tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post854325345947345195..comments2024-03-25T09:01:20.997-07:00Comments on Diary of an Autodidact: Uppity Women of Medieval Times by Vicki LeónDiary of an Autodidacthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-19641633839618474282016-06-17T10:08:02.465-07:002016-06-17T10:08:02.465-07:00I believe Buschler got a quick mention, but now th...I believe Buschler got a quick mention, but now that you mention her, she sounds fascinating. Also, an interesting legal case, which generally interests me. My library, alas, doesn't have the book, so I may have to order it. Diary of an Autodidacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-80024788006023211662016-06-16T14:43:58.401-07:002016-06-16T14:43:58.401-07:00I'd like to read more on Lavinia Fontana. las...I'd like to read more on Lavinia Fontana. last month when I was in NYC I was able to see the Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun exhibit at the Met. She was one of the finest portraitist of her day, but I had never heard of her until earlier this year. The exhibit traveled to NY from Paris where she had her first show in her home country, but the delayed recognition may have had more to do with her association with Marie Antoinette than her gender.<br /><br />Did this book touch on Anna Buschler? I read a book on her 20 or so years ago called The Burgermeister's Daughter. She certainly wasn't one to fall in line with society's expectations. You might enjoy it. Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16098063988095610502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-36856943865392092572016-06-16T14:00:42.847-07:002016-06-16T14:00:42.847-07:00I guess it is an open question whether it is bette...I guess it is an open question whether it is better to be descended from the infamous, or from nobody noteworthy at all. The closest I come is that we are tangentially related to Josiah Wedgwood on my mother's side. I think it was a bastard cousin or something. My grandmother was inordinately proud of the connection. :)Diary of an Autodidacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-7952108455066189312016-06-15T13:20:00.933-07:002016-06-15T13:20:00.933-07:00I am descended from Eleanor and Henry II. Sadly, i...I am descended from Eleanor and Henry II. Sadly, it is through John Lackland, the single most despised man in all British history. It couldn't have been through one of the daughters no one ever mentions, could it? :-(<br />Dana Carpenderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14755223481359798197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-6674886559586486552016-06-06T18:24:04.539-07:002016-06-06T18:24:04.539-07:00True about the artistic careers. Although, at leas...True about the artistic careers. Although, at least from a practical point of view, it is darn hard to earn a true living in the arts, particularly if you expect to be a primary breadwinner. (I never wanted violin to be my career for that reason. It's nice to get paid a bit for what I do, but law has better hours and better pay.) <br /><br />I also would note that this guy should have a red flag attached to him that says, "Warning: In the event of a disabled child, do not expect a lot of help."<br /><br />Regarding what a child does (or doesn't) to one's career, with each of our children, my wife was back at work after three months (the FMLA guarantees 12 weeks), and the kids were with me while she was at work. That would have been the case, autism or not, because I too am a parent. Not a babysitter. And that's the point. If there is to be true equality for women, they need to be freed from the idea that childcare and housework is "women's work." Yes, somebody will need to do these things. And that means men will need to take an equal share. Boo hoo. Grow up. Diary of an Autodidacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-63739277326138775642016-06-06T17:57:29.077-07:002016-06-06T17:57:29.077-07:00Yeah, I agree he probably would not have said the ...Yeah, I agree he probably would not have said the same thing to me if I had been a guy. Or at least wouldn't have said it quite that way. As if something like having a profoundly autistic child - which yeah, obviously would impact your life, I won't dispute that point - wouldn't affect the father as much as the mother.<br /><br />What made this particular conversation so ironic was:<br /><br />1) Loads of people in my (completely volunteer and yet touring semi-professional) handbell choir had just had kids and were still playing, or only took a single 6mo season off to deal with the newborn phase.<br /><br />2) There actually is an organist in my local area who DID have a profoundly autistic son years ago, and gave up a potential career as a touring recitalist. But she never just completely quit. She had a perfectly respectable, well-paying job as a church organist and music/choir director for years. It kept her plenty busy, too, it's not like she got to just sit around and twiddle her thumbs.<br /><br />I also suspect there was an undercurrent of bias against artistic careers as "real jobs" instead of just hobbies, because that's present a lot of times in these conversations as well.