I was telling my roommate about the various feedback i’ve gotten from folks in my different fields concerning the NYTimes article. I’ve heard sociologists say that i’m not a sociologist and geeks tell me that i’m not a geek. This isn’t news… i’ve been hearing it for a while. He reminded me of the quote that got me feeling like an imposter: “A sociologist among geeks and a geek among sociologists.”
::laugh:: It is true. The geeks see me as a social scientist and the social scientists see me as a geek. And of course this is the space i inhabit since i’ve never known how to stand solidly in an identity continuum, if only to prove that it is a continuum and that i can stand in the middle. Of course, i always feel like i’m ducking punches in the middle.
Life is quite odd sometimes… it’s amazing what pushes folks’ buttons. I think that i’m moving towards an absurdist view of life faster than i should.
i get the same thing. my committee even asked me more or less whether i was a technologist, an academic, or an activist, and i more or less responded ‘i use the tools that i have available’ .
danah, darlin’, didn’t you sign on for the game of academic punchbuggy when you decided to challenge and change the world? It’s is par for the course of the vanguard, yes? Revel in it, and come out swingin’. 😛
I agree with Sarah. This is the same gripe that feminist sociologists got twenty years ago…not “real” sociologists. WhatEVER!
Perhaps it would be better to just re-do Merton over and over again?
Interesting things happen at the intersection of communities. It’s fortunate for us that you can bridge those to disciplines and inform the rest of us.
Don’t get discouraged! You’re doing valuable work.
So, funny thing how I came about your page. I’m a field rep for Righteous Babe Records and a friend of mine told me that Ani’s new cd, Educated Guess, that isn’t released until 01/20/04 is on itunes. So, I was trying to research it to find out if that’s true. In my search, your blog came up. I read a bunch of your stuff and you seem pretty darn cool:) So, my question to you is, why categorize yourself? As either geek or sociologist? You are who you are…a grrl who has given thought to her views, formulated ideas, thinks abstractly and stands her ground (at least that’s what I gather from what I’ve read) We should all try to stray away from things and titles that define us:) Just wanted to drop ya a line as I feel that stopping by someone’s blog is kind of like eavsdropping in on a conversation or peeking into ones mind to see their thoughts…it seems only fair to let them in on my thoughts too:) Keep it up grrl:)
to the one, you’re the other. to the other, you’re the one.
a middle child of academia.
a whole bunch of Ani-words spring to mind (“In or Out” most dominantly) but I guess what its really all about is that need that most academics feel to protect their own field against anything that they think can destroy it. take that so-called sociologist that emailed you (although i doubt her really is. i mean, if all sociology begins and ends with Weber and Nietzsche, than what the hell have we been doing the past century??? besides, just ’cause Durkheim was not a German doesnt make im irrelevant…), all he wants to do is point out that what you do is not important, because he is afraid that it actually might be, and that would mean that he’s the one who’s irrelevant. if people feel they have to protect their little fields it means you’re doing a good job, because you are redefining the subject. Society doesnt stand still, so why should social science?
you straddle worlds. you make people think and question themselves, rather than just fitting into any mold. i don’t think you’d have it any other way.
so you don’t fit into neat categories, and that makes some people uncomfortable. geeks look at you and say “she’s not like us.” sociologists probably do the same. in fact, a lot of people probably do that.
but that’s your stength. that’s your danah-ness. that’s what you have to offer the world. it isn’t easy, but it wouldn’t be as huge a gift if it was easy.
and we’re in your corner in-between rounds when ducking the punches wears you down. you rock, m’dear.
on the lighter side…
perhaps a bad way to make my entrance (figuratively and literally), but your post title called to mind the title of a britney spears song: “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman.”
i swear i’ve never heard the song before, i just soak in the media wash, as much as i try to avoid tv. i’m on a procrastination roll: i took the liberty of looking up the lyrics. the first two stanzas neatly frame my career:
“I used to think
I had the answers to everything
But now I know
Life doesn’t always
Go my way, yeah…
Feels like I’m caught in the middle
That’s when I realize…”
i’m no longer a programmer, not yet an academic!
on the lighter side…
perhaps a bad way to make my entrance (figuratively and literally), but your post title called to mind the title of a britney spears song: “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman.”
i swear i’ve never heard the song before, i just soak in the media wash, as much as i try to avoid tv. i’m on a procrastination roll: i took the liberty of looking up the lyrics. the first two stanzas neatly frame my career:
“I used to think
I had the answers to everything
But now I know
Life doesn’t always
Go my way, yeah…
Feels like I’m caught in the middle
That’s when I realize…”
i’m no longer a programmer, not yet an academic!
on the lighter side…
perhaps a bad way to make my entrance (figuratively and literally), but your post title called to mind the title of a britney spears song: “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman.”
i swear i’ve never heard the song before, i just soak in the media wash, as much as i try to avoid tv. i’m on a procrastination roll: i took the liberty of looking up the lyrics. the first two stanzas neatly frame my career:
“I used to think
I had the answers to everything
But now I know
Life doesn’t always
Go my way, yeah…
Feels like I’m caught in the middle
That’s when I realize…”
i’m no longer a programmer, not yet an academic!