(We discussed parkour a while ago.)
Not that anyone is hiding the fact that some of parkour is a copy.
The copy:
.
The original:
Other parkour moves the cats do:
“That pretty flat stomach” April 30, 2011
In the summer of 2004, I weighed 92 pounds. I was very sick and doing everything in my power to put on weight. My doctor went so far as to prescribe an appetite stimulant, derived from cannabis, which was supposed to give me the legal munchies.
It may have helped me put on a pound or two, but that wasn’t enough.
It wasn’t just that I was too thin; I needed a lung transplant and had to weigh a minimum of 100 pounds before I would even be considered for the surgery. I was left with one option: a feeding tube for high-calorie protein shakes every night while I slept, in addition to a high-calorie diet every day…
On the operating table, I was prepped for the procedure by a female nurse and a male doctor. When the nurse lifted the hospital gown above my abdomen, she exclaimed, “Look at that pretty flat stomach!”
I processed this statement for a moment. A medical professional had complimented me on my thinness, which was so extreme as to prevent me from having life-saving surgery, while prepping me for a procedure intended to help me gain weight.
To his credit, the doctor quickly snapped, “That’s the problem!” but her message couldn’t have been clearer.
We live in a culture that so values thinness, that values such extreme thinness, that I received a compliment about my body when I was on an operating table, when I was so ill and weighed so little that doctors feared I might not survive major surgery.
From here. (Thanks, C!)
CFP: Resistance April 29, 2011
Resistance
Crisis – Creation – Action – CritiqueThursday 9th June 2011, Goldsmiths, University of London
Day 1 of ‘Whose University?’, a two-day symposium organised by Goldsmiths and Birkbeck, co-hosted by GLITS, Goldsmiths Literature Seminar and
InC, Research Group in Continental Philosophy. 9-10 June 2011.In the wake of the government’s plans to drastically alter the funding of higher education, the very ethos of the university is undergoing transformation. The result of withdrawing public funding will be that higher education is no longer seen as a public good. If universities are controlled by market mechanisms that replicate existing distributions of economic power, they will only perpetuate social inequalities. Differential fees will intensify the financial disparity between universities, forging a two-tier system. With universities becoming service providers and students acting as consumers, learning experiences can only be diminished, reduced to quantifiable preferences. The arts and humanities will suffer deeply; how are we to respond to these measures?
Resistance is a one day interdisciplinary event held in conjunction with ‘The Idea of the University’ (Friday 10th June) that will foster debate on the current crisis in higher education. The intention of Resistance is twofold: to defend the role of the arts and humanities in academic learning and forge discussion around the issue of resistance. Why is the study of the arts and humanities indispensable? How are these fields crucial to critical reflection on human values and principles? What are the most effective modes of resisting the changes to higher education? How can literature itself operate as a mode of resistance?
Possible themes include but are not limited to:
• The commodification of the university
• Violence on the streets and systematic violence
• Reified subjectivity in the university
• Activism and the arts
• The arts as resistance to instrumental reason
• Resistance as creation, action and/or critique
• Literature and/or language as a mode of resistance
• The relationship between ethical responsibility and political action/ singularity and universalityTo enhance energy and debate, we are open to presentations which depart from the traditional format of 20 minute papers; we welcome collaborative pieces as well as work from the creative arts.
There will be a roundtable discussion for all participants at the end of Day 2.Please send abstracts/proposals of no longer than 300 words to
resistance-glits AT gold.ac.uk by Friday 13th May 2011
Three Little Girls You Wouldn’t Want to Mess With April 28, 2011
(or, ‘with whom you wouldn’t want to mess’?). From YouTube Trends…
Lately, we’ve seen an interesting “trend” develop with three separate videos drawing blogger attention in the past few weeks that each feature tough young ladies performing some cool — and very unusual — physical feats.
There’s no true link between the videos themselves, the sole connection — aside from the obvious one — seemings to be our own fascination with their unusual, gender-stereotype-defying interests and abilities. Take a look.
Women in Philosophy of Religion April 28, 2011
Are women even more poorly represented in philosophy of religion than elsewhere in the discipline?
I ask because I’m currently putting together a syllabus for an upper level metaphysics class. I’m doing my best to ensure women philosophers are well-represented. For the most part I’ve found it quite easy to identify great work by women philosophers on the central topics, but I’m really struggling with philosophy of religion – specifically arguments for and against theism. I’m planning to focus most of my effort on the ontological argument, and it is quite striking how poorly represented women are in most of the reading lists and encyclopedia entries I’ve found. (Although I haven’t checked every single name for gender, it looks like the bibliography of the Stanford entry on the ontological argument might even be exclusively male). Also, the great Women’s Works site doesn’t seem to have a page for religion yet (I just get a blank screen).
