Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Why Mowing The Lawn Can Be Complicated (Chapter 6 From Worthy: Finding Yourself In A World Expecting Someone Else), Melanie Springer Mock

Faculty Publications - Department of English

In Worthy, college professor Melanie Springer Mock sifts through the shape and weight of expectations that press Christians into cultural molds rather than God's image. By plumbing Scripture and critiquing the ten-billion-dollar-a-year self-improvement industry, Mock offers life-giving reminders that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Set free from the anxiety to conform to others' expectations, we are liberated to become who God has created us to be. If you're worn out from worrying that you've missed God's One Big Calling, and if you're tired of trying to fit yourself into some cookie-cutter Christian mold, step away from the expectations and …

Celebrating Title Ix As God’S Good Gift, Melanie Springer Mock

Faculty Publications - Department of English

Excerpt: "This October, in Oregon’s chilly pre-dawn, I will line up with nearly 10,000 other runners for the start of the Portland Marathon. Over half of the participants will be women, reflecting a trend occurring nationwide: more and more women have taken up long-distance running, with entries for the marathon—the marquee event in running —across the country drawing almost as many women as men.

A little over forty years ago, Katherine Switzer faced a far different running landscape. Entering the lauded Boston Marathon under the name K.V. Switzer, she was famously tackled by race director Jock Semple four miles into …

Feminism In Peril: Contending With The F-Word, Melanie Springer Mock

Faculty Publications - Department of English

Excerpt: "I was thrilled.

My senior thesis, an essay exploring the theme of oppression in several women’s novels, had been accepted for presentation at a literature conference. In college, I had been more a “dumb jock” than a scholar, and so the acceptance represented for me not only personal transformation from athlete to intellectual, but also external affirmation. Perhaps I was a good student and writer after all.

But then the conference program arrived, and I discovered my essay would be included in a panel titled “Feminism in Literature.” My delight waned. “I’m not a feminist,” I wailed to my …