Divisions and Precisions

Talk Amongst Yourselves

Forget the Valentine's Day rant. Today I helped do what a college education is supposedly supposed to do -- broaden minds. We did a group discussion in government class on our paper topics -- mine was on whether the Fourteenth Amendment should be expanded to protect other groups. Heh. The comment from one of the other girls on seeing I was in the group was "Yay, a smart person!" Great. I'm infamous. Anyway, we decided no, it didn't need to be changed, because the Amendment itself is already worded amazingly broad, but that some laws need to be changed. We discussed what categories need to be protected. I -- surprise, surprise -- was sort of leading the discussion, so I mentioned the things I'd done my paper on.

Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the groups that I feel should be classified as a "suspect class" (i.e., a group likely to be discriminated against) is the overweight. I was trying to get people talking, so I introduced the topic by giving this example: "American automobile manufacturers are only required to make seatbelts that fit people up to 210 pounds. I, obviously, weigh more than that. There are cars whose seatbelt does not fit me, and that's perfectly legal." (Note: I was off slightly. It's 215 pounds. For more info, check out Elizabeth Fisher's great size-activism site.) The change in the group was immediate, and surprising. To be honest, I didn't really think twice about talking about my size to these folks. I didn't think they'd care, but interestingly, my statement galvanized them. "No way!" "Are you serious?" "That's awful! 210 pounds?!" Immediately, they went from marginally interested students in a discussion to being all for anti size discrimination laws.

I think, had you asked them before class how they felt about size discrimination, they wouldn't have thought twice, or even thought it was a problem. But there I was, a larger than life example of how I feel discriminated against. It was a somewhat heady, exhilirating moment. I mean, it's one thing to talk about size activism with folks who have the same issues you do, it's another thing, frankly, to talk about it with 110 pound sorority girls. I realized just how powerful standing in front of someone and saying "Hey, this is a problem!" is. I was a real person, not some statistic or hypothetical situation. The difference was amazing, and we had a pretty cool discussion.

That discussion, followed by my literature class, triggered a bit of an epiphany for me on the shuttle ride to my car. I realized that I would absolutely love to teach literature at the college level. The other night, Brand and I had a long, involved discussion about the different approaches to literary criticism, and I thought it was absolutely fascinating. In fact, I'm upset because apparently EMU doesn't offer a class in critical theory. But just from paying attention to how I am in class, wanting to help the other students learn as well as learning myself... I dunno. Once upon a time, long ago, I wanted to be a teacher. Then I got away from it, but now... this was a big shift. Me? A college professor? I can see it so clearly! The biggest thing I'm not certain of is whether or not I could deal with the politics involved in being college faculty, or the whole "publish or perish" mentality. Still... it's definitely something I would enjoy. Hm. Professor Nichols.... Dr. Nichols... heh. Definitely worth considering.

New entry up. Good, good

New entry up. Good, good day for me today.

It was a somewhat heady, exhilirating moment. I mean, it's one thing to talk about size activism with folks who have the same issues you do, it's another thing, frankly, to talk about it with 110 pound sorority girls.

I had the weirdest dream last night. I dreamed that an old friend from ISCA BBS (who I haven't talked to in months) sent me an aquarium as a present, but this sucker was HUGE! Like, six feet tall by fifteen feet wide, and it was full of all sorts of the most amazing fish and other aquatic animals. I thought it was the coolest thing, but I couldn't figure out how on earth I was going to take care of all those animals, or why he'd sent to me.