Manifestoes
thusspakezuska | June 9, 2008Because we can't keep our mouths shut forever, nor can we always stay locked safely within our homes, it is inevitable that we must interact with and speak to other human beings. And because of this, it is (nearly) inevitable that we will, at one time or another, say or do something that someone else interprets as offensive.
You know what I mean. You're nattering blithely along, everything's good, we're all happy - except, suddenly, some of us aren't. And you don't understand why. You are a good person. You are not a sexist, you are not a racist, you are not a homophobe. You are an…
thusspakezuska | March 7, 2008Last month I wrote about children, academic careers, and moms. Lively discussion ensued. Here's something you should read for a follow up, and hat tip to Sciencewoman for the link:
Let me reminds you, once again, that people do not "choose" to have kids. A lot of people choose *not* to have kids--birth control, wealth, and modernity certainly contribute to this decision, which is perfectly irreproachable, by the way--but reproducing is not a conscious decision. It is something that the bodies of living creatures simply DO. It is, in fact, part of the definition of "living."
If Bitch, PhD'…
thusspakezuska | September 2, 2007It's late summer, and the harvest is bountiful, and so with the contributions to Scientiae. Thanks to all of you who submitted such fabulous posts. Some of you even wrote two posts! It must be that back-to-school enthusiasm.
As you know, this month's theme for Scientiae is "Unleashed", chosen by moi. I wrote about furious women the other day, which will tell you a little about where "unleashed" came from (and just how long it's been fermenting in my brain). But I have to give a hat tip to Karmen at Chaotic Utopia for inspiring me to make it the theme of the carnival, in the course of…
thusspakezuska | August 19, 2007Have you read the Nature editorial? Have you read my earlier post about it? Maybe what you are wanting is a deeper textual analysis of the editorial itself. You've come to the right place.
Men [sick]
Our 1869 mission statement is out of date.
That's what the bitchy, complaining women are making us say.
It was 1833 when the English polymath William Whewell first coined the word 'scientist'. Over subsequent decades, the word gradually replaced such commonly used terms as 'natural philosophers' and 'men of science.
Scientist, you see , actually means "men of science". So even if we changed…
thusspakezuska | July 31, 2007Absinthe has an announcement on her blog about a new online support group for junior female particle physicists.
There is a new online discussion group aimed at junior female particle physicists (up to and including the postdoctoral level). The group allows junior females to talk openly and anonymously with other junior female particle physicists from around the world about career issues that are important to them. Most particle physicists at the junior level are based at large laboratories in Europe and the US. The unique work environment at these labs can lead to workplace issues and…
thusspakezuska | June 29, 2007There's a debate going on among my Sciblings about atheism: is it or is it not a civil rights issue? Matthew at Framing Science is of the opinion that it is not, and apparently thinks people like Richard Dawkins are giving atheists a bad name. Jason at Evolutionblog writes the following:
Atheists don't face a public image problem because of the books of Dawkins and Hitchens. They face a public image problem because of the bigotry and ignorance of so many religious people. Not all religious people, certainly, as the strawman version of their arguments would have you believe. But a much…
thusspakezuska | June 3, 2007I sat down on my front porch this afternoon with a cup of coffee and the Philadelphia Inquirer and I was shocked beyond belief to find Jonathan Storm , the Inquirer's tv critic, offering up a critique of not just one new fall tv show, but the entire new fall lineup of all three networks, based on nothing more than "clips and the networks' hyperbole-heavy presentations to advertisers (all a critic has to go on at this early stage)".
Well. This is an outrage! I am particularly hoping that Chris over at Mixing Memory will get on the horn ASAP and let Mr. Storm know just what he thinks of…
thusspakezuska | April 26, 2007All last week I was silent on my blog because I wasn't feeling well enough to spend much time on the computer. So I didn't post anything when many other people were writing about the horrible tragedy at Virginia Tech. I thought about what I might say if I were well enough to blog and I concluded that I was not up to the task. I just didn't have words that seemed adequate, beyond expressing my grief and shock, and my sympathy for everyone at Virginia Tech. I know some people who work there and I can't imagine what this has been like for them. And I can't think of anything I can possibly…
thusspakezuska | January 29, 2007Female Science Professor describes the amazing (and amazingly depressing) power of invisibility women in science seem to possess - at least when Distinguished Schmucks are visiting the department:
A male colleague and I walked up to the Distinguished Visitor in the hallway, and the visitor stuck out his hand at my male colleague and gave him a manly handshake; they introduced themselves to each other. For some reason, I assumed it was my turn for a handshake and introduction. Social horror! He ignored me. I dropped my hand, but I introduced myself anyway, saying something like "I'm on your…
thusspakezuska | December 19, 2006Attention, class!
You'll recall that in my About section, I state the following:
I wish that I could also say, like Twisy [Faster], that this is not a feminist primer. But Twisty has the luxury of dealing with the rest of the academy (and much of the workforce) that marched bravely forward starting in the seventies, entering the new millenium with at least a modest understanding of the fact that women are humans. Sadly for me and for all women, the majority of Science-and-Engineering-Land remains Groundhog Day-ishly rooted in the 1950's, where Title IX is just a dim dream...I resign myself to…
thusspakezuska | November 20, 2006Joanna Russ wrote a wonderful book in 1983 called How to Suppress Women's Writing. (You can purchase it on the internet here or at your local bookseller or at amazon.) Sadly, you could read that book today and apply its insights directly to science and engineering.
