And just to clarify:
My own 'contribution' to this topic was not to deride women or guitars and I do believe I said that "part of me can grasp the theoretical implications" of the whole shebang...but there is that part of me which exists that reacts to the initial slap of the idea. Certainly the notion that there is such a reaction speaks to layers of imbedded hierarchical training with regard to what is and is not a waste of time. Additionally, I can be as self-effacing as the next guy/girl with regard to my own academic pretentions, so it is not as though the pot, in this case, does not understand its own shade while observing that of the kettle. Without more information about what the thing is - and even with it - there is a lot to wade through in the Foucauldian sense when looking at why some things are considered more practical than others.
You gotta admit, though - those who are not given to close reading the implications of post-grad air guitar (and even those who would be so inclined) are presented with a trophy example of what they might consider 'air-academics' on the surface of it. (which, of course, make it an even more valuable object for such scrutiny. Aporia-riffic...accent on the "riff")
jeff
quoted 19 lines Ok, two last things:> Ok, two last things:
>
> 1. I'm curious to know if this person is applying for a PhD in
> Performance (which would actually make it a DMA in most parts), or
> rather in a Cultural Studies/Ethnomusicology/Anthropology sort of
> study of Air Guitar as a social phenomenon. If it's the latter, then
> that is nothing new, and no more or less silly than a doctorate on
> the use of slang and neologisms in Buffy episodes (a real diss. topic).
>
> 2. As much as it is easy to make fun of someone (in this case a
> woman, which adds another layer of meaning in this context) who wants
> to do a PhD in Air Guitar, I'm reminded of the derisive laughter I
> used to get (and sometimes still do get) when I first started to
> study electronic dance music. A couple of decades ago, scholars got
> the same treatment for studying Rock and Jazz music (especially the
> racially-inflected stuff). What is acceptable and what is "silly"
> says a lot about tides of cultural power, and it does not seem to
> bode well for women and guitars.
>
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