Yes All Women

It has been a long weekend.  We traveled some, got to visit with family, and had some quiet family time.

My husband and I went to see X-Men: Days of Future Past.  I enjoyed the action, I was entertained, and I am interested in what I notice in a second viewing.  That said, as with most Geek things these days, there are always things that could be better.  The Mary Sue has a good post on the diminishing of Kitty Pryde's role.

We got home from the movie Saturday night, and I got on to Twitter intending to share a couple of thoughts, only to discover that #YesAllWomen had begun, in response to the Santa Barbara shootings.  Three hours later... I took a break for some sleep.

Over and over again, as I begin to talk about my experiences with colleagues at work, I find this "bury my head in the sand" reaction.  Some of the responses have been mansplaining.

Other responses have been from Men's Rights Activists.  Which is pretty weird because feminism cares about the rights of fathers to paternity leave.  Feminism cares about the respect and well-being of at-home parents, whether mothers or fathers.  Feminism cares about the abuse of power.

I'm done with the hashtag now.  There has been interest in keeping it going, to keep light on the subject.  I know that the conversation must continue, however the originator of the hashtag is getting unwanted attention and would like some peace now.

If you are a man, you should know that women experience those things from a young age.  For white women, it might begin around pre-adolescence, around 9-13.  For Women of Color, #YesALLWhiteWomen indicates they start having problems even younger.  I would like to believe that it has gotten better with time... but sometimes I think that what changed is that I drive more than I walk.

[Update 12 August 2014] After two months of avoiding the topic, the originator of the #YesAllWomen hashtag has chosen to speak up.  I now have her permission to give credit to Kaye, @gildedspine.  On this date she posted a series of tweets about the commercialization, monetization, and overall appropriation of the hashtag, and the accounts that have taken on the name.  I encourage you to read them. [/update] 

Triggered Memories & Associations - Purdue shootings

Content warnings for discussions of violence, shootings,  death, and suicide.  I write about my connections to two different shooting events at Purdue.  One happened around January of this year.  The other happened a long time ago.

This is a tough post to write.  Suffice it to say, I don't plan to get a third degree from Purdue at this time.  I enjoy learning, but as graduation approaches I am looking forward to having more time for my family and personal projects, including my garden and this blog.  I'm very aware that "fear of studying at Purdue again" is my own superstition talking.  Intellectually, I know that neither shooting had anything to do with me, or my status as an enrolled student.

I definitely recommend Purdue as a good school for students to attend.  I have many fond memories of the place.

Campus safety is something that all colleges, universities, and other institutions work hard to accomplish, and I believe that the Purdue University Police Department and the administration care about the students.

This is two for two now.  Two degrees, two shootings.  I know that I was away from campus both times.  That I have not had to evacuate, or be in lock-down, and I don't know the victims.

So this is all indirect trauma.  They were still closer to home than I like.  Therein lies the story.

On Women in STEM and the "Other"

As a woman in STEM, I've come to appreciate reading the perspectives of other women in STEM, whether we work in related fields or not.  This morning I read Xykademiqz post about Honorary Dudeness.  I started to reply, but the reply got long and merged with the thoughts I'd been having about "growing up global."

Then I saw this post by Sociological Images, "To Whom is George Zimmerman a Hero? And Why" and it all came together.

I've come to realize that one of the things that makes me different from many of the Americans I have interacted with is my Brat heritage, growing up military.  Now, we were only ever stationed State-side, so I didn't get the full-up expatriate Third-Culture Kid experience.  Sometimes I call myself a Third Subculture Kid, because the Brat semi-suburban culture was very different from the rural culture my parents were raised in.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Xykademiqz blogs about the experience of teaching female students, and how there's often a sharp dichotomy between the female students she develops a mentoring relationship with and the female students who seem to decide "this professor sucks."