Listening to hear where you are @turnsthepages - Tumblr Blog

We tried our first solid allergen today--peanut butter mixed with some formula. It was scary, but he did really well!

#personal #adventures in motherhood

katsmith208

life-on-our-planet

eepy mourning dove cupping its wings under its belly for cushion ©Ella

#let me love you

rosieandthemoon

W&F Langenheim, 1854

botherbug

source

#omfg #let me love you

uroko

Jardins de Claude Monet, Giverny

gulktk888

#remember

primulaceas

John Steinbeck, East of Eden

#did Steinbeck know my dad?

urgetocreate

Denis Sarazhin (Ukrainian b.1982, based in U.S.), In the Boat, 2010, Oil on canvas

fforsythiaaa

Once when I was in undergrad, someone described something as “problematic” in class and our professor was like, “That’s cool, but ‘problematic’ doesn’t really mean anything. It means that the thing you’re describing has a problem, and in and of itself that’s not bad. Art, especially, should always have problems, or else it’s not interesting and not art, either. It sounds like you’re trying to say that this is bad, but you don’t want to say ‘bad.’ Is that right?”

So from then on whenever one of us called something problematic, he would make us talk it out until we could name the “bad” thing we were hinting at. In this particular class, 7/10 it was some type of oppression, and the remainder was like, “I’m uncomfortable because this is very new/confusing/pushing boundaries that made me feel safe.”

Once we stopped calling things “problematic” and stopping at that, class got way more interesting and... we all had to say, like, “that’s racist” or “that’s misogynistic” or “ew capitalism gross” out loud, which a lot of us had never done in a classroom before. Or we had to be like, “Uhhh... I’m not sure what’s so bad?” and confront our own beliefs and that was maybe even more useful.

Anyway. Whenever I see the word problematic, I can’t help but think of this professor being like, “Good starting point, now let’s get specific.” I think when we have to commit to saying “that’s ___” it requires a lot more careful thought about the truth and impact and complexities of whatever we’re claiming. Sometimes there really is some bullshit afoot, and also sometimes it’s art, and it should be full of problems, because that’s what art is.

The fact that my son seems to be a happy, contented, healthy, growing baby leaves me with no end of joy. He smiles so much. I really hope his goofy, smiley personality remains as he gets older, even though I know toddler tantrums and the surly teenage years are coming.