Gina Barreca

Gina Barreca
Barreca working from home during the pandemic
Born	Regina Barreca 1957 (age 66–67)
Alma mater	Dartmouth College, New Hall, Cambridge, City University of New York
Spouse	Michael Meyer
Website	GinaBarreca.com

Regina Barreca (born 1957) is an American academic and humorist. She is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of English literature and feminist theory at the University of Connecticut and winner of UConn's highest award for excellence in teaching. ^{[1] [2]} She is the author of ten books, including the best selling They Used to Call Me Snow White But I Drifted: Women's Strategic Use of Humor (Viking/Humor) and editor of 13 others. ^[3] Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Independent of London, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Cosmopolitan, and The Harvard Business Review; for 20 years she wrote columns for various Tribune newspapers as well as a series of cover stories for the Chicago Tribune. ^[4] She is a member of the New York Friar's Club and an honoree of the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. ^{[4] [5]}

Early life and education

Barreca grew up in Brooklyn and Long Island, New York, and is of Italian descent. She was the first woman to be named Alumni Scholar at Dartmouth College, where she earned her 1979 bachelor's degree. ^[6] Her stories from this time can be found in her memoir, Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Co-education in the Ivy League. ^[7]

She was a Reynolds Fellow and earned her 1981 M.A. at New Hall, Cambridge University, and earned her 1987 Ph.D. (English Literature) from the Graduate School, City University of New York, dissertation: "Hate and Humor in Women"s Literature: Twentieth-Century British Writers.". ^[6]

Career

Professor

From 1981 to 1987, Barreca was a Graduate Assistant/Adjunct Lecturer at Queens College. In 1987 she became an assistant professor of English at the University of Connecticut, where she became an associate professor of English in 1991. From 1997 on she has been Professor of English. ^{[6] [8]} She has also been a Reed Fellow for English Language and Literature at UConn since 2017. ^[6] As of 2018, she has received the American Association of University Professors Excellence in Research and Creativity: Career Award, and was named the Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of English Literature. ^{[1] [6]}

Author

Articles and other publications

She is currently a blogger for Psychology Today, where she has over 7.5 million views. ^[4]

Barreca has also published articles in The New York Times , ^[9] The Philadelphia Inquirer , ^[10] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , the Chicago Tribune , ^{[11] [12]} The Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, ^{[13] [14]} The Orlando Sentinel , ^{[15] [16]} Ms. magazine, ^[17] and The Chronicle of Higher Education. ^[18]

Barreca cowrote a series of humor columns in The Washington Post with Gene Weingarten about the differences between men and women. These became the basis of the book she wrote with Weingarten, I'm with Stupid: One Man. One Woman. 10,000 Years of Misunderstanding Between the Sexes Cleared Right Up. ^[19] They worked for two years via email and on the phone without having met first. ^[20]

Barreca appeared in Milton Friedman's documentary Free to Choose - Episode 6, as a student for Dartmouth College. ^[21]

Books

In 2011, Barreca published a memoir about being one of the first classes of women at Dartmouth College titled Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Co-education in the Ivy League. ^[7]

Speaker

She has served as an advisor to the Library of Congress for work on humor and the American character, and was deemed a "feminist humor maven" by Ms. magazine. ^[22]

Personal

Barreca married her husband, Michael Meyer, in 1991. They live in Storrs, Connecticut. ^[23]

Works and publications

Books written

• "If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse?" (2016), ISBN   978-1-250-06074-7
• It's Not That I'm Bitter, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World (2009), ISBN   978-0-312-54726-4 ^[24]
• Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Co-education in the Ivy League (2005), ISBN   978-1-58465-299-1 ^[25]
• I'm with Stupid (2004), ISBN   978-0-7432-4420-6, co-written with Gene Weingarten ^[26]
• An ABC of Vice: An Insatiable Woman's Guide (2003), ISBN   978-0-939883-11-0, illustrated by Nicole Hollander
• Too Much of a Good Thing is Wonderful (2000), ISBN   978-0-939883-06-6
• Sweet Revenge: The Wicked Delights of Getting Even (1995), ISBN   978-0-425-15766-4 ^[27]
• Untamed and Unabashed: Essays on Women and Humor in British Literature (1994), ISBN   978-0-8143-2136-2
• Perfect Husbands (and Other Fairy Tales) (1993), ISBN   978-0-385-47538-9 ^[28]
• They Used to Call Me Snow White...But I Drifted: Women's Strategic Use of Humor (1991), ISBN   978-0-14-016835-8 ^[29]

