I’m quoted in today’s New York Times about hair removal for teenagers.
Skin Deep: Zapping Teenage Torment
Anna Jane Grossman
June 5, 2008
Laser hair removal, some say, should be a last resort. “I suggest kids first try bleaching, waxing or shaving or plucking,” said Andrea James, who for six years has run HairTell.com, a site about hair removal. Most people in the forum reported positive results; more than six who posted said they had experienced second- and third-degree burns.
It would obviously be great if people didn’t make fun of other people because of the amount of hair they have, or any other physical characteristic. But that’s not how it works, especially for teenagers. If it can boost someone’s self-esteem during that critical period of socialization, I do not see the harm in a cosmetic procedure that can vastly improve one’s social standing and self-esteem. Ask anyone whose nickname was “unibrow” or “mustache girl” or “sasquatch” or “missing link” in school, and they will tell you something different than those whose facial or body hair was not a standout characteristic.
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Activism, Stuff to check out, Writing
National Women’s Studies Association conference has announced my presentation time for their 2008 conference:
Event info:
Name: National Women’s Studies Association conference
Host: Andrea James
Type: Education - Lecture
Time and Place:
Date: Saturday, June 21, 2008
Time: 3:45pm - 5:00pm
Location: Millennium Hotel, Room North / 200
Street: 150 West Fifth Street Cincinnati, OH 45202-2393
Presentation:
The Bailey Brouhaha: Community Members Speak Out on Resisting Transphobia and Sexism in Academia and Beyond
Scheduled Time: Sat, Jun 21 - 3:45pm - 5:00pm, Building/Room: North / 200
Presenter on individual presentation: Fair Comment, Foul Play: Populist Responses to J. Michael Bailey’s Exploitative “Controversies”
Individual Presentation Type: Paper
Unit: General Conference
Individual Presentation Role: Presenter
For registration information, please visit:
http://www.nwsaconference.org/
Event listing on Facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11957404534
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Activism, Events and Appearances, Writing
I just received word that I will be presenting a paper in June at the Annual Conference of the National Women’s Studies Association. I’m not a big fan of academic writing as a genre (it’s boring to me), but I couldn’t pass up this chance to present with Joelle Ruby Ryan (the transwoman attacked by Alice Dreger). Joelle is a Point Foundation scholar who put together a great panel titled The Bailey Brouhaha: Community Members Speak Out on Resisting Transphobia and Sexism in Academia and Beyond. My presentation:
Fair comment, foul play: populist responses to J. Michael Bailey’s exploitative “controversies.”
Andrea James, MA, English (University of Chicago)
I’ll put up the abstract sometime soon, probably on tsroadmap. I like to keep things light here.
Activism, Events and Appearances, Writing
The Advocate has just published my newest piece on hormone blockers for minors, the trans movement’s new frontier.
This issue also has the Best. Cover. Ever.
*Life Without Puberty by Andrea James
For those who want to know more information about trans minors, please visit TransYouth Family Advocates (imatyfa.org)
Writing
