Bio, Style Guide, Etc.
First Person: I am a Ph.D. student at Northwestern, working with medical device users to understand the ways people connect with technology. I previously had this whole career in digital rights, nonprofits, and tech.
Third person (general): M.J. de Blanc is a [relevant profession here]. They live in Chicago with their cat, some plants, and a couple of bicycles.
Third person (academic): M.J. de Blanc is a Ph.D. student at Northwestern University in the Media, Technology & Society program at the School of Communication. They work with Dr. Duri Long and are a member of the Creative Interfaces Research and Design Studio. They work with medical device users to understand the ways people connect their identities, bodies, and cognitive experience with technological artifacts. They hold a master’s of arts in bioethics from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Their master’s thesis presented a consent based argument for right to repair in healthcare focusing on the ongoing consent process and the concept of irrevocable consent.
Third person (tech / non-profit): M.J. de Blanc is a digital rights activist whose work has centered on user rights. They have previously worked at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the GNOME Foundation, the Free Software Foundation, Open edX, and One Laptop Per Child. They served on the Board of Directors for the Open Source Initiative, including a term as President of the Board of Directors. They are a (non-uploading) member of the Debian Project, and have volunteered with the Software Freedom Conservancy and the CHAOSS Diversity Badging Initiative. As an event organizer, they have (co-)organized events like GUADEC, LibrePlanet, and PyCon. In addition to more general advocacy and activism, their work has included: code of conduct writing and enforcement, diversity initiatives, event planning, fundraising, grand writing, grassroots organizing, legislative activism, and mentoring initiatives.
Style Guide
On me
- My last name is written as de Blanc
- I publish as M.J., I answer to M.J. and Molly.
- I use they/them pronouns, but she/her is also acceptable
- For a title, I use Mx. or Mg. Mx is a fairly common gender-neutral option (as opposed to Mr and Ms), with the benefit that it does in no way rely on marital status. Mg is an abbreviation of Magister, which is the Latin origin for words like “Mister.”
- I am not a cat mom, though I do have a cat.
- Ancle and Ommer are used over aunt and uncle
On Disability
- Use disability-first language when discussing disability unless an individual expresses a preference for person-first language when referring to them
- Disability-first: As a disabled person, I like kittens.
- Person-first: As a person with a disability, I like kittens.
On gender
- Enby is an acceptable alternative to non-binary including in professional contexts
- Female and male are adjectives
- Unless otherwise specified, they / them will be used when someone’s gender and/or pronoun preferences are not known
On misc grammar
- Nouns are in alphabetical order unless they are later explicated in a different order
- Case 1: I play bassoon and guitar
- Case 2: I play guitar and bassoon. The guitar is really casual, but I’ve been playing bassoon since middle school.
On punctuation
- When using a slash between two words to signify alternatives, there will be a space on either side of the slash unless it is a commonly used case
- Kittens make great pets / housemates
- Kittens make great pets and/or housemates
- Use the Oxford / serial comma in text, but not when using an ampersand
- Kittens like treats, games, and making messes
- Kittens like Biscuit, Potato & Jonesy