Good afternoon! 2020 has been a wild year. My writing hasn’t been as productive just lately. But, I’m happy to share my latest publication, “Privilege and Childhood Possessions: Objects Effectively ‘Store’ Important, Formative Memories.” I hope you enjoy! Thanks! Dr…. Read More ›
privilege
Minorities, Responsibilities, and Educating Others
Conversations on social media about privilege and oppression often have comments along the lines of “it’s not the minority individual’s job to educate others as to how they are being oppressive or blind to their privilege.” And this always strikes… Read More ›
Film and Television – Things On My Mind Series, #8
I use the Things On My Mind series to share collections of working, not necessarily related, ideas that don’t (yet, anyway) warrant their own article or have another home. Law and Order: Special Victims Unit receives its fair share of… Read More ›
“Implications” and the Rhetorical Framing of Critiques – Hidden Power of Words Series, #30
Suggestions that something is classist, racist, or sexist, for example, are often met with dismissively hostile words. People say, “you’re thinking too hard,” “you’re looking to cause trouble,” “you can find [fill in the blank] anywhere if you look hard… Read More ›
Ableism and Wheel of Fortune
Tonight, I watched Wheel of Fortune to do something different and to relax a bit after a busy week. And I got to thinking. My students and I have been talking about privilege and its various manifestations. This evening I got to wondering what… Read More ›
Privilege, Erasure, Cognitive Dissonance
Privilege. Erasure. Cognitive Dissonance. These are just some of the big ideas bouncing around my Frontal Lobe this week. I have three thoughts in particular that I want to share in this article. 1. An under-recognized form of privilege is… Read More ›
Experience, Voice, Authority
Who has the necessary authority to speak about a given topic or identity? What do we miss when trying to learn about Otherness (see “Can the Subaltern Speak?”)? Given thousands of years of history, history dominated by an elite often consisting… Read More ›
Preparing for Surgery (again) and Toxic Masculinity in the Waiting Room
On Monday, I’ll be having surgery #6 at M.D. Anderson. This is the second surgery this year! Luckily, it’s a small one again–this time to remove two tumors on my left hand. Recovery should be pretty quick, overall, but I’ll… Read More ›