About ten minutes ago I stuck my head in Mr. Squirrel's office to say hello.
He's busy, fine. As I'm leaving - because he's so busy - I suddenly get:
Him: "Why do you study gender and sexuality?"*
Me: Uh... I started studying it in my Master's program, and I still do...
Him: "Right, but why?"
Apparently in 30 seconds or less, I'm supposed to explain this to my partner of six years? He's too busy working on lecture notes to give me the time of day, but this we can cover? Because apparently he hasn't been paying attention for.... six years?
Then suddenly he's saying how odd it is that I discuss these issues on the phone with my parents and my siblings. Right, because the first two weeks of a new semester, no one on the face of the earth discusses the topics their classes are covering. Especially not on the phone, with family. And especially not when members of the family also teach university.
[* I figure it's pretty obvious I teach about gender issues... since it's just a sub-field in what I do, it's not really that compromising, identity-wise.]
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3 comments:
Don't we all study gender and sexuality to some extent? :P
Nothing like trying to have the "please validate your life's work" talk in 5 minutes, huh?
That Mr. Squirrel...his mind works in mysterious ways.
Hey, how about this for the short answer: Because it affects everyone. Why do YOU study [xxxx]? (But maybe without the side of snark.)
wiccachicky - apparently he doesn't!! (no, really, he doesn't.)
buzz, that was my basic response. "Can you answer why you study --- in 30 seconds?" Unfortunately, I didn't leave out the snarkiness.
It really pissed me off, and moreso when his explanation was "I didn't really care, I was just wondering about it when I was washing my hands."
a) bullshit
b) why does saying "I don't really care what you do" seem like a good idea???
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