Blogging The Next Revolution

Posted by Myrna the Minx on July 30, 2008 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

Since attending BlogHer 08, I’ve been thinking a lot about how my approach to blogging and my goals for blogging affect the nature of my blogging. Anyway, I’ve written a little about this, but I do feel that there is a big difference between people who approach blogging as storytelling first, and those like me who approach blogging as a form of activism. So, what is bugging me? I’m finally getting close to nailing it down. I think what’s bugging me is that I want women to take THEMSELVES more seriously. BlogHer is fun, parties are fun, and BlogHer should definitely have them, but I can’t help but feel that BlogHer is a part of that tradition of women seeking out safe spaces to be women rather than confronting more difficult spaces and issues.

Let me make comparison that I hope makes sense. I see the growing popularity of the craft movement in kind of the same way (think of Etsy). Its a sort of retro woman way to be feminine and creative in a way that’s safe, often surrounded by a circle of your best girlfriends, but a craft circle is not a revolutionary act–no matter how postmodern or poststructuralist you try to get with it. Buying homemade can SORT OF subvert the idea of modern capitalism but, if you buy your handmade stuff on Etsy, it’s still shipped to you in trucks and planes that spew carbon so there’s always some way it breaks down. Is there anything wrong with women seeking out safe places to be women? Absolutely not. But I want that and I want more. I want what Jennifer Pozner and Catherine Orenstein want. I want more women to write opeds so that we have a more important voice in the vital conversations. I want more women to run for the legislature at all levels. I want more women to become judges. I want to see more women political pundits on cable news shows. I want more women to TAKE their place. That’s the only way we’ll get it.

• 84% of guests on influential Sunday morning political talk shows on TV
• 85% of Hollywood producers
• 85% of nonfiction books on The New York Times best-selling
• 85-90% of radio producers
• 84% of congress (source OpEd Project)

Whether or not you think the above can be fully explained by the lower rates at which women submit op-eds, publish books, or run for congress, its important to address it seriously. If you don’t hear the voice of nearly half the population, then you aren’t hearing the whole story.

And that brings me to a comment on a Salon Broadsheet post by Rebecca Traister about the New York Times’ choice to place it’s Sunday article about BlogHer, “Blogging The Glass Ceiling,” in the Style section (among other things). achilleselbow’s comment is a response to another comment asserting that women bloggers who “hybridize the personal and the political” don’t get the attention or respect a more traditionally male blog about politics gets from the mainstream media. Here’s the brilliant portion (emphasis added):

“At some point you really have to just face the reality that politics, economics, and science affect the masses in the same way, while everyone’s personal and emotional lives are unique and not necessarily generalizable. And from a practical standpoint, I think it’s much easier for women to keep trying to break certain glass ceilings than to try to change the entire focus of Western civilization, especially since now we apparently know that they are equally good at math and science after all.”

Yes! That’s what I want. I want women to worry less about making what is “feminine” more valuable, and more about claiming positions of power from which change can be made. Retreating to safe spaces is a vaulable experience, but even more valuable is making all spaces safe.

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For the many who raised our voices, educated ourselves and became involved for change…the metaphorical glass ceiling became the albatross. We reached. We climbed. We met. We voted. We ran for office and even won some. Why am I speaking in the past tense? It was a generation of women who are now looking behind them and wondering where are the women warriors who were with us – and how the ceiling still exists – and we’re seing daily women who have become their own worst enemies – did they think the job was done? Please help us find the voices of half the population. If we are to have change, we can’t just take a break because we’re busy with our families…the feminist movement is about our daughters and our sons ..daughters and sons around the world are watching us still jousting with our little glass ceilings. Let’s search out the rest of the story. Making safe places is good but we have to come out of them to make more spaces safe.

Comment by sistajoy on July 30, 2008 @ 11:12 pm

I think this is a great post. I think you are right, that we need to build the ranks. I also think sistajoy is right, that we thought just breaking the ceiling was enough, but the war isn’t even close to being over.

I was at a panel on healthcare blogging the other day and it was all men. One of the panelists, Ezra Klein, was very thoughtful and said that women often are known as women bloggers, even if all they talk about is politics. This means when people put together panels of political bloggers, they never pick women because they don’t consider them voices on politics.

While I appreciated Ezra’s sentiments, I believe it goes a little bit deeper than that. And I think we need to think carefully about what we should change and what we should fight to keep the same in this war. Meaning, i still want my craft blogs (or whatever it is I have that is for women only), but I have to get out of my safety zone and take on some of this BS head on. I have to volunteer to create a panel at Netroots and then fill it with only women. I have to approach key Democrats in my district when they’re looking for a candidate to run for Congress, and give them a list of three women. And then have 5 of my friends do the same. And finally, I need to run for office myself, or get myself on TV as one of the pundits. It’s not enough to work towards the cause by sitting safely in my office everyday. It’s time we all became part of the solution.

Comment by Christy on July 31, 2008 @ 11:30 am

Good job! I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. As part of that same vein of women not taking themselves seriously and hence others don’t take us seriously, I’ve also been disappointed to see that the BlogHer iVillage partnership has – so far – only netted stories such as “50 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Beauty Budget” (or a title close to it) and offerings today from Mommy blogs and categories including “Life” (a post about a guy/heartbreak) and “Sex and Relationships.” Hope to see some changes there.

AND HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY, MYRNA! (the only time i think i’ve ever posted anything in all caps in my life)

Comment by pajamadeen on August 3, 2008 @ 3:24 pm

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