May 2013
14 posts
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On bacon fat, documentaries, and politics: why I'm...
Readers of my blog know that my impending nuptials has led to a lot of existential fretting and feminist critiquing (see this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this). In the weeks and the days leading up to the wedding, this blog has also become a way for me to roll my eyes over logistical issues (see this). Because of all of these issues, any reader would be inclined to ask the logical...
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What To Wear To a Spring Wedding
In the days leading up to the wedding, I have been getting emails from friends asking what to wear. Considering that it is a somewhat chilly spring here in Toronto, my friends are confounded because dressing for weather that it too cold for summer, but too warm for winter, is not an easy task. I’ve also been asked questions regarding proper sartorial etiquette, probably because people have...
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And so the hairstylist I hired for the wedding...
Even for someone who deliberately chose not to make elaborate plans for my upcoming wedding, for reasons I have already disclosed on this blog, it surprises me how much time and detail is involved when planning this event. MOTL and I have both, in our university days, organized debate tournaments and so we were under the impression that organizing a wedding with less people and only encompassing...
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“It’s only worth being the first woman anything if at the point you stop being...”
– New York Times Editor Jill Abramson Talks Boston and Female Editors - The Daily Beast (via nishachittal)
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Top Three Coolest Literary Moms
In honor of mother’s day, I’ve listed the top three coolest moms featured in children’s books. While there are horrible mothers found in books - most notably that lascivious, murderous wretch in “Flowers in the Attic” who kept her children in the attic and fed them poisoned powdered donuts (!) - the moms below may not be as memorable but are actually incredibly...
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Watching today's transit vote in Toronto Council...
lifeonqueen:
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How I feel when former students email me telling...
Today, I received an email from a brilliant student I taught two years ago. She just got accepted into law school. Her email reads, in part:
“I’m really happy about the news and I would like to thank you for the part you played in how I developed with your engaging teaching and critical tutorial discussions.”
These are the moments that make teaching worthwhile!
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"Should I continue being friends with racists?"
Since its inception, my blog ended up invariably discussing issues of race and gender frequently, perhaps because race and gender infuse my academic and activist work and also, my personal life. Thanks to the wide reach of Tumblr (and Twitter and Facebook), I’ve been lucky to get emails from those of you who are eager to share their perspectives. While I’ve had my share of hate mail,...
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Diverging Life Trajectories: from partying with...
Conversation # 1:*
Me: So how is life?
MFC: Life is good. I’ve been dating a few people. There’s a guy - a tax lawyer - who also paints murals. Then there’s another one - a barista - in school part-time. Then…(leans in)…there’s this…rock starwho I met at a concert. We had drinks after with his band. It was epic. He was really nice too,...
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“After all, the academy tells me what I should desire: tenure, full...”
– The brilliant Keguro Macharia writes a brilliant essay in the New Inquiry on his decision to leave academia and move back to Kenya. Aside from the excerpt above, his thoughts on race and on how exhausted he is when dealing with the “banal and uncomprehending racism” of members of the...
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Smoke's Hogtown Poutine
Though my preference is still Patata Patati’s poutine, I confess that when I’m feeling really unhealthy, there is nothing like Smoke’s Hogtown Poutine to hit the spot. Ingredients include sausage, bacon, mushrooms, caramelized onions, gravy, and the squeakiest cheese curds imaginable. Yum.
April 2013
25 posts
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Mad Men, white privilege, and why things haven't...
Last night’s Mad Men episode elicited mixed reactions from those who saw it. There were those who felt that the episode realistically portrayed white people’s reactions to MLK’s assassination. Then there were those who lamented how the show didn’t adequately focus enough on Dawn, whose marginality in this episode (and in this show) was seen as indicative of the...
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"You should forgive me for plagiarism because I...
Best tweets ever courtesy of @Worse_Reviewer on the excuses students give when justifying plagiarism:
The best excuse I’ve ever received involves a student who claims that “the use of quotation marks” is not something that is “culturally accepted” in her family. In the beginning of our meeting, she boasted about how she went to a prep school during high school...
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When listening to someone attempt to show that he...
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Awkward encounters with students outside the...
