Blogging is the New Feminist Act

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I know it seems like some of us here in the bloggy-sphere are still a bit star struck after getting to hang out with Katie Couric last week. But something she asked while we were with her has been on my mind.

Katie, you see, is a blogging newbie. Yes, she has her CBS blog, but that's a bit different from what many of us do out here.

So, she had loads of questions about why a group of professional, educated mothers would spend their time writing about their lives and their opinions on the web.

It's a fair query. It's not like we don't have a few other things to do, like work, take care of our families and try to figure out how to stay on top of answering all those questions our children come up with at the most interesting times.

So after mulling her question over, especially after spending the rest of the weekend with some other incredible women, I realized this:

I have to write my blog.

I need a place to write about the things I feel strongly about. Things I wish there were more conversations about, especially among women. After having had a taste of getting paid to write about my views, I realized there is amazing power in putting those words out there.

I know this word gets used a lot, but it's empowering to be able to do it and say it and take it without having to get permission from publishers and producers and editors.

This is a place where we can make our voices heard without anyone asking the question of whether our thoughts and political views are worthy of being made public.

On the opinion pages of newspapers, women make up less than 20% of opinion columnists. Political talk show guests are still mostly comprised of a bunch of white guys mulling over the week's events. Using our blogs to talk about the issues that are important to us as women gets us closer to taking our place at the table.

Blogging is the new feminist act.

By writing about ourselves, our lives and our opinions on blogs that are becoming more widely read every day, we have taken the power that many of us have been waiting for others to give us. There is huge strength in that.

Don't believe me? Over 36 million women are blogging today. That's almost one-fourth of the women in the United States. Half of the bloggers in America are women.

Yeah, we've got blogs and we're not afraid to use them.

So, there's my answer. Maybe by using this forum to express ourselves, something will take hold and we'll start to make inroads at the other places where we desperately need more double-XX-ers.

A girl can dream, can't she?

Photo by PunditMom.

Joanne is the creator of PunditMom, her personal blog about the intersection of politics and motherhood. She is also a Contributing Editor for Politics & News at BlogHer and a contributor to MOMocrats.

Comments

[Alyonka]

If to look at headlines there are two themes - about sex and about feminism. It seems, those, who's been given, write about sex and those, who hasn't - about feminism.
So what's the luck to be not a princess, but a bugaboo for a man? And man (poor!) as scared so already can't noticed a princess...
Probably, if you'd have not a dial, but sand watch upon your hands, so would be in a hurry to love every irrevocably gone moment.

[cylindar]

Forget about the term "Feminism". It is old, outdated and many women do ot want to be tied to the term. Try egalitarian.

[anywho]

Just don't bother with any sub text; be strong and move forward, be women first at all times.

Second and foremost IGNORE the MSM. They are corporations run by white men.

Women rule. Go OBAMA!!!

[GromytTheDog]

That was a great post!

I think we bloggy women are the DIY riot grrrls with our little zines and self-made rock 'n' roll tapes all grown up and with kids. But still as opinonated and smart as ever.

[spyfive]

blogging is such an accessible & friendly medium for self-expression, and it's so empowering to hear that so many women are taking advantage of the opportunities it offers (myself included! i'm addicted & loving it!).

[Jude2004]

I checked out one of your blog posts, and it was about women. I can imagine few things more boring than reading about women--or men. Some people act as though we are separate species. I attended a support group for parents of gifted and talented kids--every one of them a woman. The last time I went, it turned out that all of them were married. I was the only single mother in the group, and the situation I described meant nothing to them. We might all be parents of smart kids, but I realized then how little that gives us to talk about. We might all be women, but we are so different.

[Bluedog12]

Sadly the Blog reader misses out on the shrillness of some comment. Just imagine If we were only able to read and not see and hear the demented rantings of Malkin and Coulter. Blogging has it's limitations.

[mamacat]

It was less than 90 years ago that women got the right to vote in the United States. The day that the constitutional amendment passed entitling women to vote should be honored every year, with news reports, assemblies in schools, stories about the women who struggled and suffered to achieve this goal. Instead, there is no news, whatsoever, every year. Women's emancipation in the U.S. could rightfully be celebrated every August 18th, when the 19th amendment to the constitution was passed in 1920.
This August 18th will mark the 88th year that women have enjoyed the right to vote in federal elections.

[MoreCowBellNowPlease]

I can't believe there are no posts here. I am so offended over the silencing of the feminists over the sexism of this campaign. It by no means that I prefer Clinton to Obama, but I prefer NOT to be for the notion that racism is horrible (which it is) yet sexism is okay (which it is now). I am all for Obama getting the nomination but not at the expense of sexism. BOTH can happen.

We'll have to regroup after this election and come back stronger.

