Apt. 11D

Why Does the Liberal Blogosphere Hate Ann Althouse?

Oh. My. God.  I heard about the Ann Althouse-Garance Franke-Ruta blogginghead video earlier in the week, but hadn't had time to watch it yet.  Thanks to Dan, I see that the video has sparked a major blogosphere hoopla, so I had to check the video out in my office.  My office computer's volume sucks, and I'm basically squatting on the floor with my ear up against the CPU in order to hear everything properly. 

I'll blog about it later, but you should all check it out in the meantime.  Check out all the links on Dan's blog for more juicy gossip. 

The National Scold

Linda Hirshman has been here, there, and everywhere on the internets of late. I've been trying to ignore her, despite the gentle pokes of my readers. But I just finished watching the finale of Rome, and I'm in the mood for a good gladiator fight. Release the lions!

On TNR On Line, Hirshman asks what would Marx think about the opt-out revolution?

I do, and I have written that women who quit are making a mistake. But, no matter what you think of moms who opt out, their decisions speak volumes about the workplaces they flee. In interviews and on their mommyblogs, the women able to opt out tell a tale about the twenty-first century workplace that is uncannily reminiscent of the most radical Marxist theory. Maybe we put Marx into the dustbin too fast....

Women tell Hirshman that they face enormous obstacles in the workplace - long hours, discrimination, lack of part time options - combined with increased pressure for intensive childrearing. Thus, they drop out. She says that Marxist would say that was all the unavoidable consequences of capitalism.

What would Marx say? Marx would say that it is totally ridiculous for anyone to wag their finger at women who drop out of the workforce. Men and women who stay in their corner offices are bourgeois capitalists. He would spit on all those employed elites whom she loves so much. Marx writes that system destroys the family. Marx would want everyone to drop out and join forces with the oppressed. If the system gets destroyed by women who opt out, so much the better. Whenever we poke holes in Hirshman's "studies," she calls herself a philosopher. Has she read Marx recently?

Today, she's over at TPM Cafe ranting about the women who want to take longer maternity leave or work part time. Instead of reforming the workplace, they should be reforming men. Men get 50% of the hugs and kisses from junior, but only put a fraction of the time into raising junior. Those family-friendly positions are female ghettos. She chastises some of my favorite daddy-bloggers for going back to work.

I left this post scratching my head. What am I supposed to yell at my husband about? She seems to think that men are irredeemable users. They take the first ticket out the house. They won't use family leave options. So, if they are such hopeless, selfish schmucks, then there's no point nagging them. Wouldn't it be better to lobby the workplace and the politicians to create jobs that are somewhat compatible with family life? It isn't the perfect option, but at least women will have a chance to keep their hands in a career until they are ready to ramp up. They will have some benefits. It's something to put on a resume.

Excellent rebuttal from MCMoran.

If you really are an “old lefty,” as you claim to be, then you must realize that we are born into a world that is not of our own making. We can change this world, yes, but not each one of us on her own, and certainly not by recourse to the rhetoric of heroic individual effort. We do not sit down and rationally calculate, while drawing up our own unique, tailor-made individual 5-year plans. We muddle through, as social actors who are already deeply embedded in thickly-descriptive socio-cultural-economic contexts. You can work at changing the content and meaning of those contexts, or you can deny the relevance of culture and society while excoriating the “choices” of women as you set yourself up as national scold.

I have accused elite women of “making a series of self-defeating decisions about education, employment, and family formation.” And I told them to stop. I told them to take school seriously, don’t quit a job until you have another job and never marry a jerk.

And how is that tactic working out for you? Are they listening, all wide-eyed and shame-faced, while signing pledges to amend the evil of their ways?

I didn’t think so.

Sunday Spring-ish Journal

It was sunny today, though a bit nippy. I had on a sweater and light coat for church this morning. It rained over the weekend, but there were still tufts of snow in the corners of the yard. The slight nip in the air and the tufts of snow did not deter Steve.

He was determined to grill the first charred burgers on the block. The Weber Kettle grill was rolled out the garage. He pulled out a couple of lawn chairs, popped open a beer and read the Atlantic Monthly. He blasted music on his old boom box from college, which was banished to the garage long ago. Steve, the former Eagle Scout, carefully constructed a pyramid of coal and tended the flame for an hour. I want to switch to a gas grill, but Steve insists on charcoal. I think he really likes his hour alone hanging outside garage with the beer and listening to his alt-rock radio station.

