After I published my post last week in which I joked about someone sending me a copy of Brunette Ambition, my dear friend Kathleen DID! It was like that moment in Julie & Julia when a reader sends Julie some hot sauce, only better because it was a book from an old friend. Thanks, Kathleen! … Continue reading
I’m kind of scared of the Google traffic on this one. Anyway, I got news today that Queer in the Choir Room: Essays on Gender and Sexuality in Glee is coming out from McFarland this Fall. Amazon has it down as a November release. Yay! My essay, “Gold Stars and Slushies: The High Cost for Overachieving … Continue reading
Remember when Rachel and her dads sat shiva because she choked in her NYADA audition? When I saw the promotional stills for “The Quarterback,” Glee’s tribute to Cory Monteith and Finn Hudson, I anticipated that Rachel Berry’s grief would take on the dramatic bent her character is so good at and so famous for. I … Continue reading
Oh, Glee. Why do you do the things you do? I’m going to be brief on this because it’s been talked about a lot already, but I think there’s something really complicated and frustrating about how Glee‘s school shooting episode, “Shooting Star,” played out. First of all, they did an episode about a school shooting. … Continue reading
Last week I finished a chapter on the portrayal of high-achieving girls and women on Glee, focusing mostly on Rachel Berry, but also considering Sue, Beiste, Emma, Terri, and Quinn. I wish I had revised it about, oh, six more times. It was a major case of having more that I wanted to say than … Continue reading
Did anyone really doubt that Rachel would be headed to New York? What I was surprised by was that she is going alone (in a red pillbox hat, no less). As I watched the emotional scene between Rachel and Finn before she boards the train, I kept thinking two things 1) THIS SUCKS! and 2) … Continue reading
Last year at the PCA/ACA Conference, I presented a paper about Rachel Berry and Glee‘s portrayal of gifted girls, specifically the way the show reifies the notion that adolescent girls who are high-achievers in academics or other areas have to choose between being socially acceptable or nurturing their abilities. I’m kind of frustrated to see … Continue reading
I can remember vividly the first time I was told I was beautiful*. I was about eleven years-old and at the ballpark for one of my brother’s games and a mom of another kid on the team stopped me midway between the concession stand and the stands. She told me that I was growing so … Continue reading
Ph.D.s and Pigtails 