Gee I wonder why I am getting targeted ads on Twitter about the Israeli embassy in South Africa? Perhaps I’ll have to ask Grok…

Good morning from Rhodes University and the Anthropology of Southern Africa Conference in Makhanda.

Being a feminist academic on Twitter never ceases to be a delight 🥲 I could write a whole new PhD thesis based on these comments to my tweet about Johnny Depp alone.

This is moderately terrifying but I’m trying out TikTok to provide some much needed context around Trump’s claims of a white genocide, why rates of crime and violence are so high in South Africa, and what simplistic narratives about the need for more policing leave out. www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8MXG1q2/

When you’re dead inside but can finally call yourself a doctor and a book author.

More conversations with GBV and trauma-informed practitioners need to happen to disrupt narratives of “mutual abuse.” But this episode from It’s Been a Minute is a good start, especially to contextualize the Diddy case, Depp v Heard, and why survivors stay in abusive relationships.

My grandma was the first woman in the family to go to college. And now I’m the first PhD in the family. #phdone

I’m graduating with my Doctorate this week & reflecting on how taxing it’s been been. Developing a chronic illness has meant I’ve had to radically rethink my productivity, academic hustle culture, and work through the shame of not having the next big job lined up so that I prioritize my health.

I think a lot about this scene in Princess Mononoke. All the other animals & scenes are so intricately detailed, but the animators decided it would be far more ominous and uncanny to make the apes’ design more shadowy and unclear. The impact is chilling. Human artistry and insight did that.

Dissertation defense/PhD viva passed with no revisions!

I am getting ads on my Twitter feed that either reinforce the narrative of the “white genocide” in South Africa or promote hateful xenophobia in the country, in case you need any more reminders about how social media is being high-jacked by the right wing.

A coalition of NGOs in Cape Town is forming to ensure that people living with HIV can still get access to treatment after cuts in government funding. TAC activist Zackie Achmat and Linda-Gail Bekker remember the battle in the early 2000s when thousands died from HIV. “We will not go back.”

Every part of my dissertation would likely be banned under Trump’s new research grant policies, but I’m very proud to have submitted my PhD diss to my committee, especially with an entire chapter dedicated to the role of USAID in South Africa’s GBV sector.

Well hey new followers. I’m an anthropologist and I do research with survivors of gender-based violence. I’m a feminist killjoy who reminds you that rom coms are rape culture, carceral approaches only amplify vulnerability & Birds of Prey is the post-abuse redemption story we need.

I remember learning about public, applied anthro in undergrad-the professor said it wasn’t “legitimate” or “academic” enough. Over 10 years later and I presented ethnographic research at #SVRIForum2024 to improve access to care & justice for survivors. This is anthropology too.

Excited to participate in #SVRIForum this week! I’ll be presenting on how abusers exploit cultural norms of good motherhood to central survivors & how the criminal justice system does the same by criminalizing DV/IPV survivors. I hope to connect with other abolitionist/non carceral feminists.

That’s a wrap on @reworldingrepro.bsky.social. Got to meet so many scholars I admire from afar, present some initial reflections from my PhD, and teach visiting friends about the difference between now and now now.