Nerdery

[liv]

Work is a bit politically frustrating at the moment, so have some silly links:

joannas found the personality quiz I've been waiting for all my life: What kind of protein are you? I am a transcription factor, which considering how much of my work has in fact been on TFs, is a particularly pleasing result. It means that I implement decisions by switching genes on and off, thereby delegating other proteins to go off and do useful things. Which sounds about right for someone who spends her non-research time teaching baby doctors and switching them on to go and cure people.

ETA 1: If you're getting a result like "analyst" or "nurturer" you need to scroll up to the top of the picture to see what kind protein you actually are. Yes, it's very bad UI design, I hadn't realized that it was making the descriptions more prominent than the actual result. Sorry about that!

There was an XKCD with biochemistry; there's no point linking to XKCD really cos just about everybody follows XKCD. And that strip isn't closely related to my work, but it's the chemistry a couple of levels under what I do, so it made me feel loved.

All the academics on my Twitter feed are linking to this silly Guardian article about why academics have a bad dress-sense: because we're not alienated from our labour, apparently. It's a charming thought, and there is a serious point buried in the article, which is that many female academics work just as hard on coming across exactly the right degree of nonchalant about appearance as they would on being impeccably presented if they worked in a sector that expected that. Me, I dress badly because I can't be bothered to spend time or money on clothes, and because I'm fat enough that there's no low-effort way to look good. But it's nice to pretend that it has something to do with Marx or feminism or something.

ETA 2: redbird absolutely nails the analysis that's missing from the article: "Even without choosing to dress that way for Marxist or feminist reasons, you can make those choices without a lot of stress in part because of your specific work and class situation." Yes, that. That's the conclusion the article should've come to, thank you redbird for fixing it so succinctly.

Comments

[daharyn]

I am also a transcription factor? I don't know, I feel all over the map these days so that probably just reflects my current state of mind.

OMG academic dressing. Rant follows. At my new job I am one half of a team that is meant to be equal, and the team is managed by someone interested in being collaborative and generally not hierarchical. But I am a good 14? 15? years younger than the other half of the team, 25+ years younger than our manager/supervisor, and the only one who is still without a doctorate. Also, while I now have a tiny bit of visible grey, the other two are clearly adults, and I definitely still get mistaken for a student. So the way I manage my wardrobe each day is intense. Today was fancy-ish with quality accessories in a signature power color because of a tres important strategic meeting with higher-higher-higher-ups, but two days ago I was bouncing around a day of peer meetings and research in a tunic with birds all over it and a pair of leggings. I've decided to A) wear what makes me feel confident about that day's tasks B) make sure I'm really clear on the day's calendar before I make my choices. It also depends on what buildings I'll be in that day--our divisional home in the org chart has a lax dress code, but the physical location of our team office trends formal--and who else will be in any meetings I'm in. (Incidentally, I'm still waiting for the day when I don't have at least one meeting. Today I had 3 meetings and a lunch, which is more typical than not.) C) make sure it doesn't all look too "East Coast," so as not to arouse too much suspicion about my motives. (Seriously. That is a thing. If I'm not going to wear visibly natural fibers that day, I better have a darn good reason why. And I have to get a coat that is less New York and more Oregon, on my next check. I am getting comments about the coat, and it turns out not to be all that water-resistant, anyway--as I learned the hard way earlier this week.)