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“The impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive.

Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you.

You open your safe to find only ashes.”

– Annie Dillard #WritingCommnunity #WritingLife #phd #AcademicTwitter

— Alice Wilson (@neither_both) November 13, 2021

I love Annie Dillard. She is wise and kind and generous and an exquisite writer. She is all the things I want to be.

In the spirit of giving away what I have learned freely and abundantly, I am sharing some excerpts from the field notes journal I have been keeping these last three years of doing my PhD.

These entries chart my progress and discomfort; two things which often go hand in hand.

Continue reading “A Look Inside My Field Notes Journal”

The Western distinction between the public and private spheres has been crucial in confining both the physical mobility and the identity of women throughout history.

By creating the domestic sphere as the place specifically of women, a joint control was exercised over the spaces they could inhabit and the ways they could identify and experience themselves.

Continue reading “How is Gender Done in Your House?”

Belgian folklorist Arnold Van Gennep argued that there are three distinct phases of liminality. Like a typical sociologist, he positioned liminality as a process rather than a destination.

Continue reading “What Makes a Tiny House a Liminal Space?”

 

What follows is the transcript of the interview I did with the fantastic Lucy Dearlove for her award winning podcast, Lecker.

If you would like to listen to the episode, you can do so here:

Continue reading “Lecker Podcast: How Women Are Using Tiny Houses to Resist the Dual Forces of Patriarchy and Capitalism”

Enjoying Control Over Design

Over the last eighteen months, I have spoken with over 35 women who have designed their own tiny houses. These women are always fascinating, and each one of them shares common strands with the stories of the others, despite being very different people.

Continue reading “Control Your Home, Control Your Life”

 

In 2015, a YouGov poll found that 37% of Brits were adamant that their job was completely pointless. This is dispiriting given that the UK has the second longest working hours in Europe, second only to the USA. 

That’s a lot of people spending a lot of time feeling like what they are doing is meaningless.

Continue reading “Think Your Job is Pointless? You’re Probably Right.”

Capitalism will, where possible, quash any activities which are not co-opted into commercial producing or consuming. 

Continue reading “Your Free Time Is Killing The Economy”

Human beings love meaning. We can’t get enough of it. It infuses every thought we have, every opinion we claim as our own, every purchase we make. We especially love peppering it in where there is none to be organically found (see: religion).

Continue reading “The Meaning of Tiny Houses: Successful and Subversive”

What have women been telling me?

I am now half way through my PhD. Theoretically, I should have some kind of idea what is going on.What have all of these women been saying to me over the last 18 months? What are the common threads that weave the disparate and varied stories together?

Continue reading “Capitalism & Patriarchy: Best Buds For Life”

“The more rigid the separation of private and public spheres and the more unsafe, unwelcoming and inaccessible public spaces are, the more isolated, exposed and vulnerable people become to those they share private space with.” – Andrea Gibbons

Continue reading “Why Expanding the Commons Will Save Women’s Lives”