Anscombe’s response to Hume’s argument about causes is excellent, but obviously not quite in the right ballpark. If anyone can suggest work by women that’s either specifically about the ontological argument, or bears upon it in a student-friendly sort of way, I’d be very grateful. General information about the state of affairs for women in Phil Religion is also welcome.
“Calm Down, Dear” April 27, 2011
That’s what David Cameron said to Angela Eagle, Shadow Treasury Secretary. There has rightly been criticism. Eagle’s own response:
she had been “patronised by better people than the prime minister”, adding that Cameron should instead be apologising for the economy, which had “effectively flatlined for six months”.
She told BBC News: “I don’t think any modern man would have expressed himself in that way.
“The prime minister is responsible for what he says in the Commons. I think if there is an apology to make it should be for the dreadful growth figures we have seen today, which demonstrated that the economy has effectively flatlined for six months.”
She said it was up to Cameron “as to whether he wants to annoy 51% of the population”.
(Thanks, Jender-Parents.)
Jason Stanley on how feminist philosophy has influenced him April 27, 2011
My first book, Knowledge and Practical Interests, was in fact squarely in epistemology, arguing for the thesis that epistemic properties and relations have a practical dimension to them. I was helped in thinking through this project by my acquaintance with debates in feminist theory by scholars such as Genevieve Lloyd, who, at least on one reading argue that properties such as rationality are gendered, and hence not “pure” or “objective.” Thinking through this work when working with Chris Sturr at Cornell exposed me to the conceptual options for a thesis of the sort I advanced in this work, that epistemic properties and relations are not “pure” (to use the vocabulary of Jeremy Fantl and Matthew McGrath).
Jason Stanley is very much a mainstream philosopher of language and epistemologist so this surprised me. It also pleased me greatly, both to see feminist philosophy having having such unexpected influences, and to see it being discussed. It seems to me that this sort of thing is especially important for fighting the impression that feminist philosophy is a fringe endeavour.
On defending the arts and humanities April 27, 2011
The best we can do, I think, is to adapt an argument from GE Moore. Suppose we have to choose between two worlds. In one of them, universities have flourishing departments of arts and humanities. You, your children, your grandchildren, can study literature, language, fine art or ancient history, and, talent permitting, can contribute to scholarly debates. In the other, only the rich can do this, but technical progress is a bit faster. Which world you would prefer to live in?
Talking about stereotype threat April 27, 2011
The undergraduate philosophy classes I teach are often in technical, male-dominated sub-disciplines (metaphysics, philosophy of language, logic, etc). More men than women take these classes, and the male students usually outperform the female students — at least if we’re judging performance based on grade distribution — even though all the grading is done anonymously, as far as possible. The male students also tend to be much more vocal in class discussion.
There’s a lot not to like about this, obviously. In an attempt to be proactive, I’ve started talking about gender and stereotype threat in these classes. Basically, I introduce the concept of stereotype threat, and explain to the students ways it might affect them. I talk through some of the cool experiments (the math test study, the chess player study, etc) involving gender and stereotype threat. Then I put up a bunch of information (including links to these and more studies, and links to further reading) on the course webpage. But I’m worried that, at least for some of my students, this effort may have backfired.
I’m reasonably confident that I managed to communicate the information clearly, because several of the *men* in theses classes have responded very enthusiastically — thanking me for bringing up the issue, wanting to talk about the cases further, etc — and they all seem to have understood what I was saying without any trouble. The most confident and successful female students in the class have responded similarly. What I’m worried about are the less confident female students — precisely those that are perhaps most vulnerable to stereotype threat in these kinds of classes. On several different occasions, some of these students have come to my office to talk over an exam or a paper, and ended up saying something like “I’m so bad at this — it’s like you were saying in class, how women just aren’t as good at making arguments.”
No! Not what I said! At all. But I tried to talk about stereotype threat in a context where the threat levels were (for at least some students) pretty high. So I said something like “You’ve probably been told at some point in your life that women are emotional and men are rational, or that men are better at making logical arguments. But that’s just not true. . .” [Proceed with discussion of stereotype threat.] But what some of my most vulnerable students heard was “Men are better at making logical arguments.”
Does anybody have thoughts about how to avoid this? That is, does anybody have ideas about how to talk about stereotype threat in a context where the threat levels are running pretty high without it backfiring on your most at-risk students?
Gail Dines on the Royal Wedding April 27, 2011
The British and American press have run stories about the way William’s friends make fun of Kate for coming from a family that has actually had to work for a living. Evidently especially humorous is that fact her mother was once a flight attendant. William’s family is the richest welfare family in the world yet you won’t hear David Cameron attacking them for being lazy freeloaders. No one seems to be questioning why the British tax payer should be paying for a family that likes to party all the time. Especially as the average person is being told that their days of partying are over and now it is time to tighten their belts. As if it was their parties and not the parties of the rich that led to the economic meltdown.
