As folks know, Marco got laid off this week.  Personally and as a nation, I think we are in a state of shock.   As neighbors and loved ones learn about layoffs and others tremble in anticipation as they face another tenuous day on the job, we need to create space for holding and expressing our joint grief, panic, and rage.  There is a presence in anger, and we need to hold accountable those who are ultimately responsible, namely Wall Street and George Friggin W. Bush.

But Marco and I are also keeping faith.

Marco got the news on Wednesday and his last day is today.  We’ve spent most of the week huddled together, asking how each other is doing, reminding ourselves of all that we do have—our health, cherished friends who rushed to email their contacts, family members who offered the promise of loans should we need them, a roof over our heads, love, and more.  We had just started looking for a larger apartment, but instead of going to open houses this Sunday, we’ll head to IKEA to find me a desk.  We’ll need intermediary health care fast, as we’ve got medical expenses this year, we’ll stop eating out, I’ll work more hours.  I’m overwhelmed, but no one has died.  Our lives go on.  As one wise friend said to me yesterday over the phone, “This is a Fucking Stressful Bummer.”  It’s an FSB indeed.  A lot to handle, but hopefully that is all.

The reaction from loved ones is striking.  “You know that’s my greatest nightmare,” wrote one, unable to contain her own fear.  Another emailed, “My friend’s husband got laid off in late October and by November he had found a job that was WAY better.  This is tough, but I am going to remember that hopeful example when thinking about what’s in store for Marco.”

In the emails that continue to pour in with leads, in the Facebook responses, and in comments on here on this blog, I find hope.

And while Marco and I are busy trying to “fix” the problem that’s hit our personal lives and embrace this moment as a springboard for innovation and change, there are many families and individuals for whom this current crisis constitutes a breaking point.  My heart goes out to each and every one of them.  I pray that we will not be among the broken, and that this experience will strengthen us, a newly married couple, as we forge on.

And yes, I am also EXTREMELY pissed.  As one friend emailed, “Thank you Dubya.  You’re the gift that keeps on giving.”

Let me tell you, I count the days left til that useless old gift goes back to the store.

We just had to do a full-on review of Mama, PhD here at GWP (better late than nevah, we say!).  And I just had to post this trailer.  Because I laud authors who get savvy to using new media, and because, well, as an aspiring Mama PhD (got the PhD part, still working on the Mama part), I just can’t seem to get enough of this book.

Day 1 following the news of my husband Marco’s surprise layoff.  A heartfelt round of gratitude to everyone who has called, emailed, twittered, tweeted, Facebooked, and texted support over the last 36 hours!  I promise to post more regularly again soon.  I’ve just been a little, well, preoccupied, you could say.

In the meantime, I wanted to send a shout out to Laura for her post yesterday, which truly cheered me up.  I find optimism contagious, and though many are seriously suffering right now, I think Laura’s insights about the future are spot on.

Well, it’s happened.  My talented, hard-working, honest, amazing husband (qua extraordinary graphic designer / logo maker / brand consultant / Design Director) got laid off today.

I just got off the phone with him and am reeling, though I know we’ll get through this.  One door closes, another opens, blessings in disguise and all that.   But it’s pretty painful at the moment.

Here is Marco’s LinkedIn profile.  If ever you’ve wondered who designed the GWP masthead, the Writopia logo, or, yes, the Care logo, it was my Marco.

The darling boy with an BFA from Cooper Union and two and a half decades of work experience will now be looking for a job.  Leads on freelance?   Leads on staff positions as a Design Director or Creative Director at a branding or design firm here in NYC?  Need some branding yourself?   Whoever gets him next will be darn lucky to have him. He’s one of a kind.

Thank you for spreading the word!  (Feel free to email me directly if you like at deborah@girlwpen.com)

Check out the fab lineup of sessions at this year’s Women, Action, and the Media Conference (fondly known as WAM!).  The conference is once again at MIT’s bizarrely wonderful Stata Center in Cambridge, MA (pictured left) and it’s from March 27 – March 29.

This time I’ll be speaking on a panel called Going Group: How Blogging in Numbers Gets It Done, along with fellow GWPenners including Shira Tarrant, Racialicious’ Latoya Peterson, and the brilliant Ebony Utley.  The full (yet still evolving) lineup of panels and events is now posted. I loves me those WAMMers, I really do.  There’s something for everyone, veteran mediaheads and newbies alike.  And the dance party’s always fun.

Register here. If you do it before Feb. 13, you pay $145 (Seniors pay $80 and Students pay $45).  The fee goes up to $165/$95/$55 on Feb. 14, and to $195/$110/$75 on-site, if space allows.  Go ahead, do it, do it, do it….!

Yesterday, Paul Raeburn, who is in my author’s group, posted about some studies that might have naturally included fathers but which examined only mothers in Where are the fathers? over at his Fathers and Families blog. (Thanks, CCF, for the heads up!)

Paul and I were recently talking over cookies and tea about why it is that mothers are the more studied parent, and I offered some thoughts on history, psychology, and biology — from a feminist pov.  I suggested he go back and read some socialist feminism, and also Nancy Chodorow.  But I also felt like my response was incomplete and hence inadequate.

I’m interested in continuing the conversation!  If any GWP readers have thoughts to share on why this is so, I’m sure Paul would be interested as well.  And I assure you, Paul is by no means a men’s rightser kind of guy but a thoughtful journalist (his previous book is Acquainted with the Night, a memoir of raising children with depression and bipolar disorder.)   Please feel free to leave thoughts for me — and for Paul — in comments or at Paul’s blog. Thanks, ya’ll!

Ohmygosh how I heart this ad on fatherhood involvement, from the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearninghouse.  GO DADS!

