered him on my own and have never stopped admiring his work), Cake, Phish and Streetlight Manifesto, though Tori Amos remains number one, for sure. Holy empowered, Batman. This woman taught me that you can write about your pain and it doesn't make you a victim. Hearing and seeing that in her work at thirteen, when everything was changing in my life was invaluable. I saw her live in Toronto; my best friend asked her parents and I asked mine if, for her birthday she and I could go to the show, stay with her sister and come home. We could do it all in two days and with no other expenditures than the flights and tickets, which were surprisingly cheap. They said yes.
Tori played three pianos: her grand, a tiny organ and an old, wooden one that had superb lower end, I remember that. I was, as I am now, obsessed with music that has great piano or bass and I tend to look for both in everything I listen to. Ben Folds opened the show for her, which was perfect. He, in contrast to her billowing white ensemble, wore a khaki shorts and tennis shoes and put on one of the best performances I've ever seen. He is such an enthusiastic,present, gifted pianist and strangely, even though I usually can't listen to lyrical music when I'm reading, there's something about his work that negates that works for me as study music. I can have Redneck Past banging away and be writing a critique without issue at the same time.
This morning is bright and lovely. It is early and Concordia is quiet and empty. Saturday of Reading Week: most of us are either scrambling to get done the work we shirked while we visited NYC with our friends or we're still partying and will face our demons later in the week. Except, if you're me, you've been up at 7am every day this week to work on the fifteen page paper that was born out of a blog. This blog, actually. But, I have a friend from PEI staying with me and in order to be able to work and hang out I wake up super early, work until noon and then hang out and relax for the rest of the day. Yesterday we drank a nice red, caught up and made cocoa-honey facials. We may go skating this afternoon, but for now, I've got to write.
I'm in the library building, but not the library. I need somewhere where I can munch on almonds without needing to be silent and covert. I'm avoiding caffeine and going for pure protein route with raw, unsalted almonds. And tons of water. I can't stand the crash of sugar and caffeine any more. I did it too much in my undergrad and it doesn't really help me study. So, I'm downstairs in the extra study area they've set up in the mezzanine; it's empty and quiet and it's dive back in to my essay, but I'm bleary and uninspired. Then "Lullabye", by Ben Folds comes on my morning mix. I can't explain why but this particular song consistently makes me happy and excited to write. I realized have a few songs like this so I thought I'd make a playlist to share with any of you who might be struggling to get into the work that is due for Monday:
This also puts me in a good mood, though perhaps slightly more subdued.
Chill stuff, but still groovy:
Man. At minute 2:50 it just gets me.
Rather beautiful, I think. A nice way to start the morning.
Mmmm. So chill. This one centers me and I often find that I'm ready to start thinking critically after listening to it.
Stunning. Nice to study to if you like jazz.
And if you need a study break pick-me-up:
She makes me smile and I don't mind having her stuck in my head. Being in a good mood before I start working tends to make me more productive. (I also love seeing interesting, fun choreography that isn't narcissistic and vapid as many pop videos seem to be.)
This just rocks.
Happy and mood improving.
Danish alt pop. Amazing.
So good I included a second song.
More Parov Stelar. I feel invincible after listening to this. And that clarinet! Meanwhile, the video makes me yearn for days when dancing was this theatrical.
And of course, these guys are consistently awesome.
There you have it. My eclectic taste in music and the odd, empowering effect it has on me. Oh, and if you see a bleary-looking redhead in the Library mezzanine rocking out to her music, that'll be me. And now, I'm ready to write.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Economics for Academics?
Since my last post ended on the idea of dedication to work, I've been thinking about that idea that Daniel Pink brought up about taking money off the table and whether that would apply to the University system as well. Say we took the same approach and made education much more accessible financially. Does the science not show that productivity would be elevated? Or, is the education system the one system that doesn't fit the equation? Is it only with "job-related" work, not academic study? Is there some way that the business model that Atlassian, the software company Mr. Pink mentioned could be retrofitted to the University system? If we took tuition costs off the table would students who otherwise would not have been able to go to university perhaps produce innovative research that could improve the university system or society? And for students who supplement themselves with part time jobs, were they do stop working to pay for school and focus more on their studies, would they produce a higher quality of work? Or would we simply devote more time to Facebook and Twitter?