Ever since Cameron got into power I have been waiting for millions of people to take to the streets of London. A royal wedding wasn’t exactly what I had in mind!
For more, go here.
CFP: Mapping Adoption April 25, 2011
The 4th International Conference on Adoption and Culture
Mapping Adoption: Histories, Geographies, Literatures, Politics
March 22 – 25, 2012
The Claremont Colleges, Claremont, California
Call for Proposals
For our 2012 conference, we are expanding our concerns to include not only adoption in its many historical and cultural variations but also parallel institutions such as foster care, orphanages, and technologically-assisted reproduction, as well as various forms of forced relinquishment or family separation.. We seek proposals that explore the cultural meanings and/or political locations of any of these practices, and we encourage analyses of relationships among them. We will include academic work from a wide range of scholarly disciplines and areas—literature, film and popular culture and performance studies, cultural studies, history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, political science, law, women’s and gender studies, etc.— as well as artistic presentations of film, creative writing, graphic art, music, or productions in other media. We also encourage interdisciplinary panels, presentations, and productions.
Proposals may address adoption or related practices or their representation in any way, but we especially encourage work addressing race, class, gender, nationality, and/or sexuality and sexual orientation, and/or investigations of topics such as state and institutional power, (in)fertility, markets and market practices, and incarceration.
Confirmed keynote speaker: Catherine Ceniza Choy, Associate Professor of Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, University of California, Berkeley, whose forthcoming book, Global Families: A History of Asian International Adoption in America, examines how Asian international adoption has contributed to the transformation of the U.S. into an international adoption nation and how its history is also a history of race, labor, immigration and intimacy.
Please send 200-word proposals for papers or samples of creative work (of less than 10 pages) to asac2012 AT scrippscollege.edu.
Proposal deadline: July 1, 2011.
Tenure denial and transgender discrimination April 25, 2011
Faculty at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, a public university in Durant, OK, think it has been, and in an act of solidarity are helping a trans colleague grieve her tenure case.
Rachel Tudor, who teaches American and Native American Literature, Modernity and Theory, Humanities, Composition, and Philosophy in the English, Humanities and Languages Department has, according to our informant, “been denied tenure at our university and informed that her employment will be terminated effective May 31, 2011.” Tudor is said to have had overwhelming support from faculty colleagues at every stage of the process because of her outstanding record as a scholar, teacher and colleague. The tenure case has been turned back by the dean and the Vice President for academic affairs.
Professor Tudor’s supporters say that they have compelling evidence that this denial and dismissal are due to discrimination against her for being transgender. In a mess that has gone on for nearly two years, the administration at our university has repeatedly and egregiously violated established policies and procedures. The Faculty Appeals Committee has found in favor of Rachel twice, and the Faculty Senate has passed a resolution in support of her. Meanwhile, the VP for Academic Affairs and the President arbitrarily re-wrote the Academic Policies and Procedures manual in the midst of the process, in order to allow the VP for Business Affairs (!) to overrule the decision of the Faculty Appeals Committee.
For more information, go here.
To sign a petition supporting Dr Turner’s appeal, go here.
(Thanks, gendermut!)
Hate crime, and petition April 25, 2011
After an unidentified transgender woman tried to use the bathroom at a Baltimore McDonald’s, two patrons started attacking her in full view of other customers and employees. These employees can be heard on the video shouting words of encouragement to the attackers. It’s time we DEMAND that justice be served and that EVERY McDonald’s employee involved in this brutal hate crime be held accountable.
The April 18 assault took place at a McDonald’s location in the 6300 block of Kenwood Avenue in Rosedale, Maryland, a Baltimore suburb, according to the Baltimore County Police Department. A 14-year-old girl has been charged as a juvenile in connection with the assault, charges are still pending against an 18-year-old woman. “The incident remains under investigation and the State’s Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case,” added investigators.
Not surprisingly, McDonald’s lacks standard policies for protecting transgender individuals, despite a decent record of workplace discrimination protections for gays and lesbians. And while the company has pledged to “take appropriate action” against all employees involved in this heinous event, just one has been punished.
This is not enough! If McDonald’s employees stood by and encouraged this attack, they should be fired. Please sign this petition in hopes that justice can and will prevail for this transgender woman.
Also please contact the Maryland States Attorney’s Office — Violent Crimes Division at 410-887-6610 and express your concerns about this matter.
For more, and to sign the petition, go here.
Guantanamo revelations April 25, 2011
We already knew this sort of thing went on, but the details are still shocking:
Another prisoner was shipped to the base “because of his general knowledge of activities in the areas of Khowst and Kabul based as a result of his frequent travels through the region as a taxi driver”.
The files also reveal that an al-Jazeera journalist was held at Guantánamo for six years, partly in order to be interrogated about the Arabic news network.