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-63980045259509755932016-06-06T12:11:00.299-07:002016-06-06T12:11:00.299-07:00Oh, this is great fun. Suggest away! Eleanor certa...Oh, this is great fun. Suggest away! Eleanor certainly made this book. :)Diary of an Autodidacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-38558411618424218432016-06-06T10:44:28.224-07:002016-06-06T10:44:28.224-07:00If you want something a little more in-depth I ver...If you want something a little more in-depth I very much enjoyed Frances & Joseph Gies's book "Women in the Middle Ages"--they profile some of the names you mention. Like you point out, it completely shatters the idea that there was a sharp division of labor and that women always "kept their place" instead of, you know, keeping the dang country together while everybody had plagues and wars and couldn't remember to get the crops planted/legal business concluded/taxes paid/cattle sold/militia raised.<br /><br />I can also recommend the biography of the badass Eleanor of Aquitaine by Alison Weir (she also wrote "The Children of Henry VIII", which is entertaining in a watching-a-train-wreck kind of way). Eleanor is one of those with SUCH a strong personality that I think she still scares people today. In spite of the fact that her husband and sons were not exactly pushovers, she regularly pushed them right the heck over. (And LIVED. She died of old age at 82. No comeuppance at all for being a badass. Anarchy!)<br /><br />Don't mean to spam you with recommendations, this is just the part of history that is my first love. (Makes me REALLY fun watching pseudo-historical movies...)Breanna Teintzehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06857684157682898312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-84258487193915892582016-06-06T07:55:10.629-07:002016-06-06T07:55:10.629-07:00I agree that it is both. You notice, of course, th...I agree that it is both. You notice, of course, that what is assumed in his argument is that childcare is inherently "women's work," and that the father has no corresponding duty.<br /><br />As a (female) judge once explained it, it is socially acceptable for men to neglect their children, which is why they are expected to never need to take a day off for a sick child. Diary of an Autodidacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-50849196816801791702016-06-06T07:53:16.500-07:002016-06-06T07:53:16.500-07:00That sounds like one to put on the list. Do you ow...That sounds like one to put on the list. Do you own it, or should I check the library?Diary of an Autodidacthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11849157548643091986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-64696814129843273952016-06-06T06:36:36.911-07:002016-06-06T06:36:36.911-07:00I would love to borrow the book. I think you must ...I would love to borrow the book. I think you must add "Women Who Run with the Wolves" to your reading list as a further study into the world where the woman myth is psychologically and archeologically discussed. Great read, Tim. Thanks for championing the cause.Patty Wonderlyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07872191298940120757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4051826042602269061.post-82517106274145963092016-06-06T04:55:49.360-07:002016-06-06T04:55:49.360-07:00I remember I was scolded once in a combox, after s...I remember I was scolded once in a combox, after sharing the number of volunteer music groups I perform in (which don't pay me directly, but maintain my connections to other musicians and have been almost 100% indirectly responsible for all the actual paid gigs I've gotten, so yes, they are related to my job) and how many hours a week I practice to improve on my instrument(s). This guy - and yes, from what I could tell the commenter was male - arrived to inform me I would have to quit all that stuff after I had kids. When I told him in no uncertain terms that the only way I'd quit music is if I was dead, he kept challenging me with stuff like, What if you had a profoundly autistic child, etc. When I pointed out that I know people who work/volunteer AND manage to raise autistic children in a perfectly responsible manner, he was like "not everybody can do that." (The irony was that earlier in the same thread, he had made huge sweeping statements about how dads were morally obligated to get a new job if they worked too many hours. When everyone else pointed out that "not everybody can do that," he blew right past it and said that didn't matter. So apparently it was only a valid thing to say it an argument when HE used it.)<br /><br />Anyway, long story short, it turned into a quite a knock-down-drag-out comment fight because I was NOT going to back down with this guy. Maybe I shouldn't have hooked in like that, but what happened, happened and I can't change it now. I'm still not sure whether to count this incident as sexism, or just an internet windbag making sweeping statements about what other people "have to" do with their lives (because to be fair, he made equally sweeping statements about what men needed to do). It was probably a bit of both.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com