A Scientist Walks into an English Blog: Language, Gender, Feminism, and the Science of Sex
I spend my day thinking about sex. Mostly, sex between male and female fruit flies. I am curious about what happens after they finish doing the deed and sperm move through the female reproductive environment on their journey to the egg. Interested in the changes that occur within the female after sex, how her body
The Greatest Show on Earth!: The Historico-Biblical Epic, Excess, and the Sublime Historical Experience
A few weeks ago, when I published my post on Game of Thrones and its theory of history, one of my colleagues asked me about the nature of excess–of violence, of sex, of things (clothes, sets, technologies)–that typically stand as one of the hallmarks of the epic genre. At what point, she asked, does excess simply overwhelm the
History’s Fiction Problem: “Selma” and the Value of Fictionalized History
In a recent piece for Salon, Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg take aim at both Selma, the newly released film about the activism of Martin Luther King, Jr. Through Selma, they critique Hollywood more broadly for its lack of anything truly meaningful to say about history. In the process, they also dismiss seemingly all (or at least most) historical fiction. They suggest
Nasty, Brutish, but Definitely Not Short: Game of Thrones and the History of Power
It might seem counter-intuitive to talk about a fantasy television series as having anything meaningful to say about history. But Game of Thrones‘ self-conscious evocation of the medieval world, as well as the fact that so many of its storylines are drawn from historical events in our own world, suggests that it does indeed have something
Who’s That Lady?: Women’s Historical Fiction and the Writing of Female Subjectivity
If you type the search term “women’s historical fiction” into Amazon, you will (as of this writing) receive over 25,000 results, with authors writing women-centered fictions set in almost every conceivable historical period. I use the term “women’s historical fiction” deliberately, as this specific sub-genre pays particular attention to the experiences of women in various historical eras.
Rude Wastes of Space: Race, Class, and the Othering of the British Hoodie
One of the more interesting parts of writing my dissertation so far has been investigating the phenomenon of the British hoodie. My dissertation focuses on the post-2000 British horror resurgence, and the hoodie horror cycle has been one of the more prolific cycles within the more general boom. Menhaj Huda’s 2006 film Kidulthood is often
Nightcrawler: Not the Satire You Think It Is
On its most basic level, Nightcrawler (Dan Gilroy, 2014) is a heavy-handed satire that indicts the “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality and the normalization of violent and gruesome images on television news. Since images of the Vietnam War made their way into people’s homes via television screens, there have been debates about how much
Feminism doesn’t (t)werk that way: “Booty Culture,” race, and pop feminism
As Pippa Middleton recently remarked, “What is it with this American booty culture? It seems to me to be a form of obsession.” Who doesn’t love the booty?** Whether we’re talking about Miley Cyrus’s twerking, Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda,” Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass,” Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea’s “Booty,” Kim Kardashian’s “break the internet”
Feeling Testy: Assessing our Assessments
Tests and assessment make people angry. Yes, this is a terrible film. No really — tests, and the entire idea of assessment, can produce positively splenetic displays. The comments section of Christopher B. Nelson’s recent essay critiquing assessment provides an apt example. As the federal government pushes to hold colleges responsible for providing students with
Get your Hands off my Boobs: Mansplaining and (Gay) Male Privilege
In my previous blog posts, I sought to demonstrate the way in which the critical thinking skills I have developed from the Humanities aid me in understanding the world in which I live. From my students’ teaching evaluations to the trash I see on the street, our daily experiences are open to interpretation through critical