His dossier states that one of the reasons was “to provide information on … the al-Jazeera news network’s training programme, telecommunications equipment, and newsgathering operations in Chechnya, Kosovo and Afghanistan, including the network’s acquisition of a video of UBL [Osama bin Laden] and a subsequent interview with UBL”.
From here.
Ben Franklin’s sister April 25, 2011
Excellent article by Jill LePore:
Franklin, who’s on the $100 bill, was the youngest of 10 sons. Nowhere on any legal tender is his sister Jane, the youngest of seven daughters; she never traveled the way to wealth. He was born in 1706, she in 1712. Their father was a Boston candle-maker, scraping by. Massachusetts’ Poor Law required teaching boys to write; the mandate for girls ended at reading. Benny went to school for just two years; Jenny never went at all.
Their lives tell an 18th-century tale of two Americas. Against poverty and ignorance, Franklin prevailed; his sister did not.
Really nice (and depressing) example of the way the circumstances one is born into, even within a single family, profoundly affect life chances. Something Jane herself wrote about, despite her total lack of formal education:
On July 4, 1786, when Jane Mecom was 74, she thought about the path to prosperity. It was the nation’s 10th birthday. She had been reading a book by the Englishman Richard Price. “Dr Price,” she wrote to her brother, “thinks Thousands of Boyles Clarks and Newtons have Probably been lost to the world, and lived and died in Ignorance and meanness, merely for want of being Placed in favourable Situations, and Injoying Proper Advantages.” And then she reminded her brother, gently, of something that he knew, and she knew, about the world in which they lived: “Very few is able to beat thro all Impedements and Arive to any Grat Degre of superiority in Understanding.”
On the importance of punishing pimps. April 25, 2011
Nicholas Kristof on Rachel Lloyd’s Girls Like US
Our system has failed girls like [one of those Lloyd discusses]. The police and prosecutors should focus less on punishing 12-year-old girls and more on their pimps — and, yes, their johns. I hope that Lloyd’s important and compelling book will be a reminder that homegrown American girls are also trafficked, and they deserve sympathy and social services — not handcuffs and juvenile detention.
The Sunday Cat says, “You CAN do it!” April 23, 2011
And your cat might possibly like it:
Thanks, PJ!
Kimberle Crenshaw on AA and “women and people of color” April 23, 2011
**This clip is from a debate about ending AA; her reference to the “radical agenda” is to ending it.**
I love what she does to the metaphor of an even race track.
Many of us try, at least since Bell Hooks pointed out its flaws many years ago, to avoid the phrase “women and people of color.” Indeed, Crenshaw has been cited on this blog as showing how important it is to use less troublesome alternatives. Nonetheless, she actually also uses the phrase in the opening of her talk here.
I’m sure there are a number of lessons to be learned from that, one of which is that one should be careful about criticizing other people and other blogs. Perhaps you can suggest some others.
Medicare, not millionaires April 22, 2011
A petition organized by Senators Boxer, Murray and Schumer. You can sign it here.
CFP: Postcolonialism and Political Theory April 22, 2011
Postcolonialism and Political Theory
8th MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory
August 31-September 2, 2011 – University of Manchester, UKPolitical theory has been late to come to the study of postcolonialism. This is remarkable, considering the overlap between the core questions of political theory and the ones studied by postcolonial theorists. In the past decade, the interest for postcolonial questions has slowly started to develop, but this budding interest is still little more than a marginal development in the field. The attention for postcolonial questions has been concentrated in the subdiscipline of the history of political theory, the study of the work of canonical figures and of the role of liberalism. In general, the attention has been erratic, and is based on the assumption that the relationship between political theory and colonialism and imperialism is nothing more than a historical coincidence.
Political theory defines its identity in opposition to what it is not, by drawing a sharp line between its inside and outside. Borders, boundaries and the policing of them are crucial to its identity. Thus, questions of colonialism and imperialism have been consistently constructed as part of political theory’s constitutive outside, even though political theory carries with it a legacy of complicity with colonial and imperial history.
The aim of this workshop is to reflect on the relationship between political theory and postcolonial studies. In particular, it aims to address the question of how postcolonial theory affects political theory. Does the pursuit of postcolonial questions transform political theory? How so? Does political theory have to be transformed in order to pursue these questions? Why is there such a dearth of political theory addressing these questions and engaging with postcolonial studies? What are the causes of this lack of interest? What are the implications and consequences of this lack, and how can we address it? Should political theory be decolonized? How? Does this lack take on a peculiar signification, importance, or urgency in the context of globalization?
We welcome papers from all traditions. We are particularly interested in papers which explore intersections with feminist theory and critical race theory; and which engage with the thought of postcolonial thinkers.
Please submit a title and a 300 to 500 word abstract to annelies.decat AT hiw.kuleuven.be by June 5. Your email should mention your contact details and institution.
For more information and registration, please go here.
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