Books edited

• Fast Fallen Women (2023), ISBN   978-1-954-907-78-2
• Fast Fierce Women (2022), ISBN   978-1-954-907-00-3
• Fast Funny Women (2021), ISBN   978-1-949-116-20-5
• Make Mine A Double: Why Women Like Us Like to Drink (or Not) (2011), ISBN   978-1-58465-759-0
• The Signet Book of American Humor (2004), ISBN   978-0-451-21058-6
• Don't Tell Mama: The Penguin Book of Italian American Writing (2002), ISBN   978-0-14-200247-6
• A Sit-down with the Sopranos: Watching Italian American Culture on TV's Most Talked About Series (2002), ISBN   978-0-312-29528-8
• The Erotics of Instruction (1997), ISBN   978-0-87451-806-1 ^[30]
• The Penguin Book of Women's Humor (1996), ISBN   978-0-14-017294-2
• Desire and Imagination: 20 Classic Essays in Sexuality (1995), ISBN   978-0-452-01150-2
• Fay Weldon's Wicked Fictions (1994)
• New Perspectives on Women and Comedy (1992), ISBN   978-2-88124-533-6
• Sex and Death in Victorian Literature (1990), ISBN   978-0-253-31015-6
• Last Laughs (1988) ISBN   978-0677220208

Books introduced

• Dorothy Parker. Complete Stories Colleen Bresse (Editor), Regina Barreca (Introduction) ISBN   978-0142437216
• Louisa May. Little Women Regina Barreca (Introduction), Susan Straight (Afterword) ISBN   978-0593198025

Honorary degrees and awards

In 2000, she received an honorary degree from Shepard's College in West Virginia. ^[31] She received an honorary degree from Manchester Community College in 2014, and honorary Doctorate of Human Letters, Charter Oak State College, Connecticut in 2016. ^[6]

References

1. "Six CLAS Professors Receive AAUP Excellence Awards | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences". clas.uconn.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
2. "Regina Barreca". University of Connecticut Department of English. University of Connecticut. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
3. "Gina Barreca". Geno Auriemma UConn Leadership Conference. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
4. "Gina Barreca Ph.D". Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
5. "Induction Ceremony 2012 | Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame". cwhf.org. Archived from the original on 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2018-06-26.
6. Regina Barreca. "curriculum vitae" (PDF). uconn.edu. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
7. Barreca, Gina. "Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Co-Education in the Ivy League". University Press of New England. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
8. "Regina Barreca - Department of English". english.uconn.edu. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
9. Barreca, Gina (6 July 2003). "HEPBURN MEMO; All Girl, but Never a Girly-Girl". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
10. Barreca, Regina. "A dying father, impatient to the end". The Philadelphia Inquirer. H.F. Gerry Lenfest. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
11. Barreca, Gina (30 March 2016). "Patty Duke and the good girl/bad girl syndrome". Chicago Tribune. The Tribune. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
12. Barreca, Gina (29 May 2015). "The $150,000 purse and other 'wife bonuses'". Chicago Tribune. The Tribune. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
13. "Keynote Speakers". Greenways Coming Home. Dartmouth College. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
14. Sundberg Seaman, Kelly. "Talking With: Gina Barreca '79". Dartmouth News. Dartmouth. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
15. Barreca, Gina (20 February 2016). "Hillary Clinton is a woman who doesn't know her place". Orlando Sentinel. The Tribune. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
16. Barreca, Gina (19 March 2016). "Here are 10 things you must stop doing immediately". Orlando Sentinel. The Tribune. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
17. Barreca, Gina. "Real stories, real laughter, real women". Ms. Magazine. Liberty Media for Women, LLC. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
18. Barreca, Gina (15 July 2013). "Why I Love Fay Weldon". The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education Inc. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
19. Barreca, Gina; Weingarten, Gene (9 January 2006). I'm with Stupid: One Man. One Woman. 10,000 Years of Misunderstanding Between the Sexes Cleared Right Up. Simon & Schuster. ISBN   9780743278881 . Retrieved 31 August 2016.
20. Morales, Tatiana (9 February 2004). "'I'm With Stupid'". CBS News .
21. Common Sense Capitalism (2010-12-23), Free to Choose Part 6: What's Wrong With Our Schools Featuring Milton Friedman, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2019-03-16
22. Barreca, Gina. "It's Not That I'm Bitter..." Macmillan Publishers. St. Martin's Press. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
23. "Regina Barreca – Connecticut Marriage Index". FamilySearch . 12 October 1991.
24. Review of It's Not That I'm Bitter: Publishers Weekly
25. Reviews of Babes in Boyland: Kirkus, Journal of American Culture, Publishers Weekly
26. Review of I'm with Stupid: Publishers Weekly
27. Review of Sweet Revenge: Los Angeles Times
28. Review of Perfect Husbands: Kirkus
29. Reviews of They Used to Call Me Snow White: Publishers Weekly, Kirkus
30. Regina Barreca. "The Erotics of Instruction". upne.com. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
31. "Where's Your Diploma? – Brainstorm – Blogs – The Chronicle of Higher Education". www.chronicle.com. 25 January 2012. Retrieved 2018-05-08.

^{[1] [2]}

External links

• Official website
• Gina Barreca at The University of Connecticut

1. "50 Years of Ms". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 2023-09-18.
2. "Barreca, Regina. "What's So Funny". Ms. Magazine. Knopf. 2023. Print". Ms. Magazine. Retrieved 2023-09-18.