I’ve been to the same salon twice since I’ve moved to town. The hairdressers always want to talk about my personal life…
THey ask questions like
- Are you married?
- Do you have kids?
- Where do you live? (not an exact address but if I live in an apartment complex, which one etc etc.)
The first time the hairdresser asked me about my marital status, and I replied that yes I am married…
She said: “How is that working out for you?”
!?!?!?!
Second time, the next hairdresser and I were discussing how I am in graduate school and she says
“At least you got your marriage out of the way”
Right, marriage is that thing I was glad that I got out of the way!
This is my mother working on my wedding dress. That thing I wore that day that I got marriage out of the way!
- cleaning house
- buying a vacuum (we have one you use for like “work spaces”)
- READING
- GRADING
I have always found Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique troublesome. I could never put my finger on why exactly. Of course, I am writing from a privileged position. No one has questioned my desire not to be a housewife or have children. No one has told me that I can’t go to graduate school based upon my gender. The world has changed a lot since 1963 when the book appeared.
Christina Hoff Summers reconsiders this groundbreaking text:
But in building her case, Friedan made a fatal mistake that undermined her book’s appeal at the time and permanently weakened the movement it helped create. She not only attacked a postwar culture that aggressively consigned women to the domestic sphere, but she attacked the sphere itself — along with all the women who chose to live there.
Perhaps, what my issue with the text is that some women did choose to live in the private sphere of that time. However, how many other choices did women have?
Whatever the issue may be, The Feminine Mystique’s influence is still felt over sixty years later.
This Friday marks the end of Week Four of graduate school. It’s been a full month since I had TA training. Phew!
Life is good. If not hectic and crazy. Some general observations: Since I have an MA, my initial gut reaction is to compare my two experiences. However, I realize they don’t compare. Sure the seminar experience is similar. But in a way with my MA I jumped into research very fast. I had a research paper to write almost immediately. Then, of course, we were writing our theses our second year then done. Here, I am not supposed to ponder the dissertation until after the comprehensive exams. Of course, we all know that doesn’t happen. I’m talking about dissertation ideas all of the time with possible advisors and other students.
I also keep having this odd feeling of being unsettled. I am in a unique situation where I may have two advisors. I am drawn to writing about religion in the 19th and 20th centuries. Part of me feels like I should write about the 19th century. However, I am some ideas that would include both. SOme of my other peers already have advisors. Some don’t. I need to realize its ok. It’s been good that I have been meeting with several professors. I will have it figured out soon enough. I just need to “follow my heart.”
Work-discipline. Ahhh I have been getting the work done. But I’ve learned some hard lesson about the me four years ago and the me now. I need sleep. I know there will be sleepless nights in the future but when I can sleep I am sleeping. I have never been the type of person to get up and get to work. Um I have to now. This means reading by 10 AM on the mornings I don’t have anywhere else to be. I will be shooting for earlier as the semester rolls on. yeah and this means going to bed earlier…:(
I have banned myself from facebook. I have signed onto it on my blackberry but you can’t navigate it well. I don’t have facebook application for blackberries which is good. I have also cut myself off of other bloggingish sites that eat up time. I do visit my bloglines staples. It turns out I don’t need facebook to waste time on the web. When i find myself downloading music for my cats, we know I need to point my attention elsewhere. HA!
The teaching. I won’t talk about that in depth on this open forum. But it is a LOT OF WORK. So far I have taught sixteen section in all. Four a week for four weeks. I have to say one of my groups is pretty talkative and into the material which makes for a fast and fun session.
OK back to writing about the Puritans!
this friday evening. I have a short essay to write on an excellent book, but I keep putting off the writing. Hmmm.
So I’m researching dissertation ideas. Not so good at focusing on the present, am I?
Must be why I like the past. Oh I’m so hilarious!
after reading.
Andy seems to feel the same way I do!
OK whats with all of the blogging tonight?
I’m watching Jay leno (why?) and finding some of his opening monologue actually funny…huh?
I must not watch enough tv or maybe he is funny for like 5 minutes then it runs out.
Today after I dropped the husband off at the bus to get the airport, I got some major errands done
- getting pants taken in
- buying kitty food
- buying a watch
This turned into a hilarious venture. I pointed out a type of watch I liked and the woman tried to get me to buy a $500 coach watch. Yeah….I bought a $25 one instead. I seriously need a way beside my cell phone to tell time especially when I teach.
Then I went to Wal-Mart because I’m a glutton for punishment. I bought some paper towel etc. But the place just depresses me a lot. I went because its on the way home from where I was. I prefer Meijer but its always busy, busy. Doesn’t seem like such an excuse though.
The biggest sob story is absence of super husband….:(
No, not the Fey/ Poehler as Palin/Clinton one but this digital short “Space Olympics”
I know its probably not that funny but it CRACKS ME UP!
(Apologies must really get my video player problem figured out)
* Today I spent the day writing a response to reading for a class. I signed in to post it onto our class website. After I post it, I see the assignment for the paper. Ummm, I didn’t know to look there. I swore the professor said to just incorporate the readings at the end of our last class which I did. The assignment on the website was more particular than that. I basically did the assignment except it is obviously not as focused…grrr. It was also confusing because on one syllabus it said one reading was “suggested” but we were supposed to write about it for our paper…which I did. I’m probably overreacting.
* I wanted to watch SNL to see Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. I knew Obama was supposed to be on but cancelled due to Hurricane Ike. For some reason, I thought SNL started at 12:30…what! I am sitting in my bedroom at 11:36 reading for class when I realize SNL just started! I rush downstairs to miss the first few minutes but catch opening monolougue. I sit and watch it for the next hour and 15 minutes hoping to see Tina as Palin and nothing…some of it was funny but not so much. Of course, Tina Fey is onstage during the credits. This leads me to wonder if I missed her because I thought SNL started an hour later. Hmmm. EDIT: I totally did miss Tina Fey as Sarah Palin…Double GRR!
I keep hearing about how no one knew about Sarah Palin before her announcement as McCain’s running mate. While it is true Alaska is a “small” place in regards of population, many people may not need or think they need to know about it. However, I contend that is further proof that the general American population not only does not know enough about other countries (where is London on a map?), but needs to know MORE about its own country. Shouldn’t we know about the governor of every state?
I don’t think I know enough and I’m a fairly intelligent person.
Back to paper writing…!