#women in higher education

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Trudy Ring at The Advocate:

Sweet Briar College in Virginia has barred transgender people from enrolling, based on administrators’ understanding of the founder’s will — from 1900. The private liberal arts college was founded by Indiana Fletcher Williams in honor of her deceased daughter, Daisy. Williams’s will stipulated that Sweet Briar would “be a place of ‘girls and young women,’” college officials told the Associated Press. Sweet Briar, located on the former Williams plantation in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, “has never had an admissions policy specifically for transgender students but has evaluated and admitted trans applicants on a case-by-case basis,” Inside Higher Ed reports. “The new policy holds that an applicant must confirm ‘that her sex assigned at birth is female and that she consistently lives and identifies as a woman.’” Sweet Briar President Mary Pope Hutson and the college’s board chair spelled out the new policy in a letter to the campus community in August. The phrase “girls and young women,” they wrote, “must be interpreted as it was understood at the time the Will was written.” “The board cannot change the words or the interpretation of the will,” Hutson told Inside Higher Ed. “I think that’s important.” The will is from 1900, and the college was established in 1901. It began admitting students in 1906. The Virginia legislature codified the will, and therefore the college must follow it. “And based on existing state case law, Sweet Briar leaders are required to consider how Williams viewed women and to honor that intent — even if current social norms do not reflect the founder’s perspective,” according to Inside Higher Ed.

The college has deviated from the will in one major way, however. The will mandated that Sweet Briar would admit whites only. In 1964, Sweet Briar sought the state’s permission to integrate, and that led to a long legal battle. The college admitted its first Black students in 1966 under a temporary court order, and a court struck down the whites-only policy for good in 1967.

What a disgraceful move by Sweet Briar College to ban trans women from campus.

[iirulancorrino]

from The Forgotten Girls: A Memoir of Friendship and Lost Promise in Rural America by Monica Potts

[bonefall]

even though I've never read the books, i love how you handle the women in this series.

The utter lack of interest in the internal lives of women characters in WC kills me. If you don't read the series it's hard to put it into words, but it really does not value women on the same level as their male counterparts

I think the best example I can use is Turtle Tail. All of her choices, from going to live with Bumble, choosing a "cruel man" as a mate, and even her grief when Bumble dies, all only happen as accessories to Gray Wing's arc.

Living with Bumble was because Gray Wing was obsessing over a woman who didn't love him, neglecting Turtle who does

Choosing Tom the Wifebeater was also because Gray Wing didn't appreciate her enough

She accepts that her friend's murder was just an unfortunate accident and her emotions carried her away in the moment, because Gray Wing needs to be right that his brother is a good boy

In this way, Turtle Tail's emotions and motivations aren't allowed to really be about her. They're about how her romantic interest influences her. And then she's crushed by a car for his man pain after they've explored every other way her life could make him sad.

This does not happen with men. Even characters like Stemleaf and Larksong, whose primary narrative purpose is dying for their wife's pain, have functions outside of that. Stemleaf gives his life opposing the tyranny of the impostor in a rebellion, and Larksong has input on The Kin, SkyClan, and even serves as a source of comfort and support to a son who he's never met in contrast to the unreasonable mother.

There's just so much more respect and reverence to the toms in this series. You have to be in the POV of a molly to get depth, and even then, they nearly always (exceptions being mothwing and mistystar) include a major conflict over romance and/or parenthood

(And they usually get punished for their choices a lot harder than male counterparts. Directly contrast Crookedstar and Sparkpelt, who both distance themselves from their children out of grief, but only one has to deal with the lasting consequences of being a "bad parent")

Anyway, enough wistful analysis. It is MY kitchen and I get to choose the conflicts. It is my personal mission to write lots and lots of women persuing a higher education in STEM. Sadism, Torture, Evisceration, and Murder <3

[notaplaceofhonour]

i think there is some connection between this post and this post

the increasing tendency to treat flaws as justification to declare something wholly “problematic” is a big piece of the anti-intellectualism on the left

the entire point of criticism in academia is to refine & improve understanding in your field. when you level criticism, you are seeking to create dialogue, not shut it down—you engage in criticism to understand not just that a thing has problems, but to seek to understand those problems so you can contribute to a solution

it’s for that reason that the once valid image of a bunch of rich white dudes sitting around smoking cigars in a white tower isn’t accurate anymore. by no means does that mean all problems of systemic inequality are fully “solved”, but we live in a world where academia can and does adjust to criticism, and is now full of diverse perspectives from all intersections of minority voices

but when your approach to criticism is just finding any flaws to declare something wholly “problematic” and the only solution you have is “throw it all out!” “burn it all down!” the fact that institutions of higher learning are flawed and can be criticized leads you to embracing anti-intellectualism. rather than seeing the limitations of privileged perspectives as just that—limitations, which need to be filled out by combining them with perspectives that historically were overlooked—any perspective that may have been privileged in the past becomes trash that needs to be thrown out entirely

