The idea that all women hate technology is wrong-headed, of course. There are a lot of women in this big world and there isn’t much that you can say that applies to all of them. And the best computer person I ever met was a woman named Tanya, back in graduate school. But there’s is something going on having to do with gender and technology. We tend to assign entire areas of tools to one gender or the other and mixing that up can cause a lot of confusion.

My family used to have a lot of trouble buying me Christmas presents, not because I was picky, but because I tended to cross those gender lines. I love cooking, so you…

It’s long been obvious that my classes are dominated by young women. Since I teach writing, I often ask my students about their reasons for coming to school and about their families. It’s common to find young women who plan on becoming teachers (or nurses); often, these young women have a boyfriend or husband who isn’t in college and works in a local plant or as a carpenter or a plumber.

This new pattern has become a part of the lore of university teaching and now a piece in the Atlantic (“The End of Men“) confirms the existence of a long term trend, too. Hana Rosin, the author, would like to make the case that this represents a…

I just drove from Louisiana to my home in Illinois; it took about 14 hours, divided over two days. It’s not too bad of a drive but it’s all on the Interstate system– it saves a lot of time– and so it’s exhausting, but not just physically. I find long drives on the Interstate, especially that stretch on I 10 between Baton Rouge and Lake Charles, emotionally trying if not spiritually depleting.

Stupidity– sheer, crude idiocy– is so common on the highway that it eats away at my faith in the human race and in the future. I can’ t figure what it is they need to learn. Hour after hour I watch people pull up to within inches…