You have men

In this class, the idea is to write a learning biography.  Actually, a learning autobiography.  I have chosen to write something more like a memoir, since I will choose only a few points from my life instead of following a time line.

During the class discussion on learning biographies, I mentioned that I had thought the men in my life and how most of the most important formal education I have received has come from men.  I mad a list of men and a list of some of the topics that are important.  Then I connected both lists.

When the professor asked if we had a better idea of how to put together the biography, one of my classmates said, "...well, she has a time line, she has men..."   I was the one who had "men" as a way to structure my assignment.

"She has men" has been stuck in my mind for almost a week now.  It makes me smile.  It's silly, but at the same time is true: there have been a lot of men involved in my education.  But why?  Maybe because of gender inequality, or because of the laws of randomness.  This doesn't mean that I will not talk about women in my biography; in fact, there are two women who are probably most important than any men in my learning biography, my mother and myself.  However, it's much funnier to say, "The Men in My Life: What I Have Learned from Them," than "The Men and Women in My Life: My Learning Biography."  The first title sounds more provocative, because I'm a middle-aged, married woman and prospective readers may think that I had or have a long list of affair with all kinds of men.  In the business school, this is called "marketing."

Yes, I have several men in my life: my father and brothers, my husband and son, my uncle the musician, my two favorite teachers, and my boss the priest.  Nine guys.  In contrast, the women that I can mention are too many, but in short I can  list my mother, my older sister, my maternal grandmother, and my best friend from college.

Yes, I have men.  And women.  Lots of them.  But I also have a short, sketchy, scratchy memory.  So I will probably call it, "The Men in My Life: My Learning Memoir."