“Where the fuck did the author of those Sciblogs posts get her absurd name?”

So writes ‘Alf Grumble’ on his blog today ^[2]. Normally if people know how to pronounce my name, it tells me a little something of their misspent youth. Alf is obviously a model citizen. Because I am named after 70′s punk icon Siouxsie Sioux ^[3]*. Which gives me the opportunity to play one of my favourite Siouxsie and the Banshees songs, Spellbound.

^[4]

Siouxsie is pronounced just like Susie but I do get all sorts. Like when University of Otago’s Prof Kurt Krause ^[5] called me Sushi when we were interviewed ^[6] live on TV One’s former current affairs programme Close Up. It was hard not to giggle. A close friend used to pronounce it S-eye-ook-see. But that was just to wind me up.

But today is the first time I’m aware of that someone has taken to their blog to be rude about my name**.

I guess I should be flattered that Alf took the time to write so eloquently. He even went to the trouble of finding a video on You Tube explaining how to pronounce Sioux ^[8]. I’m guessing that as well as not being a punk fan, he also hasn’t heard of one of the groups of people who originally inhabited North America. In which case, I think Alf’s post says far more about him than me.

*I wasn’t always. But over 20 years ago, I had a crush on someone who adored Siouxsie. He started spelling it that way and it stuck. I still carry a torch for him.

**I do wonder if he would have written the post had I not been white?