With the exception of that 1% of students who are so entitled that they see their professors and their TAs as ‘hired help’ (e.g., that student who told me that I, as her TA, should provide her with summaries of the readings that she did not want to do herself because she “paid” for my “salary” will forever more be on my shit-list), I like 99% of my students. ...
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Academic Men Explain Things to Me: I am a visiting... →
mansplained:
I am a visiting assistant professor at a small regional college. My department recently hosted a regional conference of scholars in our field - history. The night before the conference I joined two (male) colleagues and one of the conference attendees for dinner. I am young and female. The…
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My thoughts on the research process, as expressed...
Academia is a race to the top.
There are academic superstars who have a clear research agenda and who are fortunate enough not to encounter major hurdles during the research process, thereby allowing them to reach the top with relative ease. (Note to readers, this very rarely happens. When you meet these people, you are allowed to secretly hate them.)
Then, there are those people, like...
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Make-up and Race: Why it's hard for women of color...
I am afraid of make-up. I can talk about hair and can partake in an extensive discussion of different spa treatments but make-up stumps me.
This may be caused by two things. First, I went to a strict all-girls Catholic school from pre-school until Grade 7. The nuns who ran the school socialized me and my classmates into thinking that simplicity and humility were virtues and that fixating on...
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Sartorial crushes: Carey Mulligan and Tilda...
In today’s edition of looks that I would love to pull of but can’t because I am a woman of average height, let me present to you the sheer amazingness of Carey Mulligan and Tilda Swinton.
I have blogged before about the impossibility of me pulling off a short haircut - my bone structure and hair texture, unlike Mulligan and Swinton below, will ensure that what looks chic and badass...
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"Terrorist in attack in Boston, Earthquake in...
publicshaming:
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Iran, leaving dozens dead, within 24 hours of the Boston marathon bombing. What is the connection? Well, there isn’t one…
…that is, unless you’re a big asshole:
(The person above deleted their account. But that won’t stop me from finding her shitty tweets and posting them here.)
Yeah, that was some “deep thinking.”
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From Hanna Horvath to Betty Draper: the...
In exactly a month’s time, MOTL and I will be married. This time next month (5 pm), according to the itinerary MOTL made me put together, I should be drinking a beer at our beloved yet grody Graduate Students Union (GSU) pub, the site of many a conversation with MOTL that formed the groundwork for our friendship and later, our relationship. (As an aside, KK noted with...
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I already knew Harry Potter was problematic but...
irresistible-revolution:
ETA: please give proper credit if you cite this or any of meta, cos this stuff takes time and effort y’all.
So yesterday when I made this post, many people wanted to know why Voldermort’a pet snake being named ‘Nagini’ was racially problematic. I was surprised that people hadn’t considered this, but then again desi issues/culture are hardly visible in mainstream...
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"You lied to your TAs about having cancer to get...
Overheard while dissertating
Student # 1: I’m so screwed. I have three exams in a week and I barely remember the lectures.
Student # 2: I’m not stressed.
Student # 1: Really? Why not? Student # 2: I had all of my exams deferred.
Student # 1: Are you sick?
Student # 2 (smirk): That’s what I told my TAs.
Student # 1: What was your excuse?
Student # 2: I told them that...
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The Boston Marathon and Bigotry: The Muslim Blame...
When I first heard about the Boston explosions, I was immediately petrified. I have friends in Boston - some of whom ran marathons regularly - and I feared for their safety. Boston, after all, is the site of numerous universities. As an academic and a researcher, I have countless friends who live, work, and study in Boston. After frantically emailing and calling all of them, I was reassured to...
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On knowing when NOT to write and cutting your...
As those of you who are academics, writers, consultants, and free-lance contractors know, the hardest part about setting your own schedule is the fear that you will succumb to your baser instincts and spend most of your work day doing this:
I’ve blogged before about the difficulties of having a consistent writing schedule, a challenge which most people I know apparently face. My issue is...
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An ode to chicharon
Having spent part of my youth in the Philippines, I find myself frequently missing Filipino food. Tonight, I find myself craving chicharon (pork rinds), so much so that MOTL had to google ‘how to make chicharon’ in order to see whether chicharon is hard to make. (Apparently, it isn’t. All you need to do is boil pork skin then deep fry it).
Whenever I think of chicharon,...
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"Why were they taking pictures last night at Mad...