The optimist in me wants to say that we would be more productive, that we would produce writing that would make our universities proud, perhaps even bring acclaim to our schools. How many times have we seen calls for conference papers that appeal to us, but aren't possible because we have to pick up an extra shift at Second Cup in order to make rent? Atlassian gave their employees twenty four hours of autonomy with the goal of producing something innovative. What if we entered into university without with the mindset that the purpose of secondary education is to give us somewhere to hide away before we get our first adult job and instead see it as a time frame in which we produce something useful for society? As Mr. Pink says, university no longer guarantees us a job at the end of our degrees. What if university was treated like a job? Yes, we write theses and exams at the end of our four years but what if, instead, we had proposal presentations instead? At the end of our degrees we had possible projects to offer that would benefit your community? Then we would have something to show potential employers in our fields, something that depicted our interests and innovative capabilities? It wouldn't guarantee a job but it might be useful in procuring one.
However, I don't know how our fees and such would be paid for if it weren't for tuition and there are too many unanswerable variables for me to really figure it out effectively. It probably wouldn't work, but the optimist in me wishes it would.
The optimist in me wants to say that we would be more productive, that we would produce writing that would make our universities proud, perhaps even bring acclaim to our schools. How many times have we seen calls for conference papers that appeal to us, but aren't possible because we have to pick up an extra shift at Second Cup in order to make rent? Atlassian gave their employees twenty four hours of autonomy with the goal of producing something innovative. What if we entered into university without with the mindset that the purpose of secondary education is to give us somewhere to hide away before we get our first adult job and instead see it as a time frame in which we produce something useful for society? As Mr. Pink says, university no longer guarantees us a job at the end of our degrees. What if university was treated like a job? Yes, we write theses and exams at the end of our four years but what if, instead, we had proposal presentations instead? At the end of our degrees we had possible projects to offer that would benefit your community? Then we would have something to show potential employers in our fields, something that depicted our interests and innovative capabilities? It wouldn't guarantee a job but it might be useful in procuring one.
However, I don't know how our fees and such would be paid for if it weren't for tuition and there are too many unanswerable variables for me to really figure it out effectively. It probably wouldn't work, but the optimist in me wishes it would.
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.
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.
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.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Sexism in the academic workplace: fact or fiction?
The Hook & Eye blog exudes personality. The home page is bold and demanding and the site's title banner is curiously eye-catching with the intentional lower case letters and blue and orange/gold colour scheme. Under the title banner are the options “Home”, “Contribute”, “This month in sexism” and “Editorial Policy”. “This Month in Sexism” piqued my curiosity immediately. To determine whether or not it is true that sexism has been banished from Academic society the blog began a monthly post about sexism in pedagogical society. Readers are invited send in instances of their own encounters with sexism in the academic sphere with the intention of initiating a dialogue on the subject of sexism in the 21st century, how it has it evolved and why it is still prominent.
In response to a post consisting of “gobsmacking true experiences” a 25 year old named Anna commented, saying “most of these incidents don't seem at all like sexism to me. They are rude things to say at best. I think these women are reading too much into very innocent comments and should just get over it.” She proceeded to break down each individual comment and evaluate whether it was sexist or not. Her opinion on the subject as a whole is articulated in the final paragraph of her response:
I think in most of these cases you are just projecting your own insecurities onto the world around you. If you expect to see sexism, you’ll find it in every innocent comment and situation. If you think of yourself as an equal, as an expert in your field, and carry yourself that way, then your colleagues and students will treat you that way too. Occasionally you will still come across that sort of sexist stupidity, but the people responsible are a dying breed and are not really worth so much of your time and energy. And if these things really bother you, you need to deal with them head on as opposed to whining about it on a blog read by other like-minded women. The men and women who are treating you this way are not reading this blog.
I find it fascinating that she thinks that if we expect sexism, we'll find it, as if being aware of it makes one a magnet to gendered marginalization. She makes the assumption that "The men and women who are treating you this way are not reading this blog." Perhaps, but what about those who are? While she criticizes the blog for being read by predominantly "like-minded women", I find myself struggling to discern what precisely she finds to be problematic. I imagine she feels that this blog has a small, similarly impassioned audience and thus operates with a high level of bias. She insinuates that by addressing these issues on a blog these women were being ineffectual and petulant instead of being proactive in real life. She also stated that most of the incidents listed (which you can read here ) were not sexist but merely rude. One of the few that she considered genuinely sexist was the following: "My first professional advice? "Women can't direct Shakespeare" to which Anna replied "Yeah, this one is pretty stupid. Did you go and prove him wrong or did you just whine about it on a blog?"
