Gender
a rose by certain (gendered) names would smell differently
NPR has an interesting report about gendered language. Lera Boroditsky, an assistant psychology professor at Stanford University, studied how people understand things differently based on how words are gendered. The main example is a bridge, which was described differently by Spanish speakers, for whom bridge is a masculine noun, from German speakers, for whom the [...]
on Judge Sotomayor
I’ve been wanting to post on the whole (racist, sexist, peculiar) rhetoric surrounding Judge Sotomayor, but I doubt I really have anything to say that hasn’t already been said. Joseph Orosco has an interesting post about Sotomayor, empathy, and the oath of office. Good read.
Some links:
Pandagon: This appears like it’s going to be much worse [...]
notes from the interblags
• Ira Socol’s post The Width of the World is an interesting read about social media tools. I don’t entirely agree with all his points, but he’s started a decent discussion about groupthink, time-wasting, and human relationships (arguing, largely, against Larry Sanger’s blog post here).
• Via someone on Twitter: I LOVE these clowns, who confronted [...]
technology and gender
This is a few weeks old, but worth sharing. Jender at Feminist Philosophers asks Why are there so few women in technology fields?:
It must be their innate lack of ability, as the tech community is doing everything they can to make them feel welcome– even using images of them in powerpoint presentations! Like this [...]
notes from the interblags
• Ira Socol calls for 2009 to be the year of universal access
• New York Magazine has a brief story on gay-related zines out of New York. Towleroad includes links to various zines. I might have to make a trip to NYC sometime soon to visit Printed Matter.
• Aaron Bady at The Valve has an [...]
the tv teaches me sexism is cool
I don’t watch television. That’s right, I’m one of those edu-macated snobby urban elites who is above televisions. One Who Thinks He Does The World Good By Abstaining From Television. Okay, I’m being all facetious and hyperbolic and whatnot, but I hate the television. Why? It’s got lots of crap, but mostly, lots of sexism. [...]
notes from the interblags: too many tabs open again!
• Queerty: Despite opening in only 36 theatres, Gus Van Sant’s film Milk came in 10th in box office sales over the weekend. Perhaps this means that it might come to Penntucky. I want to see it, though I’m pretty ambivalent about it (but that’s another post).
• According to Queers United, Winq has become the first [...]
notes from the interblags
• via The Feminist Underground: A UC Irvine professor is throwing a fit over mandatory sexual harassment training. It’s rather hard to believe.
• Oregon State has joined iTunes University! I had students give a pretty good presentation on this arguing that OSU should start using iTunes U in my business writing class last year next [...]
584: Weekly Position Paper #12: Patriarchy: “A Totality in Processâ€
In Chapter 4 of Beyond Identity Politics: Feminism, Power & Politics, Moya Lloyd explores the tensions between poststructuralism and theories of domination the rely on systemic theories, arguing for a “global strategy†understanding of domination that focuses on “women’s multiple and disparate subordinations†(87). She does so by offering an exegesis of Teresa Ebert’s theory [...]
584: Weekly Position Paper #11: Questioning the Private Body
Three essays in Freedman and Holmes’s collection The Teacher’s Body: Embodiment, Authority, and Identity in the Academy center around pregnancy. All three essays call into question dominant narratives and conceptions surrounding pregnant bodies. Noting the dis-ease of others around her pregnancy, Amy Spangle Gerald explores how being pregnant affects her authority as a teacher and [...]
