Last week, my husband and I were in Ireland. We visited because I had been accepted at an academic conference in Limerick. In fact, the paper I submitted with my colleague Breeanne ended up winning the Hayhoe Fellow Award, or the award for the best graduate student paper. We spent a day in Dublin. We... Continue Reading →
I Was Expecting More from This Book: Modern Motherhood
When I first came across Modern Motherhood: Women and Family in England, 1945-2000 (2012) by Angela Davis, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I eyed it for a few weeks, and then I broke down and ordered it. As soon as it arrived, I was so excited to read it. I even... Continue Reading →
More Girls’ Studies
Many of you may remember that last year, I took a girls' studies class, and regularly posted assignments to my blog. You can see those past posts here. This semester, I'm teaching the same class! I have two wonderful and articulate students, and I thought some of you might be interested in seeing their blogs... Continue Reading →
Calling All Female Editors and Technical Writers
As you know, I've been working on a Ph.D. in technical and professional communication. I've finally hit dissertation phase, and I'm looking for participants. Here's the official call: As part of my current research for my dissertation at Utah State University, I’m conducting a study about women’s work experiences in the field of technical and... Continue Reading →
Begin Again: Do You Leap Out of Bed in the Morning?
I've got a lot of great posts from the early days of my blog, when nobody was following me. I thought it would be fun to revisit some of my favorites from those days. So today's post is a repost. It originally appeared the first day I started my blog, January 4, 2012. ....... I... Continue Reading →
Witch Hunt
Original documents and manuscripts fascinate me, and much of my research as a Ph.D. student over the last few years has focused on historical sources and archival materials. That is why when I heard on NPR about Katherine Howe’s The Penguin Book of Witches (2014), a compilation of original sources about witches dating from 1582... Continue Reading →
Examining the Rhetoric of Pregnancy
While researching for my dissertation proposal, I came across an academic study called The Rhetoric of Pregnancy (2014) by Marika Seigel. I read it eagerly, for information about women’s experiences with pregnancy and work and as a representative sample of a dissertation turned book. From what I gathered, this project was Seigel’s dissertation in my... Continue Reading →
“I’m Not a Feminist, But . . .”: Postmodern and Third-Wave Feminism
We hear people say this all of the time, and yet they often go on to express “feminist” ideas and could identify as a feminist. There are many reasons why people distance themselves from the feminist movement. I can’t possibly explain or guess them all. But I can explain the different types of feminism according... Continue Reading →
“I’m Not a Feminist, But . . .”: Ecofeminism
We hear people say this all of the time, and yet they often go on to express “feminist” ideas and could identify as a feminist. There are many reasons why people distance themselves from the feminist movement. I can’t possibly explain or guess them all. But I can explain the different types of feminism according... Continue Reading →
More Work for Mother
A social rhetoric surrounding household technologies, such as the dishwasher, is that these devices are “labor-saving.” Ruth Schwartz Cowan (1983) argued that this assumption of technology, especially technologies made for domestic work, is wrong. She instead posited that so-called labor-saving devices have actually increased work for women. Cowan traced household technologies in detail from industrialism,... Continue Reading →