&quot;Dude, where&#x27;s my gown?&quot;: The Oxford Chat Thread Mk.III

OP

That moment when your college daughter has an IRL baby :eek2:

and you're like "does this mean I'm a legit pseudo-grandma? :tongue:

"

Going to visit her and baby tomorrow :h:

Hope everyone's having a good term/autumn so far :grouphugs:

Reply 3541

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

That moment when your college daughter has an IRL baby :eek2:

and you're like "does this mean I'm a legit pseudo-grandma? :tongue:

"

Going to visit her and baby tomorrow :h:

Hope everyone's having a good term/autumn so far :grouphugs:

I can picture the scene. T_L_G arrives and greets her college daughter.

T_L_G: Hello! how lovely to see you again! And your gorgeous baby!

College Daughter: You don't know how pleased I am to see you. Would you like to hold her?

T_L_G: Of course

CD: Here you are....and in this bag are the nappies and a change of clothes. Her next feed is due in two hours. Give her this teddy when its bedtime. Oh, and she feeds about hourly through the night. BYYEEEEEEEE!

Reply 3542

Original post by OxFossil

CD: Here you are....and in this bag are the nappies and a change of clothes. Her next feed is due in two hours. Give her this teddy when its bedtime. Oh, and she feeds about hourly through the night. BYYEEEEEEEE!

Then of course there's the threat of the College Mother-in-Law. :eek:

Reply 3543

OP

Original post by OxFossil

I can picture the scene. T_L_G arrives and greets her college daughter.

T_L_G: Hello! how lovely to see you again! And your gorgeous baby!

College Daughter: You don't know how pleased I am to see you. Would you like to hold her?

T_L_G: Of course

CD: Here you are....and in this bag are the nappies and a change of clothes. Her next feed is due in two hours. Give her this teddy when its bedtime. Oh, and she feeds about hourly through the night. BYYEEEEEEEE!

Original post by Fullofsurprises

Then of course there's the threat of the College Mother-in-Law. :eek:

You two are a right pair! :rofl:

I made the mistake of reading these posts on the app before I met college daughter, and then I was like :eek:

Reply 3544

Hugh's Swan

15

Any thoughts on Woosta provost trying to get rid of Grace and standing for tutors at formal hall? I personally am wondering who on earth she thinks she is, messing with traditions, and why!

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 3545

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

You two are a right pair! :rofl:

I made the mistake of reading these posts on the app before I met college daughter, and then I was like :eek:

Oh heck, we've totally ruined it for you, sorreee! :blush:

I'm sure she's lovely! :console:

Reply 3546

Hugh's Swan

15

Original post by Hugh's Swan

Any thoughts on Woosta provost trying to get rid of Grace and standing for tutors at formal hall? I personally am wondering who on earth she thinks she is, messing with traditions, and why!

Reminds me of something that would be a moment of satire in an Evelyn Waugh novel!

Reply 3547

Original post by Hugh's Swan

Any thoughts on Woosta provost trying to get rid of Grace and standing for tutors at formal hall? I personally am wondering who on earth she thinks she is, messing with traditions, and why!

I always felt conflicted by these kinds of things at Ox. On the one hand, there's all the history and continuity and charm. On the other, they represent a continuation of medieval forelock-tugging extreme classism into the modern era, projected onto academia but actually honoring a past where only the children of a tiny sliver of the upper classes made it the hallowed halls and once there were part of the culture of keeping the servants in their places. Then there's the insistence on high Anglicanism and faux religiosity. I think some modernisations are needed, perhaps keeping up ancient traditions eventually becomes mindless genuflecting rather than considered appreciation.

Reply 3548

OP

Original post by Hugh's Swan

Any thoughts on Woosta provost trying to get rid of Grace and standing for tutors at formal hall? I personally am wondering who on earth she thinks she is, messing with traditions, and why!

I'm not surprised she tried getting rid of the Grace but I am surprised she tried getting rid of standing for tutors at formal hall. Particularly given she is (afaik) not the Provost, but rather the interim Provost...

Then again she's a massive character :tongue:

Original post by Fullofsurprises

Oh heck, we've totally ruined it for you, sorreee! :blush:

I'm sure she's lovely! :console:

Hahaha, don't worry, didn't ruin anything! :hugs:

Reply 3549

Hugh's Swan

15

Original post by Fullofsurprises

I always felt conflicted by these kinds of things at Ox. On the one hand, there's all the history and continuity and charm. On the other, they represent a continuation of medieval forelock-tugging extreme classism into the modern era, projected onto academia but actually honoring a past where only the children of a tiny sliver of the upper classes made it the hallowed halls and once there were part of the culture of keeping the servants in their places. Then there's the insistence on high Anglicanism and faux religiosity. I think some modernisations are needed, perhaps keeping up ancient traditions eventually becomes mindless genuflecting rather than considered appreciation.

I was at St.Hugh’s in the ‘80s and we had to stand for tutors coming in to hall and also could not leave hall until the Principle Rachel Trickett had ‘nodded’ in your direction (she looked like a nodding dog in hall). But looking at the history of female colleges in Oxford I would not say that they began with any continuation of forelock tugging or upper classes - more revolutionary and enlightened women who wanted suffrage* and an education. * e.g Emily Davison. Standing for your teacher and elders was something we also did at school - we all stood when the teacher entered or a visitor - it was a mark of respect.

