Tactical Bodies

**Special thanks to contributing members of our Ph.D. cohort: you know who you are :)

Rachael Burke February 24, 2015

TACTICAL BODIES acad(F)emme:publicpocketsubversiveskins “…clever tricks, knowing how to get aways with things, the hunter’s cunning, maneuvers, polymorphic simulations, joyful discoveries poetic as well as warlike they go back immemorial….”—de Certeau

Vapor “That’s for smoking, right?”

“It’s a vaporizer…”

Fine arts. Smart. Brings friends to class because… She doesn’t ask— it’s her education.

Smoking is prohibited. She knows this.

When I ask if I can take her picture, she doesn’t resist. “It’s for research,” I tell her. “What kind?” she asks. “The way bodies resist authority… institutions, ideas. Right now, I want to look at female bodies.”

“That’s cool,” she grins. Same grin she uses when she calls it a “vaporizer.”

TIGHT Text: I’m taking pictures of resistant academic bodies … a “body as text” tactic against institutionalized/university rhetorically embodied enforcement of the teacher/student dichotomy. Your tights are next on my list if you’ll let me.

Text: Awesome!

She is a superhero. Uniform: approachability. Superpowers: Intelligence, Kindness, Humor, and Shapeshifting. But, oh, some days…it can be so hard to fit in.

She will serve the people. Wear their expectations on her skin. But she is not of them. Definition, resistant. She is /

FICTION Me: Pretty please!!! I'll only say nice things!

Her: Like I would ever turn down a chance to have my picture taken :) Lots of books and lots of covers. What a read.

Blonde. Breasts. Bound to be Beautiful.

Boys, she ain’t for you. Not your genre.

Unless you need BRAINS. In which case, make an appointment at two. Don’t be late.

What she can teach you is authority—as long as you keep your eyes on your own paper.

shortcut Rate My Professor: The best English teacher I ever had. I don't know how any woman with a Faux hawk could be so attractive. I thought her looks would be very distracting, but the only thing more attractive than her body is probably her personality. Amazing teacher, helps you become a critical thinker. Definitely recommend her.

I cut my own hair. I used to wear my hair long and serious and pretty and expected. Then, I cut it. It wasn’t until I cut my hair like a man that I owned the woman I am.