Kidding on the square, friends!
I just found something on the internet that pi$$es me off. Here it is:
Blah blah blah blibbity blab women/teachers/higher education/women teachers in higher education.
Blah blah blah blibbity blab.
Blah blah blah blibbity blab.
What an idiot, and here are several reasons why this person is wrong and/or doesn’t know what ze is talking about. As if! Here are all of the dire political and/or cultural implications that might result from this kind of disordered thinking. Fortunately, there are writers like me and my commenters who can see through all of this bullcrap and let our meaningless opinions be known! We, the few who courageously blog (or comment on blogs) and rage, rage against the dying of the light. Say it with me, kids: Awesome!
This post is dedicated to Blake from Down and Out in Denver, with whom I recently had a conversation in person about the limits of bloggy conversations.
Historiann 
I recently was interviewed by an online “progressive” news source in my city about my research. Naturally, the interview dealt quite a lot with women’s history. It garnered the following 5 comments:
1. “This is where my tax dollars go???”
2. “I was thinking the same thing, commenter #1! I had to re-read the piece several times in order to believe that this woman toils in the groves of academe at a PUBLICLY-FUNDED university!”
3. [An intervention by my ex-student, who apparently felt compelled to defend me and the value of Humanities research.]
4. “God be with you.”
5. [A long, garbled comment I couldn’t make heads or tail out of, apparently posted by someone who has smoked a little too much weed over the course of hir life.]
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Are those her lucky chaps? Or are the chaps themselves lucky chaps? Or are there lucky chaps somewhere out of view? So confusing.
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Well, we all know that education is too important to entrust to the women folk. Or is it that women folks’ work is so important (i.e. mothering and home-making) that we can’t send them off to the world of education? I get confused!
Ow! Saying all of that with tongue firmly in cheek is pretty painful!
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Excuse me, Historiann, but how did you happen to get hold of my notes for my upcoming blog post, “The World Is Going to Hell in a Handbasket and ONLY I CAN STOP IT!” Police, police — I’ve been robbed by a girl with a lasso and a PhD!
Yours in Rage,
Roxie
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Giggling uncontrollably at Roxie’s comment.
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Me too. Thanks, Roxie! That’s much funnier than my somewhat pitiful effort.
Just remember: out here, *I* am the local peace officer, so good luck with your complaints.
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Historiann: I think you nailed it! As much as I do want blogs to be a place for conversation and debate, sometimes I wonder if we get a little mired in our mutual admiration and preaching to the converted. And then there are those, like Squadrato includes in her comments, who just want to say the same thing over and over again and have a public place to do so.
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