On the last day of my introduction to anthropology class, we watch scenes from the documentary Trekkies. Students grin at the sincere folks dressed as Starfleet officers and Borg members, raise their eyebrows at Klingon language camp, and outright laugh at the backyard celebration of Captain Kirk’s birthday, in which a member brags that “this year a girl came”. But they always sober up when people begin discussing why Star Trek is so important to them. One group of women talks about how different they are in their lives and politics, yet they feel most at home and accepted when they are spending time together at the Star Trek conventions. Others talk about how Star Trek inspired careers in astrophysics or medicine. Most powerfully, perhaps, one woman describes how her father was raised … [Read more...]
Of Fantasy and Daughters
I recently had the excellent fortune to guest blog on The Horn Book's new venture: Family Reading about my love of reading fantasy, and sharing the books with my young daughter. Fantasy (not, I'm slightly ashamed to admit, ethnography) remains my favorite genre, largely because of the way it allows us to work through complex concepts with fresh eyes. Fantasy takes cultural elements, values, and dialogues we are familiar with, and detaches them from their embedded cultural context. In other words, it lets us talk about tricky subjects - race, gender, power, religion - without all the baggage that normally accompanies the concept. As a mom, it is especially important to me that I give my kids thoughtful ways to tackle these tough subjects, while also giving them a space outside of … [Read more...]