I disagree with the implications of this statement. The authors are individuals who are evidently aware of the importance of technology in our modern day society and in my opinion the fact that they are posting on a blog shows that they understand the value of the social network that we now operate within. Where better to communicate with the younger generation than on a blog? The advent of the internet has allowed us to evolve beyond being an audience and become critics and writers as well. The internet generation has spawned a whole revolution of the dispersement and evaluation of information. We are no longer confined by credentials; having access to the internet gives you the freedom to voice your opinion to an absolutely massive audience, which is exactly what the writers of the Hook & Eye blog are doing. If they were giving lectures about this at universities or discussing it in specialized conferences they would be reaching a fraction of their potential audience. Therefore, I feel that a blog is an excellent medium in which to examine the position of women in the academic sphere and discuss personal opinions and experiences with a wide-reaching audience. I think it is narrow-minded to assume that only "like-minded women" would read a blog that is available to anyone with an internet connection.
As to whether or not the instances outlined are, in fact sexist, I think that sexism isn't something we can generalize. If a remark is made and it offends or hurts the person it was directed to then it is detrimental, regardless of whether it fits someone's definition of the term. Anna seemed to think that the author of the post was being over-sensitive and while some of the remarks made could easily have been directed to a man, the fact is in that instance it was said to a woman and it was said carelessly and I think a thoughtless, cavalier attitude to sexism is as much a problem as over-sensitivity to sexism. I do not believe that those who exhibit sexist beliefs are a dying breed. I have met many people my (and Anna's) age who still believe that women are not as capable as men and continue to draw a line between the sexes. I also disagree with the fact that "If you expect to see sexism, you’ll find it in every innocent comment and situation. If you think of yourself as an equal, as an expert in your field, and carry yourself that way, then your colleagues and students will treat you that way too". I agree that body language and self-confidence can affect the perceptions of those around us but I also think that some people adhere to their opinions of you regardless of how you project yourself. Therefore, I believe that both approaches are necessary for affecting the existence of sexism in the workplace: projecting confidence and capability among your colleagues and discussing the issue on a large-scale forum in order to engage in a social dialogue.
I disagree with the implications of this statement. The authors are individuals who are evidently aware of the importance of technology in our modern day society and in my opinion the fact that they are posting on a blog shows that they understand the value of the social network that we now operate within. Where better to communicate with the younger generation than on a blog? The advent of the internet has allowed us to evolve beyond being an audience and become critics and writers as well. The internet generation has spawned a whole revolution of the dispersement and evaluation of information. We are no longer confined by credentials; having access to the internet gives you the freedom to voice your opinion to an absolutely massive audience, which is exactly what the writers of the Hook & Eye blog are doing. If they were giving lectures about this at universities or discussing it in specialized conferences they would be reaching a fraction of their potential audience. Therefore, I feel that a blog is an excellent medium in which to examine the position of women in the academic sphere and discuss personal opinions and experiences with a wide-reaching audience. I think it is narrow-minded to assume that only "like-minded women" would read a blog that is available to anyone with an internet connection.
As to whether or not the instances outlined are, in fact sexist, I think that sexism isn't something we can generalize. If a remark is made and it offends or hurts the person it was directed to then it is detrimental, regardless of whether it fits someone's definition of the term. Anna seemed to think that the author of the post was being over-sensitive and while some of the remarks made could easily have been directed to a man, the fact is in that instance it was said to a woman and it was said carelessly and I think a thoughtless, cavalier attitude to sexism is as much a problem as over-sensitivity to sexism. I do not believe that those who exhibit sexist beliefs are a dying breed. I have met many people my (and Anna's) age who still believe that women are not as capable as men and continue to draw a line between the sexes. I also disagree with the fact that "If you expect to see sexism, you’ll find it in every innocent comment and situation. If you think of yourself as an equal, as an expert in your field, and carry yourself that way, then your colleagues and students will treat you that way too". I agree that body language and self-confidence can affect the perceptions of those around us but I also think that some people adhere to their opinions of you regardless of how you project yourself. Therefore, I believe that both approaches are necessary for affecting the existence of sexism in the workplace: projecting confidence and capability among your colleagues and discussing the issue on a large-scale forum in order to engage in a social dialogue.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Academy of Unfrumpy Winter Boots
I've been thinking.
I turn twenty five on the fourteenth of next month. By twenty six I will have a Bachelors of Arts in English - a combined honors in Creative Writing and English Literature- and a Masters degree in Creative Writing. As I leave the academic sphere next year I also prepare to enter it as a teacher. Upon graduating I intend to get my TESOL training next year and teach English and perhaps Theater. With my enormous student loan, I am aware of how much and how quickly I need to make money and in order to be considered for a highly sought after job at one of the English CEGEPs in Montreal, I need experience. I would love to do some backpacking but considering my debt, the only way I can do any travelling is to find move somewhere I'd like to explore and work there for a while. It is therefore a happy coincidence that my boyfriend grew up in Malaysia and has family there still. I spent a month there last Christmas and am looking into what it takes to get hired at the International school he went to. I have always wanted to travel through Asia and am excited about getting my feet wet in front of a classroom overseas. In Kuala Lumpur we can teach summer classes of our own devising and get experience in front of a class while we look for TESOL jobs or editing/publishing position. Eventually we will return to Montreal in hopes of teaching at the CEGEP level and maybe thinking about PHDs, but later. Now, I'd like to enjoy my first foray into life outside of school. With the exception of one year after high school I will have been in the Academic system for nineteen of my twenty four years on this precious planet of ours. I want the chance to miss it a little.
