It’s all about motherhood, right? December 11, 2009

A story passed on by the Jender-Parents…

According to the soon to be gone Editor & Publisher, three of the top 20 circulation papers’ five female editors will be leaving their jobs, all within a few weeks of each other…

Nancy Barnes, Star Tribune editor and one of the two remaining females in the position, offers a familiar explanation:

“It is a brutal business for women, particularly women who want to have a family,” she says. “There are just different choices you have to make.

Yup, surely that must be right. That’s what it always is, isn’t it? There’s just one teeny difficulty this time:

Of the three women leaving, two are in their 60’s and retiring. The third, only 46, is planning to pursue a different avenue in journalism, as well as move closer to her husband.

Advice needed!

Mr Jender and I just realised that pretty much all of Jender-Son’s books (with human characters) have white main characters. Sure, sometimes they’ll have a black friend, but the main character is always white. We don’t like this! Anyone know of some fun books for 4 year olds that aren’t like this?

Just in time for the holidays

The sociobiologists have shown that women’s and men’s different “shopping styles” are rooted in our distant evolutionary past. Man-the-hunter wants to shop for specific items, quickly, and then drag his kill home. Woman-the-gatherer, by contrast, spends hours “trying to find the right outfit, present or object, because [she] had in the past spent ages trying to find the best quality and health giving foods.” The study’s lead author, Daniel Kruger, hopes that understanding each other’s shopping strategies will help men and women to avoid arguments during the Christmas rush. Helpful research, indeed! Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on how our Stone Age ancestors managed to find a good parking spot at the mall.

Help UK Philosophy

Even if you’re not a UK philosopher, do make your feelings known about the proposals to (a) assess research quality partly in terms of its impact outside academia; and (2) assess philosophy and theology departments as one.

Go here to help! Responses are due 16 December.