Overheard while dissertating:
20-something girl # 1: So…Mad Men…what did you think?
20-something girl # 2: The only thing I didn’t like was that we didn’t get to see enough of Joan.
20-something girl # 1: How awkward was that scene when they were posing by the staircase to take pictures of the partners?
20-something girl # 2: Yeah. Not digging that purple dress....
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On rape culture from the powerful blog, "I once...
i-once-had-a-guy-tell-me:
[TW Rape]
I once had a guy tell me that it’s better to ask for forgiveness later than to ask for consent first.
(submitted by anonymous)
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When I think I am done with marking and I see more...
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Etsy, Arts and Crafts, and Markers of Femininity
Me: So I’m going to be making my own centrepieces. It shouldn’t be that hard.
Mom (laughs uproariously for ten minutes)
Me: What’s so funny?
Mom: Arts and crafts has never been your strongest suit. You’re actually quite terrible.
Me: That’s not true. I can do it! I can learn.
Mom: (skeptical silence)
In hindsight, I did glue my fingers together using a...
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Samoa Air's "pay-as-you-weigh" policy fosters...
To say that fat people are discriminated against is to make an understatement. The message behind the the seminal book, “Fat is a feminist issue,” written by Susie Orbach in 1978, still rings true today: fascist beauty standards make it difficult for women who are ‘overweight’ to gain social acceptance, oftentimes compelling women to abuse their bodies in unimaginable...
March 2013
17 posts
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What happens when I eat too much
For the past two days, I’ve been hanging out in Los Angeles. Officially, I’m here for the Western Political Science Association Conference (WPSA). Unofficially, I’m here hanging out with a good friend from my London days who, like me, loves food and is always up for a good eating adventure. Her partner also loves food. Together, we’ve been eating really well. I might...
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How I feel when I read papers I wrote years ago
In an attempt to bring some semblance of order to my “Documents” folder, I decided to create new folders for old articles, essays, reports, and miscellaneous pieces of writing. Out of curiosity, I decided to open some of these files and was shocked to see how much I’ve changed as a writer and as a researcher. Even my research proposal for my dissertation just seems...
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Every time I meet my supervisor, this is what I am...
What he will say:
What I will say:
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The Four Stages of the Writing Process
Stage One: After swigging coffee, I am prepared to conquer this paper. Let’s DO THIS.
Stage Two: I keep going, and, going, and going, and going…
Stage Three: Unbearable Ennui because what is the POINT of writing all of this?
Stage Four: The amazing feeling of being DONE.
I’m out.
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18 Academic Papers About '90s TV Shows
mentalflossr:
If we can learn about the ancient Romans by studying their drinking songs, surely we can learn something about ourselves by studying our TV shows.
Some day, I’d like to write an article comparing the West Wing and House of Cards. Working Title: “The West Wing as a Symbol of our ‘Utopian’ Past, House of Cards as a Harbinger of our ‘Dystopic’...
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On "Feminist Housewives" and "Choice" Feminism: A...
My brilliant friend AKE sent me the link to New York Magazine’s cover story “The Retro Wife,” written by Lisa Miller, a few days ago in a fit of rage. It took me a few days to click on the link and other responses to it, such as Tracie Egan Morrisey’s article on Jezebel. Because I just wrote a piece a few weeks ago observing how women are only ever deemed successful...
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Getting sick in the midst of looming deadlines and...
As all Canadian academics know, March is probably the worst time of the year. With only two weeks left until the end of the school year, we are engulfed in an avalanche of marking and teaching commitments. Students who previously did not care about the class have suddenly been inspired to do better, probably because they’ve realized that they really don’t have any other assignments...
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How I feel about conference panels starting at 9...
Because seriously, who really wants to watch a conference panel at Saturday morning at 9 am?
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What I look like at a conference
musicalandacademicblunderings:
whatshouldwecallgradschool:
credit: thereisnotry-fitblr
Whenever I’m at a conference, I get so many free pens, notebooks, and post-it notes. And, when I get really lucky, I get free books!
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“Now I’ve really seen it all. Michelle Williams is on the cover of AnOther...”
– Ruth Hopkins, “Why Is Michelle Williams In Redface?”, Jezebel 3/12/13 (via racialicious) 