Oh, the '60s.

In an article on deans (written 1968), the author wrote that his wife came into his study WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION TO INTERRUPT HIM. The horror! Now, the author is an academic and as many of us know, it does require solid blocks of uninterrupted time. I think she was forgiven because she was coming in to tell him that the dean had died, which seemed to be followed by an celebratory bout drinking along faculty row. Miraculously during this celebration, food appeared and children were put to bed. It must have been a lot easier to get research done when your wife took care of everything else around the house.

Of course, this is part of my dissertation research, not some sort of fun reading. Believe me, it's not fun. I'm trying to trace how writers have thought about the office of dean over time, and this is my starting point since it's more or less when my dissertation narrator began his career as dean. But it's led me to think a little about my own situation.

Here I am, having been stuck inside my house for the past 10 days due to Snopocalypse '10, and suddenly I'm becoming a domestic, writing about food, cleaning house, baking, etc. I do really enjoy all those things, but I probably should have been working on my dissertation. And yet for women I don't think this idea of "I'm in the study, don't you dare interrupt me" would ever work. Regardless of where I am in the house (my "study" having become an oversized storage closet for books and papers), it doesn't seem right to just banish someone from talking to me for hours. No, rather I'll just adjust my own schedule, stay in my campus office or go to the library, so that it's clear that I'm working. Or, quite honestly, take a lot longer to finish my dissertation because there are multiple demands on my time.

I don't want the tables to turn, but sometimes I think that the expectations women place on themselves are too high. Keep a lovely home, cook for your family, look pretty and put-together every day, be a success at your career, finish your dissertation, raise a family, exercise 5 times a week (get all those muscle groups!), plan perfect parties and get-togethers, be an understanding confidante to your friends and husband, don't screw up. I underscore again that these are expectations we place on ourselves. It's tough, how do we expect less? People judge us on how we look and keep our houses; they also expect a lot out of us in the workplace. Something at some point has to give.

And with that, I am going home to make dinner.