Edwards Announcement

Yesterday morning, I watched the Edwards press conference where he announced that his wife, Elizabeth, had cancer again, and that they decided to keep campaigning. Later that day, we discussed that press conference in class. Some thought it was heartless of Edwards. One guy noticed that they weren't standing next to each other during the press conference. Others thought it wouldn't make any difference; Edwards had no chance against Obama and Hillary and would soon be forced to drop out.

Later, my intro students told me that they were rather happy the voting rate was only about 50%. They thought that voting should only be for smart people. But that's neither here nor there.

I want to put up a link for donations to breast cancer research. What organization is the best?

Vouchers and School Equity

In a rush tonight, but thought I would pass along links to several posts by Jane Galt. She's been writing that she supports school vouchers for equity reasons. She's been wavering lately on the whole libertarian business, so maybe we can lure over the dark, commie side. Psst.... Jane, commies like Harry B from Crooked Timber and I have made similar arguments before.

LizardBreath gets into the debate over at Jane's and points out that urban schools are fine. She's quite fond her public school in Washington Heights. Loud gaffaws from my little office here. I'm from that hood. Old PS 187 was one of the big reasons we left. While that school is fine for a particular type of kid, it is not great for most kids. 95% of our bleeding heart liberal friends fled from that neighborhood when their kids turned five. Jonah couldn't have hacked it. What would have happened to Ian, our special needs kiddo, in that system?

A Suburban Block

I haven't blogged too much about our little suburban block since we moved here two years ago. My neighbors are mostly good people and never asked to live next door to a blogger, so I have respected their privacy. It has sometimes been tough to hold myself from writing posts about the goings on around here. Over the years, there's been ample material for humor.

For example, two of my neighbors are presently engaged in the doggie poop war. One neighbor lets her two massive dogs take massive craps on her front lawn. The other neighbor is disgusted by their piles and has been googling medical websites to learn about diseases that are transmitted from doggie poop. Health inspectors have been called. There have been screaming matches in the street. Nice.

A real crisis is unfolding on the next block over. A troubled family is getting divorced. The three children are living on donations from the town food pantry. Restraining orders. Unemployment checks. Disability checks. Yesterday afternoon, they told me that their divorce was finalized, and the court ordered them to sell their house in order to pay for the lawyer fees. A former waitress, the mother has no hope of supporting her three kids on her own. She needs a hip replacement and doesn't have a college degree. He's an out of work electrician. Together, they were just holding it together financially. Now separated, they're all going to be on welfare and food stamps for the rest of their lives. Who knows where they are going to live after the house is sold?

My inner commie feels like the system let them down. This family needed major intervention last year -- medication for mood disorders, free childcare for the 3 year old twins, rehab, anger management classes, couples therapy. They needed a social worker to help them find services and fill out paperwork. Even though they weren't a happy couple, happy relationships are a luxury for the middle class. The state should have helped them stay together for financial reasons. Because the state didn't step in earlier, now they have a bigger mess on their hands. Everybody is going to be receiving welfare and housing from the state for a long time.

So, I'm mad at the inadequacies of social welfare programs in our country. I'm also mad at myself. Maybe I could have stepped in to help. Steve thinks I'm crazy; those people had too many problems. Still, it's an oldest daughter thing. I always think I can fix things.

Bong Hits 4 11D

Sue me. I'm a child. But I think that funny should be a form of protected speech.

Lost in Translation

My cousin, Eric, is in China as a messenger of globalization. He's managing factories that make plastic bags or paper clips or something in Qingdao. He snapped this picture of a hotdog stand in town. I'll take my hotdog with mustard, kraut, and attitude, please.

Feminism and Motherhood

Rebecca Walker, the daughter of Alice Walker, has a new book that delves into that tricky territory of motherhood and feminism. The Times has had several articles about it the past week.

Naughty

Last week, Ian cooked up a new game called "Santa's Sleigh" or "mud slide," which involves sliding down our wooden staircase while sitting on the comforter from the bed. Jonah was alternatively shocked and delighted at Ian's new game. Both took many runs down the stairs before this game was banned forever.

With Ian's delayed speech, he's had plenty of tantrums and screaming fits over the past couple of years. There's been lots of frustration for the poor boy. But creative naughtiness is new. Like Jonah, I'm alternatively shocked and delighted with the new Ian. "Santa's Sleigh" has been the first of several new tricks.