In case you missed it, an article in today’s NYTimes (“A Rise in Efforts to Spot Abuse in Youth Dating“) highlights the increased prevalence of violence in teenage dating relationships.  Here’s a quick and depressing glance at the stats:

• According to a survey by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene showed that dating violence had risen by more than 40 percent since 1999, when the department began asking students about the problem.
• Public health research indicates that the rate of such abusive relationships has hovered around 10 percent.
• According to a survey last year of children ages 11 to 14 by Liz Claiborne Inc., a quarter of the 1,000 respondents said they had been called names, harassed or ridiculed by their romantic partner by phone call or text message, often between midnight and 5 a.m., when their parents are sleeping.
• A study published last July in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that more than one-third of the 920 students questioned were victims of emotional and physical abuse by romantic partners before they started college.
• In the C.D.C.’s 2007 survey of 15,000 adolescents, 10 percent reported physical abuse like being hit or slapped by a romantic partner. Nearly 8 percent of teenagers in the survey said they were forced to have sexual intercourse.

The good news: “Last month, a group of Indianapolis organizations won a $1 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help schools tackle the issue, part of $18 million in grants to 10 communities to help break patterns where children exposed to violence at home repeat it in their adult relationships.”

The bad news: There are no definitive national studies on the prevalence of abuse in adolescent relationships.

Clearly there is a need.  (AHEM – calling researchers!)

As everyone’s sluggishly getting back into their groove, we at GWP wanted to thank our loyal readers for being part of the growing community over here and welcome our newer ones. We look forward to a new year with a new president in DC, insightful feminist critique in the blogosphere, and the continued contributions from our readers to the GWP experiment!

An e-blast just went out to subscribers sending all sorts of news.  If you aren’t on our email list and would like to be, you can sign up over there –>. We send out blasts every few months, and we promise never to spam.

(Note: this image is the “arty” version of us, hehe)

Pssst…please pass it on!

Thinking in Public
A Workshop for Engaged Scholars

Instructor: Deborah Siegel, PhD, author Sisterhood, Interrupted and Only Child; creator of the Girl w/ Pen blog

Description:  What does it mean these days to be “an engaged scholar”?  For many it means writing for and engaging with a public wider than one’s peers.  This workshop is for the academically-inclined writer who wishes to extend her reach, the researcher who longs to write something other than grant proposals, the professor or administrator curious about blogging, the scholar who dreams of publishing a commercial book, a magazine article, an op-ed.

In today’s competitive marketplace of ideas, thought leaders increasingly desire a voice in the popular sphere.  Often, academic culture puts restraints on how, what, and where scholars think they can write.  For a variety of reasons, academically-trained writers often find themselves unprepared to address a broad public.  Many are taught to subordinate themselves to their topics, yet taking a public stance means putting yourself in your piece—and more.  To write for popular media in today’s publishing climate, you must be able to craft engaging, accessible, non-technical prose that appeals to an audience far outside your area of expertise.  These skills can be learned.

Thinking in Public is a hands-on, on-site workshop covering the how, what, and where of reaching a wide public through the written word.  These full and half-day trainings are designed to help researchers, scholars, and policy “wonks” bridge the translation gap and is tailored to meet participants’ needs.

Among topics covered: techniques for de-jargonizing and enlivening prose; the importance of narrative; common pitfalls; why “making it pop” is not equivalent to “dumbing it down” or “selling out”; overcoming internal hesitations, institutional scorn, and other obstacles to broader engagement.  Participants are encouraged to come with findings, perspectives, or ideas for stories they aspire to turn into popular books, non-academic articles, or use as platforms for a blog.  The workshop will help jumpstart individual projects, demystify next steps, empower, persuade, and inform.

About the Instructor

Deborah Siegel, PhD is the author of Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild, co-editor of the literary anthology Only Child: Writers on the Singular Joys and Solitary Sorrows of Growing Up Solo, and co-founder of the webjournal The Scholar & Feminist Online. She has written about feminism, masculinity, contemporary families, sex, and popular culture for a range of venues, including The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The American Prospect, More, Psychology Today, The Progressive, The Mothers Movement Online, and on her blog, Girl with Pen (girlwpen.com). As a principal at Girl w/ Pen Consulting, Siegel works with thought leaders, philanthropists, advocates, and social entrepreneurs, and organizations seeking to expand their public platform and bring their expertise to a wide audience.  Siegel received her doctorate in English and American Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2001.  Read more about her work at www.deborahsiegel.net.

For more information, contact Deborah Siegel at deborah@girlwpen.com.

What participants are saying…

“Deborah was great! She has amazing contacts in the publishing industry and is herself a great resource. She really made each student feel like s/he was getting very individual support on her/his project.”

“I learned so many things about getting my work into the broader world and invaluable tips for how to market myself. And in addition to the things I learned, I got to see others’ work in progress, which was exciting and inspiring.”

In the news…

“Authors willing to venture into the increasingly user-friendly world of do-it-yourself high tech are rewarded.  Interviews published online generate invitations to do podcasts, guest posts, and interviews on XM radio.  Blogs become communities and engender blog tours.  Online audiences lead to sales.  I know that it’s not easy, but rest assured: the learning curve is not steep.” – Deborah Siegel, “Wired, She Wrote,” Women’s Media Center

“[The workshop] had professors with roller bags postponing flights and scribbling furiously on their notepads as Deborah Siegel described her journey from doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin to New York public intellectual and author of the 2007 book Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild (Palgrave) about infighting, both historical and contemporary, within the feminist movement.”  -Courtney Martin, “Women’s Studies Writers Vie for More Media Turf,” Women’s E-News