| May 26 2003 |
| Not surprisingly
This isn't really surprising, but... Here's the application form if you want to be on the next season of The Bachelor as a Bachelorette: The Bachelor :: Online Individual Application Not that I expected otherwise, but the only real qualifications are your height, weight, and a digital photo of yourself. There are no questions about your goals, personality, interests, hobbies, etc. Just looks. No wonder most of the bachelorettes are complete ditzes. THe funny thing is that the form to apply as the Bachelor is pretty much the same. How do they find out if you're a millionaire or not? Did you know the Bachelor was also the name of a gay periodical from 1937? 
In other reality TV news, Helene from the previous session of The Bachelor was recently honored at her old high school for "bringing honor to" her hometown. Whatever that means. Posted by Ruggles at 12 : 26 pm | Leave a note {0} |
| May 07 2003 |
| Finally done!
YAY! Today was my last real day for this semsester. I'm handing one paper in in a few minutes, and I finished my blog essay the other day. It is here if you want to read it: Blog essay I have some cool projects coming up: our uni is working on a blog tool for students to use, and I got asked to be on a committee to make suggestions for it. If you have any ideas for how blogs could be integrated in a university context let me know. It would be part of the "portal" students have--a customizable homepage where they can put links to university servers and information along with their own favorite sites, and so on. I'm not to sure what I'll suggest yet, but I'll be thinking about it. Tonight, I get to watch the Bachelor for the first time (I know, it's terrible, but it's when all the girls get together) since I don't have my night class. In June I'm moving into a bigger apartment--no more shoebox! So that's the good news for now... Posted by Ruggles at 1 : 46 pm | Leave a note {0} |
| April 29 2003 |
| "Male" and "Female" Communication Styles
My take is that a number of characteristics have been associated with feminine and masculine communication styles (in “our” culture—which I recognize is a potentially troublesome assumption). “Feminine” styles tend to be associated with characteristics like “invitational modes,” listening, understanding, offering opinions, openness to change, and so on. “Male” styles tend to be associated with more assertive/aggressive modes, “attacking” other opinions, winning” a debate, etc. Some feminists have condemned the male styles as inherently violent, since it attempts to “convert” someone to a different viewpoint. Others suggest that there are a number of different perspectives on persuasion, and that each can be useful or productive in different contexts. I agree that these associations with communication styles and gender are misleading and even counter-productive, since they imply a) that the male style is the norm, b) that they are inherently related to gender and c) that they are clearly identifiable patterns. These styles may or may not match up with female and male speakers—men sometimes use “feminine” modes, women use “male” modes, etc. And we all use different communication styles in different situations. Despite having read all this research, though, I can’t help noticing that women often do take up the “feminine” style. Almost all the female grad students I know in my department (that I’ve talked to about this) admit to feeling afraid of speaking up in seminars. Even women who I know who seem super-confident have said they feel like their opinions aren’t taken seriously, or that they lack confidence in speaking out. I hate to associate this with gender, but I do agree that many women have been socialized to speak in a “feminine” style. I think one solution, obviously, is to encourage women to learn to speak up, to value their own opinions, and so on. On the other hand, I agree with other posts that we shouldn’t presume the “male” style is better. Sometimes we have to adopt a “male” style in order to be heard. But shouldn’t we also try to change the dominant styles in some of the communities we are in? Can we sometimes question the idea that we need to “change” someone else’s opinion instead of listening to what their opinions are? From We Have Brains Posted by Ruggles at 11 : 11 am | Leave a note {0} |
| April 27 2003 |
| Welcome
This is my first posting on my new blog site. I loved Xanga, except non-Xangans couldn't post comments on my site. So I'm slowly migrating to Upsaid, if all goes well. Posted by Ruggles at 10 : 09 pm | Leave a note {2} |