[Tumult]

Jesse Jackson failed in his presidential runs as the "black" candidate, Obama is doing well as the candidate that happens to be black. Clinton has made the same mistake Jackson made, running as a victim does not work. If you want a barrier breaker do not go with someone with alot of baggage and character flaws. And do not make the barrier your trying to break central to your campaign. It is important not to let people get away with sexism any more than racism, but after calling them on it, stay away from the gender or race issue, harping on it does not help. The Obama campaign did alot of planning on how they were going to present him hiring consultants that specialize in minority packaging. The Clinton campaign has been inconsistent with their message, and arrogant enough about being inevitable that they were not careful with what they did.
I remember feeling good that one of the NASA robotics projects was dominated by women, and while it was never pointed out, it was something I noticed. But if someone pointed out another project was dominated by men with the implication of sexism, I would have been offended.

[RobertAndropolis]

You cannot make a blanket statement about "sexism of this campaign" without citing examples to back your assertion and encourage intelligent debate. As a fifty-two year old male who has had the privilege of growing up with a sister seven years my senior during the height of the feminist movement, I saw first-hand the divide between the sexes and the struggle (ongoing) to bridge that chasm. Senator Clinton, my sister's age, continues to sound the "double-standard" alarm (Wednesday to NPR's Michelle Norris), an alarm she did not sound pre-Iowa when she was twenty-points ahead. As MSNBC's Chris Matthews said in response, "At some point you have to decide whether you're a leader, or you're a victim."

[MoreCowBellNowPlease]

If you insist...

This sort of sums it up http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/election_2008/2008/04/09/one_last_time/index.html

And for the record--Hillary didn't cry victim to any of these sexist things below.

When asked, "How do we beat the bitch?" McCain responds after a good laugh, "That's an excellent question."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLQGWpRVA7o

And here a few more things that Hillary never used to play the victim.

Carl Bernstein"s disgust at Hillary"s "thick ankles."

Nixon-trickster Roger Stone"s new Hillary-hating 527 group, "Citizens United Not Timid" (check the capital letters). http://www.citizensunitednottimid.org/

The sexist idiot screamed "Iron my shirt!" at HRC, it was considered amusing; if a racist idiot shouted "Shine my shoes!" at BO, it would"ve inspired hours of airtime and pages of newsprint analyzing our national dishonor.

The Hillary nutcracker with metal sikes btwn her legs that is sold on the internet and in airports.
http://www.hillarynutcracker.com/completelynuts.html

http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/good-bye-to-all-that-part-ii-by-robin-morgan/
http://blueohioan.blogspot.com/2008/03/sexism-rampant-in-democratic-primary.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/29/female-clinton-supporters_n_94046.html
http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-032908-al-chelsea_clinton.1297c1f4.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/opinion/08steinem.html?_r=1&oref=slogin posted 04/10/2008 at 23:00:28

[DoninJoisey]

I see no evidence of sexism against Hillary. I do see her exploiting sexism - I heard her say to a group of women - "help me break the ultimate glass ceiling".

I'm a 60-year old white male. My wife of 33 years says she would like a woman president (It's immaterial to me, I want the best person, be they hermaphrodite or whatever) but feels it demeaning to women that Hillary is only on the public stage because of "wife of".
She would like a woman who made it on her own.

My wife and I also dislike those who lie frequently.

[rachaelisacancer]

Seeing sexism is half the battle. The fact that you and your wife actually believe the propoganda stating Hillary wouldn't be anywhere without being the "wife of" proves just how sexist you are.

Do you know anything about anything Hillary has accomplished? Did you know that Life magazine featured her as one of the most amazing college women of her time (pre-Bill fame)? Did you know that she didn't even want to get married and take Bill's name but did it to please her mother and this goddamn sexist nation?

No, all that the majority of the Hillary haters know is what they've been told by Fux news and the Obamanation. They haven't bothered to do any research or find out any answers for themselves. God forbid they should pick up a f-ing book or search the library of congress. And then they've got the cover-all, yet asinine, argument that the women who are propping Hillary up in this election are all somehow confused little girls who don't really understand what equality for women is.

I dislike people who hide their own prejudices under the guise of rationale.

[dolvlo]

The republican PR machine has been manufacturing semi-sexist remarks about hillary clinton for quite some time since they knew she was planning on running for president. In this, I believe she really got screwed.

But there's a really great reason Clinton lost: Obama is a clean candidate. He does not take money from PACs and doesn't (get caught) lying. Everyone lies (you know its true), but he doesn't do it blatantly like Clinton does.

[moderator-jand - Huffpost Blogger]

I have been blogging myself since mid 2001, most of the woman I know blog. SO do most of the men I know. And none of us do it for money, or fame or anything else. We just do it to make sense of our own lives, or to correspond with friends.

[dolvlo]

This is awesome. I am amazed at some of those statistics, especially that half of the bloggers in the united states are women. It makes me very optimistic about the future of this world.

Feminism is not just for women, and once (most) men start realizing that it is about breaking down gender boundaries and stereotypes and not giving women an unfair advantage, this world will be a much better place. I am a man, and it angers me to hear such subversively unfeminist things like "save the women and children first" in media.