So, as I prepare to both flee and embrace Academia, it is exciting to have discovered the Hook and Eye blog. I was directed to them - them being the witty women who write the blog Heather Zwicker, Aimée Morrison and Erin Wunker - by my Professor of Canadian Literature. She enthused to us about this blog and for once an internet recommendation truly was as good as it was made to sound. These women are eloquent, honest academics and they're a pleasure to read. They describe themselves as:
"Hook & Eye is an intervention and an invitation: we write about the realities of being women working in the Canadian university system. We muse about everything from gender inequities and how tenure works, to finding unfrumpy winter boots, decent childcare, and managing life's minutiae. Ambitious? Obviously. We're women in the academy."
If you care to check out the blog, click here: http://www.hookandeye.ca/p/editorial-policy.html
I turn twenty five on the fourteenth of next month. By twenty six I will have a Bachelors of Arts in English - a combined honors in Creative Writing and English Literature- and a Masters degree in Creative Writing. As I leave the academic sphere next year I also prepare to enter it as a teacher. Upon graduating I intend to get my TESOL training next year and teach English and perhaps Theater. With my enormous student loan, I am aware of how much and how quickly I need to make money and in order to be considered for a highly sought after job at one of the English CEGEPs in Montreal, I need experience. I would love to do some backpacking but considering my debt, the only way I can do any travelling is to find move somewhere I'd like to explore and work there for a while. It is therefore a happy coincidence that my boyfriend grew up in Malaysia and has family there still. I spent a month there last Christmas and am looking into what it takes to get hired at the International school he went to. I have always wanted to travel through Asia and am excited about getting my feet wet in front of a classroom overseas. In Kuala Lumpur we can teach summer classes of our own devising and get experience in front of a class while we look for TESOL jobs or editing/publishing position. Eventually we will return to Montreal in hopes of teaching at the CEGEP level and maybe thinking about PHDs, but later. Now, I'd like to enjoy my first foray into life outside of school. With the exception of one year after high school I will have been in the Academic system for nineteen of my twenty four years on this precious planet of ours. I want the chance to miss it a little.
So, as I prepare to both flee and embrace Academia, it is exciting to have discovered the Hook and Eye blog. I was directed to them - them being the witty women who write the blog Heather Zwicker, Aimée Morrison and Erin Wunker - by my Professor of Canadian Literature. She enthused to us about this blog and for once an internet recommendation truly was as good as it was made to sound. These women are eloquent, honest academics and they're a pleasure to read. They describe themselves as:
"Hook & Eye is an intervention and an invitation: we write about the realities of being women working in the Canadian university system. We muse about everything from gender inequities and how tenure works, to finding unfrumpy winter boots, decent childcare, and managing life's minutiae. Ambitious? Obviously. We're women in the academy."
These women are fascinating. They speak the language of the internet generation fluently and write about it agelessly. “The consolation is that everybody's in the same straits, and if facebook can be believed (and, really, when can't it?), there is a kind of pleasure in sharing this particular misery,” wrote Heather Zwicker. I feel a connection to these women. They are women who have worked hard to situate themselves in the academic sphere and are deeply tired of the inequality that surrounds them despite our modern age. I was raised by two feminists. My mother and father are both social workers and both artists and they instilled in me not the Disney mantra that anything is possible if you wish really, really hard, but that I am a capable, sufficient, talented individual and my gender should not dictate my role in society. I decided in grade nine that I wanted to be a teacher because, surprise, surprise, I had a teacher that influenced me in a deeply positive way and altered my approach to and opinion of school. He affected the way I approached literature and writing, he made the class engaging and appealing and promoted creativity within our writing by implementing it in his lesson plan. I knew then that I wanted to be involved with education and eleven years later I am only beginning to understand how extensive the process is. Reading about the challenges my role models continue to face is intimidating and edifying. I intend to check in with them frequently as I explore the unfamiliar territory that is Canadian pedagogy.
If you care to check out the blog, click here: http://www.hookandeye.ca/p/editorial-policy.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)