Gender Bender
I drove home last night thinking about whether the blogosphere is male dominated and whether blogs are equally conducive to male and female thought.
Since blogging can be anonymous and profiles can be falsely populated, I imagine it's difficult to conduct research on who blogs what, how many men have blogs, how many women, etc. Having done no research at all and having no right to make this assumption, I'm going to say that bloggers who blog frequently and blogs with heavy traffic are often written/owned by men. I only say this because it has been my experience (as a new blog surfer/lurker) that many of the popular blogs I've seen and many of the blogs featured in news stories I've read are written by men. This is not to say that men greatly outweigh the number of women with blogs, but...I just have a feeling. So that'll have to do for now. Until I can dig up some research (that will probably end up proving me wrong).
Anyway. The point I want to reach is this: I think blogging is an ideal medium for women, and more specifically, for feminism. Blogging is communal; it sparks discussion and new ideas; it can be inspirational or motivational; it can be confessional; it can be political; it's often heated; it can attract attention, both negative and positive; it can be creative. These things are true of feminism as well. The two seem a perfect pair.
More on this, probably, but I'm at work. And besides, there's homework to do.
Since blogging can be anonymous and profiles can be falsely populated, I imagine it's difficult to conduct research on who blogs what, how many men have blogs, how many women, etc. Having done no research at all and having no right to make this assumption, I'm going to say that bloggers who blog frequently and blogs with heavy traffic are often written/owned by men. I only say this because it has been my experience (as a new blog surfer/lurker) that many of the popular blogs I've seen and many of the blogs featured in news stories I've read are written by men. This is not to say that men greatly outweigh the number of women with blogs, but...I just have a feeling. So that'll have to do for now. Until I can dig up some research (that will probably end up proving me wrong).
Anyway. The point I want to reach is this: I think blogging is an ideal medium for women, and more specifically, for feminism. Blogging is communal; it sparks discussion and new ideas; it can be inspirational or motivational; it can be confessional; it can be political; it's often heated; it can attract attention, both negative and positive; it can be creative. These things are true of feminism as well. The two seem a perfect pair.
More on this, probably, but I'm at work. And besides, there's homework to do.
I've only been reading blogs for the past few months. In that time it has become an addiction of sorts. But I certainly don't read in any 'scientific' manner that would allow me judge the most prolific writers of blogs. But I can offer this generalization based on purely personal opinion. Women bloggers (at least those I think are women!) are by far the most humorous and fun to read.
Posted by Anonymous | 10:55 PM
I don't doubt it. As a reader, I'm drawn to the female voice as well. I really do think blogs are wonderful tools for women.
Posted by Sara | 5:25 PM
...And thanks for the comment!
Posted by Sara | 5:26 PM
and thanks for thinking about this.
think some ore. are women bloggers more communitarian? can you see examples?
Posted by Anonymous | 9:00 PM
and who is em?
Posted by Anonymous | 9:00 PM
I'm going to think about that one...thanks for the thought food. ;)
And I'm not sure who em is.
Who are you, em?
Posted by Sara | 11:14 PM