I need to clarify something, because people still seem confused about this. Non-binary people are all younger, except the ones who are older. Children can be non-binary. So can retirees. A non-binary person has long hair. Unless we have short hair. Or we could have asymmetrical hair. Mohawks are nice. So are buzzcuts. Mullets, too….
Author: Clio
Logarithms: The Dark Sorcery
I used to hate logarithms. They were hopelessly confusing. Sort of like this: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/operations This is the third year now that I’ve been teaching Algebra II. Each year, my understanding of logarithms increases, and my love increases in kind. One reason I disliked logarithms is because of the way in which we tend to compartmentalize…
perception
Today instead of “male-presenting” I referred to “male-perceived”. It was a moment of exhaustion and missing the intended word, or so I thought until I reflected later and realized that this is why I’m not fond of “male-presenting”. Because I don’t “present” as a man. I don’t wake up in the morning and make choices…
Black History Month: Mathematicians
For Black History Month 2020, I wrote a brief biography of noteworthy African-American mathematicians. This is not meant to be a canonical, prioritized, or exhaustive list, although many of these mathematicians are often on “best of” or “firsts” lists. There are many more Black mathematicians whose names deserve to be known, a list that grows…
Non-Binary Students
First of all: Thank you for taking the time to read what follows. The visibility of non-binary people has dramatically increased in the last few years, and you may well feel overwhelmed with how to respond to this among your own students. However, studies have shown that when marginalized students feel respected, they feel safer and…
Martin Luther King and Children’s Books
Recently, there was criticism of the “Who Was…” book on Harriet Tubman, based on its depiction of a young enslaved Harriet as being happy despite her situation. At the time, it was pointed out that the author of the book is White. I researched the “Who Was…” series in general and found that most of…
A Tale of Two Pronouns
There are two pronoun discussions that are common in non-binary conversation spaces. One is obvious, but the other is not so obviously about pronouns. The first: “They/them” or other gender-neutral pronouns. While neopronouns like “zie/zim” and “xie/xem” are still used by some people, “they/them” seems to be the most common choice these days. The advantage: These aren’t new…
“Okay, Boomer” and Ageism
It’s become a common complaint these days: “Okay, boomer!” is ageist. No, it’s not. It’s a rebuttal to ageism. Full disclosure: I’m from Generation X, but I’m only a few years too young to be a Boomer. I got my Bachelors Degrees on a full ride, and my student loan debt and early career wheel-spinning…
Moving On From Mr. Know-It-All
When I was a man, I had a lot of opinions that I presented as facts. I had a firm, detached, imperious voice with which I presented these facts. This is a voice I can still lean back on. I am well-trained in it. I hear it speaking when I read my “Gender Neutral: Author”…
Turning in my Man Card
Hi, yes, I’m here to turn in my Man Card. I’m not planning to use it anymore. What’s that? An exit survey? I thought I could just, you know, turn it in and that would be that. Well, okay, I do understand that there are processes that need to be followed. I mean, that’s a…