In “Respecting Trans Lives on Wikipedia,” Pax Ahimsa Gethen argues that “there is no universal trans story or experience.” Keep this idea in mind as you move forward reading about trans folx and how you might write about their lives. Gethen states that they dislike “self-identified” as a way of describing gender. Why? What is… Read More Trans Lives on Wikipedia
Today, we’re examining Molly Fisher’s article, “Think Gender Is Performance? You Have Judith Butler to Thank for That” from The Cut. As you read, answer the following questions: What is performativity? What do you think Butler and de Beauvoir mean by “one is not born but rather becomes a woman?” How do you think the… Read More Gender Butler Performance
Today, we’re looking at a series of articles entitled, “Where Are the Women in Wikipedia?” in the Room for Debate from The New York Times. In small groups, you’ll be given one of the articles and asked to answer the questions below. You should designate one typist for your group. Feel free to copy and… Read More Where Women in Wikipedia?
Today, we’re watching Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TEDTalk “We Should All Be Feminists.” As you watch, consider taking notes to help you participate in discussion and answer the following questions. Do you call yourself a feminist? Why or why not? Does the culture you grew up in have different expectations for boys and girls? At what… Read More Let’s All Be Feminists
Today we are reading Janet Holmes’s chapter “The Role of Gender in Workplace Talk” from her book Gendered Talk at Work. This Atlantic ariticle suggests that sexism is still a problem in the sciences; being aware of our gendered ways of speaking may be the first step to creating an equitable workplace. For this response,… Read More Gendered Workplace
“Rhetoric can be retold and regendered only if gender relations are deemed influential upon social and intellectual events and change” (18). Cheryl Glenn from Rhetoric Retold While I’ve read this passage a number of times through the years, I’ve never dwelt on it. I guess in some ways, it’s because I automatically buy the premise.… Read More Retelling Rhetoric
Despite my love of sleeping in on weekends, I woke up early Saturday morning, made myself some coffee, and met up with some friends to attend the Memphis Women’s March. I’ve read a fair amount of news talking about the futility of demonstrations, but I want to push against this idea. For example, I expected the… Read More I Marched
To anyone who studies rhetoric, the power of silence and silencing is not a new subject. Cheryl Glen has published extensively on the subject, and her book Unspoken: A Rhetoric of Silence provides a comprehensive approach. Nevertheless, I’ve been thinking about silence as power a lot lately. This comes from a few events, most notably the… Read More Silence and Power
A provost asked me if professional writing students actually get jobs. When I paused to consider how to best answer her question, she asked, “Don’t you know the answer?” This weekend a student asked me if I like her research question and I thought, “Why are you asking me?” When I encouraged a student to… Read More Impostor Syndrome Lives
It’s crazy coming back from a Conference on College Composition and Communication and trying to readjust to the real world. While at C’s, I had the privilege of working at the Feminist Workshop and meeting with women at the Women and Working Conditions Special Interest Group. Women from all over the country in a variety of academic positions… Read More Online Violence against Women