Reply 3550

Original post by Hugh's Swan

I was at St.Hugh’s in the ‘80s and we had to stand for tutors coming in to hall and also could not leave hall until the Principle Rachel Trickett had ‘nodded’ in your direction (she looked like a nodding dog in hall). But looking at the history of female colleges in Oxford I would not say that they began with any continuation of forelock tugging or upper classes - more revolutionary and enlightened women who wanted suffrage* and an education. * e.g Emily Davison. Standing for your teacher and elders was something we also did at school - we all stood when the teacher entered or a visitor - it was a mark of respect.

Each convention should be judged on its own merits. but in general, im not attached to many Oxford "traditions". It seems to me that many are part of a tradition of creating a distinctive social atmosphere - one that tends to establish a continuity with the older public schools and the gentleman's club. I dont want people from other backgrounds to witness these traditions and feel 'this is not a place for people like me"

Reply 3551

Anyone know more about this story about the disabled man being ejected from the Union?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7694591/Outrage-blind-student-25-dragged-ankles-Oxford-Union-debating-chamber.html

https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2019/11/16/over-100-people-attend-afrisoc-protest-against-union-president/

Reply 3552

OP

Anyone else following the 2020 applicants' thread and thinking "thank God I didn't have TSR when I was applying :adore:

?!?!" I'm just stressed out by reading everyone else's angst and I'm long shot of the place :tongue:

Reply 3553

Original post by The_Lonely_Goatherd

Anyone else following the 2020 applicants' thread and thinking "thank God I didn't have TSR when I was applying :adore:

?!?!" I'm just stressed out by reading everyone else's angst and I'm long shot of the place :tongue:

Absolutely. Back in the day, you just sat there waiting for a letter and had no-one else to compare stories with, worry about why you hadnt had your interview invite yet etc etc etc. On the other hand, you had no fricken clue about what you were letting yourself in for...

Reply 3554

OP

Original post by OxFossil

On the other hand, you had no fricken clue about what you were letting yourself in for...

Wise words from you, as always! :yep:

Reply 3555

Original post by Fullofsurprises

Anyone know more about this story about the disabled man being ejected from the Union?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7694591/Outrage-blind-student-25-dragged-ankles-Oxford-Union-debating-chamber.html

https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2019/11/16/over-100-people-attend-afrisoc-protest-against-union-president/

You'll have seen that today Mark Damazer - erstwhile Master of St Peter's - has called for the abolition of the Oxford Union and its replacement by an ordinary debating society.

I think he's quite right. The Union has for many years been a self-regarding anachronism, run by cliques of wannabe career politicians and "Brideshead" re-enactors. It appears to survive on the subscriptions of Freshers who, realising there's no central Students' Union at Oxford, imagine that the Union is an equivalent social hub. Only after handing over their £170 and attending their first debate do they realise the ghastly truth.

Pass the building over to OUSU and have it as a fully accessible, extra-collegiate, centre for student welfare and socials.

Reply 3556

Original post by OxFossil

You'll have seen that today Mark Damazer - erstwhile Master of St Peter's - has called for the abolition of the Oxford Union and its replacement by an ordinary debating society.

I think he's quite right. The Union has for many years been a self-regarding anachronism, run by cliques of wannabe career politicians and "Brideshead" re-enactors. It appears to survive on the subscriptions of Freshers who, realising there's no central Students' Union at Oxford, imagine that the Union is an equivalent social hub. Only after handing over their £170 and attending their first debate do they realise the ghastly truth.

Pass the building over to OUSU and have it as a fully accessible, extra-collegiate, centre for student welfare and socials.

It's a shame, because it could be an epicentre of high quality, cutting-edge debate and societal drama and sometimes has been, at least to some extent. However, I do agree with Damazer on this one. The Union simply hasn't modernised and is still stuck in a 19th/early 20th century model of allowing the sons (note, sons) of grandees to hold forth and practise becoming the future grandees. It is one of those bastions of elitism that has done the country little good. It fits neatly, as can be seen in the case of the current Prime Minister, into the model of Eton - Oxford - Tory Cabinet that has proven to be so harmful in the past to the UK's attempts to modernise, to shake off centuries of deeply ingrained monarchical and aristocratic classism and to reject the assumption that a command of rhetoric is alone sufficient to rule.

Reply 3557

Plagioclase

21

Original post by OxFossil

You'll have seen that today Mark Damazer - erstwhile Master of St Peter's - has called for the abolition of the Oxford Union and its replacement by an ordinary debating society.

I think he's quite right. The Union has for many years been a self-regarding anachronism, run by cliques of wannabe career politicians and "Brideshead" re-enactors. It appears to survive on the subscriptions of Freshers who, realising there's no central Students' Union at Oxford, imagine that the Union is an equivalent social hub. Only after handing over their £170 and attending their first debate do they realise the ghastly truth.

Pass the building over to OUSU and have it as a fully accessible, extra-collegiate, centre for student welfare and socials.

Completely agree. The Oxford Union represents the worst of Oxford.

Reply 3558

OP

Might not be on here that much the next few days, so: whatever Christmas time means to you and however you may be spending it, I hope you all have a good one! :grouphugs:

Reply 3559