So, with an acknowledgement to Joanna Russ:
She didn't do science. (But if it's clear she did the deed...)
She did science, but she shouldn't have. (It's science with a political agenda, it's actually masculine thinking.)
She did science, but look what she researched. (Technology of household equipment, domestic architecture…
thusspakezuska | November 20, 2006This post grew out of an exchange with Benjamin Franz on my post This Is The Patriarchy: When Talking To The Master, Speak In A Civil Tone. I felt the exchange itself was worth promoting to a post, with some additional commentary, especially since we are getting so close to the anniversary date of the Montreal massacre.
For those who are not familiar with this tragic event, you will find a case study at Gendercide.org. Here's a summary from their site:
December 6, 1989 is a date that lives in the collective consciousness of Canadians, and many others worldwide. On that day, a deranged…
thusspakezuska | November 15, 2006It's been a migrainey sort of week here at Chez Zuska, so in lieu of something new at the moment, I'm giving you a "best of Zuska" from the old blog site. By coincidence, it's also trash and recycling night here in my hometown. Read and decide for yourself.
Shake Off The Dust Under Your Feet
And as a follow-up to my last post, take a gander at what Female Science Professor has to say:
At my university, there has never been a woman department chair in science, engineering, or math in the entire history of the university. A dean recently told me that it will probably be another decade or so…
thusspakezuska | November 8, 2006I started this as a reply to a comment by Chris on my post Why Are All The White Men Sitting Together In The Other Conference Rooms? but it became a post of its own. Chris wrote:
As someone who's attended quite a few engineering conferences, I find that sessions about the profession/discipline tend not to be very well attended, and not representative of the meeting attendees as a whole. For instance, sessions on engineering education tend to attract only a small fraction of the attendees that come to sessions about using steel reinforced concrete in bridge design or retroreflectivity in…
thusspakezuska | November 7, 2006Back on October 6, the Chronicle of Higher Education published a column titled The X-Gals Alliance and I missed the chance to blog about it at that time. The second in the ongoing series of columns from these fabulous women is now out, Balance It Out.
From the original column:
"We" are the X-Gals, a group of nine female biologists who began meeting weekly over a few beers in 2000, as several of us wrote up our dissertations. (Our name is a double-pun on the X-Men superheroes and on X-Gal, a laboratory chemical sometimes used in biology.)
Back then, we read one another's dissertation…
thusspakezuska | October 25, 2006Well, I'll never work in academia again after those last two posts.
I suppose if my migraines ever get under control I can always go back to industry. Pharma is always desperate for experienced medical writers and they pay better than academia anyway. Plus the hours are better. Let's just hope pharma doesn't give a crap about my blog.
Which brings me to the topic of this post. Why do you think that I am able to rant so freely, express the truth so bluntly, expose morons to the blinding light of revelation with impunity, all under my real name? It's because I have no job. And I'm not…
thusspakezuska | October 25, 2006As I promised, here is the email I received from President Lewis Duncan of Rollins College after I wrote a blog post on his comments on the Karpova-Tonegawa affair. My commentary on his email is in brackets and italicized. Email and my commentary after the jump.
Dear Ms. Frank, [sic]
I take strong exception to your misleading interpretation and extrapolation of my quote in the Boston Globe.
How disappointing that a fellow scientist would be so presumptuous in her perspectives. [This is lame.
'You're a scientist, so you're supposed to be rational, and you aren't being rational, so are…
thusspakezuska | October 15, 2006It's Ask a Science Blogger time again....
...A reader asks: Is severely regulating your diet for a month each year, as Muslims do during Ramadan, good for you?
Here's hoping my doctor and pharmacist SiBlings will take on this question and give us a medical perspective. I'm going to approach "is it good for you?" from some other directions.
In this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, ten women share memories of Ramadan, traditions from their home countries, and offer up a few family recipes. Ramadan and fasting sounds like it is very good for them.
In Istanbul, women embroider handkerchiefs…
thusspakezuska | October 6, 2006Shane asked the following:
So Zuska, just to be clear, did your post mean to suggest:
1. The structure of science is hostile to or biased against women, leading to an under-representation of women at its highest level. Eliminate this bias and more women would be awarded the Nobel Prize *in the future*.
OR
2. Women currently at science's highest level are being discriminated against. Were it not for this bias, more women would have won Nobel Prizes *this year*.
OR other?
Shane, I like the way you phrased 1 and 2, with the exception that in #2, "more" should be "some".
Why limit…
thusspakezuska | September 25, 2006There is a super-fabulous interview with Zuska over on Page 3.14. Page 3.14 is "is your guide to ScienceBlogs. Maintained by Seed's editors, web editors, and the other people who make Seed tick, it points you in the direction of some of ScienceBlogs' finest offerings." But I think it's really mostly written by the wonderful Katherine Sharpe, whom Zuska adores, and hopes to meet someday in person.
The interview is loosely based on the infamous Proust questionnaire. At the interview page you will find a spiffy photo of Zuska. Here is a little snippet of the interview to whet your appetite…