Respect for Female Herpers

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

I thank the dozens of women that provided me with first-hand accounts and anecdotes of  any sexism, discrimination, or harassment they have experienced in the hobby, and for the even more that shared stories with me privately, for fear of ridicule or retribution.

Discrimination is a delicate, nuanced subject. Sometimes it's overt and aggressive, of course, but in most cases it is subtle. A tone, a gesture, a glance avoided, or a comment made in passing. Blink and you may miss it entirely. But discrimination builds over time, each new incident layering over the last until the discriminated feels the frustration build with each new insult. The Descriminator in turn may not even be conscious of how their actions are being perceived, or even that they are being received as slights at all. And when frustration meets the oblivious, tempers flare and miscommunication abounds.

What I wish to communicate today, riding on the coattails of the current state of affairs in the world, is to present that frustration calmly and clearly through the voices of several female keepers in a way can shed light on this issue and perhaps make people, both men and women, reconsider how they treat female keepers in this hobby. Yes, I said men and women because discrimination is not an exclusively male offense; all humans have a tendency to disregard women and/or hold them to different standards than they do for men, often totally unconsciously.

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New Arrivals to Much Ado About Chameleons

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

New year, new arrivals, and new goals for the blog


Last year I changed jobs four times. Four! I went from a lab where I was happy but had no room to grow, to a lab where I was a manager but worked in an utterly socially toxic environment, to an office that had issues of client fraud, to the managerial position I currently hold (where, thankfully, there are so such issues!) Mixed in somewhere among all this, I went to Madagascar for almost two weeks, I started developing an app, and I've been doing consultation work on the side. You could definitely say that 2017 was a year with a lot of change for me, and that unfortunately translated into not a lot of activity for the blog. I sincerely hope that everyone else had a better year!

But thanks to the incredible generosity and enthusiastic support from several friends I have been able to ring in the new year with a beautiful little troop of chameleons so that I can not only keep them again for the joy of chameleons, but also bring renewed energy and new posts to the blog. Below I will introduce each new member of the family as well as extend my deepest gratitude to these friends.

Additionally, as the Executive Editor of Reptile Apartment I am excited to tease you guys with a return of Reptile Livingroom, a podcast and vlog show coming soon! So stay tuned for the launch of new episodes, as I am already working on producing some chameleon content to send to John, the Boss Man.
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