Earlier this month I presented a small part of my research at the National Women’s Studies Association conference in Montreal, Canada. The conference took place in the wake of the devastating election results. The timing of the conference couldn’t have been better. I needed to get out of D.C. and not worry about turning onContinue reading “When You Present Critical Findings About Your Friend at a Conference…and She’s in the Audience”
Category Archives: Life
Can We Move on From Mother’s Day Please?
Every Mother’s Day is wrought with complex emotions for me (as well as thousands of others). Here are two main reasons why: I lost my mother when I was 20. Five years before that, we all knew she was going to die of cancer. I’ve been painfully trying to become a mother for the pastContinue reading “Can We Move on From Mother’s Day Please?”
Passing the Qualifying Exams
If we analogize the PhD journey to climbing an Everest-like mountain, I’m heaving to catch my breath right now. I just passed my qualifying exam. After reviewing two hundred (plus) books—divided into three reading lists (“Gendering American Studies,” “Body Politics,” and “Contemporary Life Narratives”) that culminated in a week long examination where I wrote threeContinue reading “Passing the Qualifying Exams”
Breast Cancer and Its Metaphors
After reading Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphor I’m left wondering whether the stories we tell others and ourselves about our bodies are truly ours—especially stories about diseases. Sontag’s work has me reconsidering my mother’s experience with breast cancer and how she carried herself as a woman with this disease. MyContinue reading “Breast Cancer and Its Metaphors”
Guest Post: The One-Body Problem
Originally posted on Tenure, She Wrote:
by @scidoctress I hold immense respect for my female friends and colleagues who are struggling to advance their own academic careers alongside a spouse’s. I’ve watched brilliant women find a plethora of creative solutions to the “two-body problem,” as it’s termed, from negotiating spousal hires to commuting great distances…
“Coming Out” About (In)fertility
I haven’t been keeping my fertility challenge a secret per se. I have, however, for the past three years struggled negotiating the elusive “outside world” in relation to my frustrations, disappointments, and fears trying to conceive, which have wreaked havoc on my sense of self. More often than not, it has been easier (and feltContinue reading ““Coming Out” About (In)fertility”
Controversies of Hired Help – An Affluent Woman’s Concern
How do you feel about the need among middle and upper class women to hire domestic workers to help with household duties? Growing up in a poor single parent immigrant household, members of my immediate family were more likely be the help than hire the help. Now that I’m a middle class educated woman surroundedContinue reading “Controversies of Hired Help – An Affluent Woman’s Concern”
Men Who Change Diapers DO NOT Change the World. They Change Diapers.
Within one week, I’ve seen a bumper sticker reading, “Men who change diapers, change the world” three times. There’s nothing new about this bumper sticker. In fact I first saw it four years ago and thought to myself Yeah, that’s kind of a cool message. We should applaud those men. Now I’m bothered byContinue reading “Men Who Change Diapers DO NOT Change the World. They Change Diapers.”
Ambiguity Over Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Every October I think about my late mother. It’s partly because October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and my mother passed away from breast cancer. But the larger reason is it’s her birthday this month. The influx of pink ribbons, breast cancer campaigns, and happy birthday commercials sung by Justin Bieber (sponsored by theContinue reading “Ambiguity Over Breast Cancer Awareness Month”
Work-Life Balance
Labor day weekend is approaching and for many (myself included) this means barbecuing, hanging out with family and friends, and most importantly NOT going into the office on Monday. As a national day of observance for workers in America (and Canada), what does it mean to be a laborer in 2010? In my most recentContinue reading “Work-Life Balance”
When Expectations about Being a Parent Lead to Unhappiness
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640 I want to tread (write) gently in today’s post about parenting expectations and happiness because I’m not a parent. But my fiancé and I have been talking about having children lately. A few friends have told me to “just worry about the wedding first” but I humbly disagree that talking about children is premature.Continue reading “When Expectations about Being a Parent Lead to Unhappiness”
The Need for More Father’s Days
Growing up, I had a father, whom I reluctantly visited once in a while on the weekends when I couldn’t fake being sick. He never knew my birthday (or didn’t bother acknowledging it), constantly told me how dumb my mother was, and lectured me about being greedy when I wanted juice with my meal atContinue reading “The Need for More Father’s Days”
Yuka Polovina 