Between “snow days” and friends and relatives who were in town and another swim meet, I’m three behind. But I have been writing in my head, which is always a good sign. I think I’m going to sit down over Thanksgiving and write a bit, like a new opening and intro to each of the sections.
Maybe I’m going to write a whole new 50k set of words. Awesome. But it is what it is.
So, reflection 17: How have the material conditions of your life changed as a result of studying your subject?
Since I am the subject of my study (n=1 FTW!), what has happened to me is that I am more aware, more purposeful, more outspoken. Is that a material condition, how my life has gotten better? Speaking out and writing about these issues did give me visibility and legitimacy, gave me a community, and it got me to Georgetown, so…
Reflection 18: What can I teach about my subject today?
I think I did that last week, letting Donna read my manuscript to offer me feedback on it. I had to explain (again) what I was trying to do in order to see if I was in fact succeeding. I wasn’t, but it gave me a clearer sense of what was going on in my manuscript and what I still had to teach and what I had to offer.
Reflection 19: How can I evolve my working thesis today?
Being a woman in academia is hard and there are real consequences to the inherent sexism (and ageism and classism and racism) in Academia, especially when one chooses to work in such areas, not just theoretically, but practically.
Oh, hey, found it. That was helpful.