More harried linking (sorry)

Since it's the end of the semester and I'm way behind on grading, preparing for an exam, and blah, blah, blah, I wanted to share this clip. I wanted to write an actual post, but I have nothing to say that doesn't have to do with running to programs, baking, and--of course--reading essays of various and questionable quality. And that's boring, so enjoy a different bloggy mom. She's as harried as me, probably more so, and yet she can still blog. Hmmm. Oh well, I'm not that sorry since it's a good read. Enjoy:

http://www.justicejonesie.com/blog/blog/category/motherhood/

Thanksgiving Day link

Happy Turkey Day. Check out this thoughtful post on the topic:

http://piepmeier.blogspot.com/2011/11/sarah-josepha-hale.html

Enjoy!

The Help, I wish I could quit you

We started meetings on campus this week, and nearly every conversation with my colleagues came back to The Help again and again. We couldn't get away from it. Since I like it when people affirm my thinking, I'm excited to read what big time scholars and thinkers have to say. Melissa Harris-Perry (who I totally heart) and Valerie Boyd and others have made really smart commentary. Also LOVE Viola Davis, and would be happy to see her in a role that is softer and pretty than anything I've seen her in till now. Check them out!

Linking

I wanted to comment on this Common nonsense--which is all the more riDONculous because Common's name used to be Common Sense. But as usual, Jon Stewart says it far better I could, so check out this link.

Too annoyed for words

As you might have been able to tell, I am too annoyed for words. So I'm just going to link another blogger's link. Over at Professor Like Substance, there's a succinct post and an awesome link to "The Daily Show" highlighting the ridiculousness of political bull stinky. I wish I could remember which show I was watching--I'm too irritated to go check the DVR--but some ultraconservative, um, person, actually argued that the reason not to fund Planned Parenthood was not because the money went to pay for abortions. No, he argued that when money goes to the non-abortion services, the other money is free to fund abortions. What kind of jacked up ideology is this? "I don't want my money to pay for something I don't believe in AND I want to stop other people's money from paying for it, too." Who is this freaking controlling? Why does that make any sense? We are talking about a legal, medical issue here. That's not even to mention that this link of "thinking" suggests that having women die from cervical cancer from lack of screenings is preferable to having any women access abortions. So, should I be asking how can I prevent other people's money from buying guns? I just--I mean . . . arrrgggghhh!

Linkage--Raising a woman

I was planning a post in my head today about how, when I asked The Babydoll today what job she wanted to have when she grew up, she said, "A mommy." Even in her five-year-old eyes, being a mommy is work. Honorable, important work. And she made me think that I might be good at my job. Sometimes?

Then, I saw this post about raising daughters (I think it applies to daughters of every kind) and realized how much more work I have to do as she grows up. She needs a skill set that helps her to avoid being caught without a response to the crap of life. It really is important work.

"That's Gay"

Over the years I've had students who have willingly exposed their sexual difference in my classes. I've had students who I suspected were struggling with their sexuality. I've had students who were clear about their own sexuality and who were painfullly clear about other people's sexuality, too. I've even had a student, no joke, whose gender I was pretty unsure of during the entire term. I hope that I've been able to make my classroom a place where students don't have to be afraid of being intentially hurt, for any reason. I hope that I'm getting it right. I know that there have been times when I clearly did not. I'm working on it. But we've been looking at a text recently that forces our discussion of sexuality and I've been afraid that the students who are homosexual are uncomfortable, not because of mean or homophobic comments; just because there are all these words and thoughts flying through the air and they seem to land on them specifically. Still, I don't want to force us to be silent as a class. That's worse.

A post over at CocoMamas today makes it palpably and poignantly clear why we HAVE to get it right. I hope you'll take a look.

The World I Want for My Children

Peaceful



Free



Safe



Equal



Healthy



True.



I want a world where my children are not wrong.*

“The world I want for my children” is an effort to support The Joyful Heart Foundation, which was founded by Law & Order: SVU actress Mariska Hargitay to help victims of sexual assault mend their minds, bodies and spirits and reclaim their lives. Today, the foundation is at the forefront of an effort to end a disheartening backlog of tens of thousands of rape kits in labs across the country, a backlog that contributes to a rapist’s 80 percent chance of getting away with his crime. The backlog and its detrimental effects will be the topic of an SVU episode on September 29^th.

*See June Jordan's "Poem About My Rights"