[marzipanandminutiae]

I'm asking because it's something I've been trying to figure out myself. Do you have any theories as to why there is such an overlap of TERFs and people convinced corsets are Evil? Why do these beliefs go toghter?

My guess would be that it’s because they define womanhood so much by suffering, that questioning anything they’ve been told was a mechanism of women’s suffering in the past feels like a threat to them. Even though obviously nobody who says “corsets were not universal torture devices“ is saying “women weren’t oppressed during these specific eras.” It’s a threat to their idea of what the past looks like, especially womanhood in the past, and that puts them on the defensive.

They also often hate femininity at large, and the corset tends to be seen as a symbol thereof. Even though, you know… A lot of masc presenting women in the past also wore them, simply as support garments. and even some men, for back support and/or body-shaping.

And most historical costumers and dress historians who get a wide platform nowadays tends to be feminine-presenting. So TERFs see this as feminine women (traitors!) “defending” their favorite imagined symbol of patriarchal control over women’s bodies and gender presentation, and therefore go ballistic. Even though that’s not what’s happening

(Note: not everyone who expresses these views is a terf, of course. Pop culture in general still tends to believe that corsets are inherently evil, and thus it’s a very common mindset. And not even everyone who buys into the whole “historical costumers/fem dress historians are tradwives serving the patriarchy“ concept is a terf. But as you say, there is a pretty broad overlap in that latter category.)

It’s also interesting to me what their definition of defense is. A lot of them blow a gasket if you even say “the corset is a neutral garment that served practical functions for many women, and most women seem to have felt neutrally about it, though obviously some strongly liked or disliked it” or “ I and some people I know personally find corsets comfortable to wear,”and react like you just built an altar to sacrifice goats to a corset

[rarebritney]

sure, i enjoy a photo of a focussed, beautiful young woman playing chess as much as the next person. but don't you think it's getting a little bit weird. these are photos of women competing in a challenging, intellectual game, often at a very high level....some of them are grandmasters or world champions. so basically what's happening here is bloggers are combing through pics of women playing competitive chess to find the ones where they look the most fuckable so we can all gawk at them? doesn't this bother anyone else? I'm really beginning to tire of it. it's objectifying, especially when the name of the player is not even included in the post

[chthonic-cassandra]

I know there are reasons why I am reading Edith Wharton's autobiography, but dear gods parts of this are insufferable.

[femmefatalevibe]

(possible cw? NSFW)

what advice do you have for trying to be more sex positive?

the way i was raised (cis female) i experienced a lot of purity culture and whatnot so now 95% of sex related things/media/conversations i feel shame/embarrassment or even just uncomfortable bc i don't know how to talk about it/it was shunned growing up.

i don't really desire to try anything (bdsm, roleplay, etc). but i hate being so uncomfortable at the sheer thought of it when i'm alone in a room by myself. (like it's to a point where if I'm alone watching tv and a sex scene comes on i'm like "what if someone walks in and sees this" as if i'm doing something wrong).

i'm also not really into the hookup culture thing either, i've tried it and it's just not for me.

but i've started seeing someone new and i don't want to be uncomfortable around him in any way, trying to break old patterns and whatnot.

i have no problem exploring/masturbating but again, i feel out of my element otherwise.

i don't know where to even start when it comes to sex positivity/embracing sexuality. please help??

(ps i love ur blog)

Hi love! Thank you so much <333

I'm sorry that you had the all-too-common experience of being shamed for your sexuality (such a natural thing, ugh). I'm glad to hear that you're comfortable exploring your own body and being intimate with people you feel a connection to – both of those aspects of intimacy are very important! But please know it's so common for women to feel shame surrounding their sexuality. It's programmed into us (at least in many countries/cultures) since we're very young.

I think the best place to start is to understand that, at least for those of us who aren't asexual, desiring sex and sexual pleasure is as natural as craving chocolate – we're hardwired to seek out pleasure and avoid pain. If something feels good, we're going to want to keep doing it.

