Re: Barbie

I guess what I mean is that, in its bubbly affirmation that "women can do anything," Barbie never asks whether maybe there are some things that no human being of any gender should do. Like, Barbie is very excited to show women on the Supreme Court - Black women, no less! - but it never asks whether or not there should even be a Supreme Court in the first place.

Speaking of which, I guess that's my fringe belief: I believe that, for one week every year, U.S. citizens with the proper license should be able to hunt Supreme Court justices for sport. Any democracy worth its salt operates according to a system of checks and balances, and it's important to keep the ecosystem healthy. (Joke!!!! obviously)

Anyway, I apologize for misspeaking about the demographics of Los Angeles as represented in the Barbie movie. There is actually a third person of Latin American descent! Shortly after Barbie travels from Barbieland to "the real world," she becomes aware of the male gaze through the comments made by a group of construction workers, and one of them is Latino. I always love seeing a white woman threatened by the perceived hostility of a brown man. Diversity win!!

Salty Tea on Public Scholarship

I was invited to participate in a roundtable on "public scholarship" later this week, and I have some thoughts.

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TLDR: It's not "promoting the work of people from marginalized positions" to expect us to perform uncompensated labor while exposing ourselves to harassment, and I think younger scholars need to be more realistic and judicious about what "public scholarship" actually means.

...but of course I won't actually say any of that. What I'll do instead is be gracious and polite while supporting the other panelists and speaking as little as possible.