MSM Gender-Bends the Blogs Again

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Fri Aug 10, 2007 at 09:26:34 PM EST
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Last week it was the Washington Post. Today it is columnist Ellen Goodman. What is it about the media that compels it to falsely insist liberal bloggers are a bunch of angry white males and that female bloggers were conspicuously absent from Yearly Kos?

See Jane's debunking today of this Invisible Woman myth.

There is no dearth of politically liberal blogs written by women. And there was no shortage of women at Yearly Kos. Here's Digby:

More...

I have to say that I was a little bit non-plussed by this article in the Washington Post today saying that it was nothing but a bunch of middle aged white men. It reminded me of a scene from the HBO show "Six Feet Under" where Kathy Bates takes her recently widowed pal into a department store for some recreational shop-lifting, chiding her for not fully taking advantage of the fact that middle aged women are completely invisible. Perhaps being a member of that contingent myself, I noticed that there were a great many of them present at this convention (and I think I hugged every one of them.) They were present in large numbers at every event I attended, listening attentively and asking probing questions. Next year maybe we can all wear bells or something so the press will know we're there.

They were also on panels and moderating panels. Where does this stuff come from?

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MSM Gender-Bends the Blogs Again | 8 comments (8 topical)

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one hardly knows what to say (none / 0) (#1)
by Sumner on Fri Aug 10, 2007 at 10:55:24 PM EST

It must have been a tough act to follow for the presidential candidates later at the AFL-CIO Democratic Presidential Forum.

The Yearly Kos Convention: Building a Netroots Nation, succeeded in living up to its billing, as intended. It was up against the desperate events of the rush vote to strip Americans, et al., of some of our most precious freedoms.

Do you think you might have misplaced reservations about the accuracy of Ellen Goodman's assertions? You are our center here, Jeralyn.

mcjoan dropped in here while you were in Chicago and received only encouragent. You were hands-on here, while there, like a trooper.

Stereotyping some the heavy-hitters at Yearly Kos as second class anything, especially by the MSM, rings specious.

Can we help you channel your anger?

My bookmarks are full of invisible women (none / 0) (#2)
by joejoejoe on Sat Aug 11, 2007 at 03:07:22 AM EST

My top six bookmarks are...

Daily Kos (6 of 13 front pagers are women)
FDL
TPM (Testosterone Points Memo)
The Next Hurrah (mostly for Marcy Wheeler)
Digby
TalkLeft

Ah yup...no women there. I just shake my at these stories. I think there are people who actually read blogs for several hours each week, people who read blogs about an hour a week, people who say they read blogs but really mean they read 5 minutes of Drudge, and then people who write about blogs who don't read blogs but consult an expert about blogs (somebody who reads 5 minutes of Drudge) to point them in the right direction.

II enjoy Ellen Goodman's writing. (none / 0) (#3)
by oculus on Sat Aug 11, 2007 at 03:50:26 AM EST

Not sure why she took on this subject though.

Cokey Roberts reporting on Yearly Kos 2 sounded a bit out of her depth also. She seemed to have a kind of smile in her voice--oh those crazy kids.

The issue for me is male bloggers behavior (none / 0) (#4)
by ctrenta on Sat Aug 11, 2007 at 05:25:47 AM EST

I agree that there are a number of women bloggers involved in political blogging.

The bigger issue for me, as a male, is the behavior, language, insults or put-downs. and even physical threats occur in blogging (including the political blogosphere. There have been numerous instances and I would think that the source of this kind of behavior eminates from men. When was the last time you saw a female blogger initiate these same kinds of characterisitics against male and female bloggers?

The case in point was what happened to Salon's Joan Walsh and software desinger Kathy Sierra. Where were the break-out seminars on responsible blogging? Was there a session showing research of the gender breakdown of how male and female bloggers write comments? I can't imagine the discrepancies there! How many physical threats on the blogosphere were made by men against other men and women?

After what happened to Walsh and Sierra, what is Yearly Kos doing to stop this, shouldn't it be treated as important as getting Dems elected? People on Kos may say that's not tolerated but what is the left political blogosphere in general doing to go above and beyond lip service? Where were the male bloggers speaking out against their own behavior towards female and male bloggers? I think that the progressive/left-leaning blogosphere (especialy men) have an important role to play, especially when we tout a philosophy or principles dedeicated to equality, diversity, and respect.

This to me is the bigger issue. Not how many women blog vs. men because as Jeralyn (and other bloggers) have pointed out, there are just as many female political bloggers out there.

I have no problem with male (5.00 / 2) (#5)
by Militarytracy on Sat Aug 11, 2007 at 10:21:39 AM EST

bloggers who are testosterone stupid as I dish it right back and usually better. Just because some of them say or act certain ways doesn't deter me. I have to deal with such men all over my real life, and I handle them in the blog world the same way I handle them in the real world.


Boys should not be boys, but mature men (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by ctrenta on Sat Aug 11, 2007 at 01:41:29 PM EST

As I male I can't let other men off the hook. I still think that's not an excuse to perpetuate their behavior. As I said, men are perpetrators in physically threating men and female bloggers and I think its mens duties to step up, compassionaltely confront each other and put an end to violent behavior on the blogosphere. What happened to Joan Walsh and Kathy Sierra is unacceptable and as a male blogger, I wish other men who blog would be shocked about it as I am.

PS: I single men out because every year, the Bureau of Justice Statistics show the number of violent crimes and homocides committed by gender and it's alarming to me the over 90-95% of those who committ violence are men. I see this as a mens' health crisis, why do we committ a proportionate amount of violence on other men and women? Why aren't men doing something meaningful about it, instead of being defensive or making excuses with "Oh well, boys will be boys" or "If you can't lick 'em, join 'em?"

I see this same kind of behavior being communicated by men on the blogosphere and as men we need to call ourselves on how we conduct ourselves here. And most of all, THERE IS NO EXCUSE to physically harm others on the blogs. Period.

I fully agree with you about censoring (none / 0) (#7)
by Militarytracy on Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 03:05:05 PM EST

and instructing our peers, and men learn how to be men best from other men. I realize that most women don't respond to men offensively attacking them as I do. I tend to view it as a mind over matter thing until it gets physical. Of course sometimes the physical happens when other forms of threat fail to make the desired impression. As a nation and a society we are failing our men horribly in what we reward and often what we insist of them and demand from them. They are very fortunate to count you among their numbers and a peer.


: On the other hand (none / 0) (#8)
by Alien Abductee on Sun Aug 12, 2007 at 08:24:53 PM EST

there's always someone ready to use the imperfections of people and how they relate to one another - and yes how people, particularly certain male people, decide to relate online is often pretty ugly - to shut down and control the freedom of speech the internet gives us. Losing that or giving over control of what's sayable online to some kind of organization would be an utter loss imo, regardless of their good intentions:

Adler said there is no international body regulating what is on the Internet, and no way of verifying the authenticity of claims that are being made online.
I'd much rather put up with individual *ssholes online with all the inherent shortcomings than be forced to submit to some kind of routinized censorship that can't be routed around. And believe me, that's what our would-be guardians have in mind.