Once you fully acknowledge that you can't out-shame yourself out of a natural craving/desire, I think it gets a bit easier to begin integrating this aspect of your being into your personhood. Learning what makes you feel good, turns you on, and makes you feel sexy/desired – alone or partnered – can become a part of your self-discovery journey, not a taboo side to your existence/interpersonal experiences.

Hope this helps xx

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

It seems like every other week there’s a new acronym to get our heads around.

But whilst some come and go, ‘STEM’ seems to be the mother of all acronyms, that has become a household name.

Science, technology, engineering, maths – aka “STEM”.

These are the (few remaining) subjects where women are underrepresented in education.

It is an acronym that has given us wonderfully cliche images of young women in white coats high fiving, or others peering into microscopes with a big smiles and thumbs up.

But whilst the artwork is humorous, the numbers don’t quite add up.

As what people don’t know about ‘STEM’, is that it is just yet another politically motivated term, that has manipulated the data to give us misleading perspectives.

Because actually 54% of STEM students are women, not 35%.

And we can only arrive at 35% by ignoring the many, many, sciences where women continue to dominate.

Biology, psychology, neuroscience, medicine, veterinary science…

These are all sciences… all areas where women dominate… and none of them are considered STEM subjects.

Yes. Biology. Not a science. Somehow.

Meanwhile the crisis of men and boys falling behind and dropping out of education remains ignored.

Yup, the crisis of educational attainment continues to look in the wrong direction.

So what is to be said about STEM?

And can we drop the acronyms and political neologisms, and look at the whole picture?

--

Sources:

HESA Data https://www.hesa.ac.uk/news/19-01-2023/sb265-higher-education-student-statistics/subjects

Definition of Stem https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201213/ldselect/ldsctech/37/37.pdf#page=10

[prussianmemes]

what's incredible about these maps is how hard western euros will cope at the idea that their enlightened and superior society could ever be worse than *flips through notebook* those uncivilized lesser slavic poles and ukrainians. russians and croats also are lying too.

what's funny is that this yearly EU study is conducted in such a way that literally accounts for bias in reporting and cultural stigma, yet still they will cope and are unable to consider that based social democrat scandinavian finns beat their wives more than poles

(don't look at spousal murder rates in scandinavia ha ha)

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Lynne Brindley

Dame Lynne Brindley was born in 1950. Brindley served as Chief Executive Officer of the British Library from 2000 to 2012. In 2013, she became Master of Pembroke College, Oxford, a position she held for seven years before stepping down in 2020. Brindley was the first woman to serve in that role in the college's nearly 400-year history. In 2015, she became an honorary fellow of the British Academy.

[totallyhussein-blog]

Meet the Arab Americans, whose heritage is a roadmap to education

Have you ever visited the Arab American National Museum or checked out their book awards, film festivals and concerts? The museum “provides people with a more authentic and real representation of what it means to be Arab American.”

“We communicate the American narrative in the voices of Arab Americans. They express their experiences in their own words,” says Diana Abouali, director of the Arab American National Museum, located in Dearborn, Michigan.

Arab immigrant stories aren’t well-known among mainstream America. And what little Americans do know about Arabs is often informed by negative stereotypes.

Arab Americans are a diverse community that come from 22 Arab countries stretching from northern Africa to western Asia. But once they settle in the U.S., the museum director says, they become as American as they are Arab.

Ralph Nader is known for his lifetime of activism and fearless critique. Yet in this fresh and inspiring book The Seventeen Traditions: Lessons from an American Childhood, Nader takes a look backward - at a serene and enriching childhood spent in bucolic Winsted, Connecticut.

In his most personal writing to date, Nader fondly describes his father’s restaurant and how it taught him about work, community, how to share in the spirit of others, along with the value of his mother’s Lebanese cooking and how it defined his relationship with his heritage.

[thelifeelsewhere]

Black Women’s Empowerment

Drawn from research conducted over the course of a decade, education scholar Rachelle Winkle Wagner elevates in The Chosen We : Black Women’s Empowerment In Higher Education the experiences and oral histories of 105 accomplished, college-educated Black women who graduated between 1954 and 2014. Her findings demonstrate that maintaining connection and community among themselves – A Chosen We – has…

[greppelheks]

really starting to understand women who marry someone shitty just to have housing security

[jamradio]

Trying to make slides for my dissertation proposal like

[pirates-and-ninja-lover]

fuck politics btw <3