Women's Work

I think I introduced myself to more people during the first few weeks of this program than I have in my entire life. When you are sitting in a giant lecture hall full of strangers, it's easy to insert yourself into someone else's conversation. Tip #1: it helps if you have acquired New York City social skills, meaning you don't have boundaries and expect the same of others. Tip #2: this behavior goes over well with strangers in a lecture hall and less well with Scottish people at the bus stop.

"I'm doing a PhD in Comparative European politics with a focus on the implications of Stalinist Russia as applied to recruitment methods used by the KGB. You?"

I encountered one person who was familiar with Childhood Studies. Everyone else nodded vaguely and moved on to the next person who needed introducing. Ah, Childhood Studies...ah, women's work.

My favorite moment of academic swagger happened in a class called "Analysing Development Aid". The room was packed--there is a new program for African Studies and because of the way the University handles admissions and attendance, I don't think they knew exactly how many people were going to show up on the first day. The answer: everyone. Everyone showed up.

The professor knew that the university wouldn't let everyone take the class. She nicely pointed out that people who weren't in the African Studies program should probably leave because "I don't want to waste your time." Nobody moved. Rumblings of outrage started. Finally after ten minutes of awkward waffling, she ordered them to get out, saying, "Welcome to international development!" Ouch.

I'd say a large part of my work around children is to advocate for their humanity--their validity as current beings rather than as cute little partially formed grownups. This is a hard thing to do. But at least my field isn't based on to-the-death competition. Nobody ever slapped me in the face and said, "Welcome to child policy work." Not yet, anyway.