San Francisco Day #3 and my Birthday!

Presentation Day!

Yes, not only was it my birthday, it was also presentation day at the conference and Madeline and I had to presented our paper.

Here was the lineup:

FB16: 10:30 AM – 12:15PM
Women in Combat: Exploring Gendered Myths About ‘Real’ Soldiers
Sponsor: Feminist Theory and Gender Studies, International Security Studies, and the Women’s Caucus

Room: Continental 9, Hilton Union Square

Chair: Lesley J. Pruitt, University of Melbourne
Discussant: Caron Gentry, University of St Andrews
Discussant: Judith H. Stiehm, Florida International University
Linda T Åhäll, Keele University “Gender, Cohesion and Combat Effectiveness? Questioning the UK ban on women in combat roles ”
Melissa Aho and Madeline Gillette, University of Southern Mississippi, “Killing Me Softly: Women, Suicide, and War”
Katherine Brown, Kings College London, “Gender and UK National Security”
Alexis L. Henshaw, University of Arizona, “Why Women Rebel: A Cross-National Analysis of Female Participation in Armed Rebel Groups”
Sandra McEvoy, Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights, “Heeding the Call to Arms in Northern Ireland: Loyalist Women and Identity”

The panel was well attended with over 30 people there and we knew 3 of them! I spoke first, a bit too fast, and only made one major mistake (Madeline gleefully told me later) and Madeline did a great job on her part and we were under on our time limit. The other papers on our panel where also very good.

Later that day I got a free Starbucks drink for my birthday! Stopped at Tiffany’s (just window shopping and no breakfast), and attended a few other panel talks. At the “The Role of Regional Organizations in Democratization Process” panel everyone got a free book and gummie candies from Germany! I visited the vendors room and purchased “Battlestar Galactica and International Relations” edited by Nicholas J. Kiersey and Iver B. Neumann for less then half off (and well below amazon.com’s listed price). Back at the hotel, I found that the chocolate potato chips that I had ordered from Candyland as a birthday treat finally arrived. I received a lovely bottle of wine “7 deadly Zins,” a very cool bracelet made out of magazines for my birthday, and a few cards. Went out to dinner to a Mexican place called El Sotano and had a nice meal and strawberry margarita with some great people (including a few who paid for my dinner. Thank you!) and then got back to the hotel to learn that there was a message waiting for me from room service. The message said ‘Happy Birthday. Your Mother has sent you a piece of cheesecake. Please let us know when you are ready to receive it.” So I called and they brought it up. The nice room service guy put a little candle on the cake and sang a bit of ‘happy birthday’ with Madeline (who was trying to work on her presentation for tomorrow). I also received some singing ‘happy birthday’ messages from the relatives and a ton of tweets, emails, and Facebook happy birthday messages. It was also my sister Michelle (aka the evil twin) and my Grandmother’s birthday too! Happy Birthday Michelle and Grandma! So in all, a very good birthday!

Photo by M. Al Ayed