Why Aren’t There More Women Bloggers? Really, Why Do Women Bloggers Complain About The Lack of Competition?

The first question IS a charged question for the reasons Ann mentions–which include family considerations:

I’m no expert on marriage, though I was married long ago, but I can imagine what a husband would say if he was witnessing my writing habits. I picture him telling me it’s absurd to live like this. It’s unhealthy. It’s insane.

I’m just going to leave that statement as written.

Ann chastises women for not “claiming time as their own”. There is something to that. Whether it be sports or fiddling with an engine or whatever a man’s hobby ends up being, it’s understood that he will carve time out to fill his needs. A woman is more likely to be “guilt tripped” about the time it takes to do something like blogging. A woman needs to be strong both in her personal life and professionally to blog.

She needs to be strong and have skin of steel, too. The internet can be unkind to women. I have published here some of the more creative ways lefties have suggested I off myself. Meh. Generally, the nonsense doesn’t faze me. In person, these same tough guys and gals wouldn’t likely be so vicious or brave. For example commenter “Belinda” just left this insight on my blog tonight:

Reich wing nut case site. Your party is so unpopular. Look at the statistics. You lying gangster thugs have lost the youth and educated vote. Sure elections were stolen in 200 and 2004 just as the right wing HAS TO STEAL elections around the world as your party is the party of the wealthy few. You only get common people to vote against their interests with lies. US installs right wing dictatorships around the world against the inhabitants wishes. You think they are suddenly ethical here at home. You reich wing lying filth make me ill.

I especially like the “reich wing lying filth” part.

Time management and family demands, psycho readers and bloggers, and then, there’s the whole blogger personality-type which, I think skews toward men. I’ve blogged about this before. And I think Glenn Reynolds is right about this:

In that spirit, here’s my own hypothesis: Men are genetically programmed to try to stand out through action, in the hopes of attracting women. It’s true, of course that blogging is a relatively ineffective way of doing that — but so are many other ways this urge manifests itself, like extreme Star Trek fandom. The point is the genetically programmed urge, which isn’t programmed into women in the same manner. Is this true? Beats me, but it’s amusing.

There is a related trait about men: the guy who gets the laughs and wins the argument gets the girl and the respect. So, in a group of men, the alpha male is the guy who “holds court”. Bloggers with big audiences are holding court–some, like Glenn, have very big courts.

Women are just not usually programmed this way. In fact, my own blog subtitle is “information pollination”. My motivation is to share ideas. Do guys feel the same way? Do they have the communal impulse? I don’t know.

I do know this: I’m not a normal girl. What I mean is this: I’m interested in science fiction and read fantasy. I follow politics and care little for shoe shopping. I value solitude and while very social in groups, am very selectively social–as in, you’re not going to find me at a mother’s group talking about potty-training. I enjoy being by myself and thinking and reading.

These traits make motherhood challenging and blogging relatively easy. Mothering is social. A mom is constantly interrupted whether she is doing the dishes and laundry or whether she is blogging. When I’m at the office seeing patients, I get the peace of focusing on the patient. Because I blog at home, the only time I get that luxury is after the kids are in bed and that cuts into spousal social time. Or, it can. When there’s a political debate, all bets are off–my blog is my job. Tough bananas around here.

When I’ve gotten together socially either online or in person with women bloggers, they have all expressed that it has been difficult wish spouses or boyfriends–and not necessarily because they’re being hassled (although that’s the case sometimes), but because it does take a lot of time away from other things a person can be doing.

I just think women bloggers are a small segment of the population–especially women political bloggers. No offense, Ann, but we’re weird. Okay, maybe not weird, but certainly not typical. The lawyer woman complaining needs to either get more interesting or more link-social, I still maintain that women bloggers who write worthy blogs rise to the top. There is just so much competition.

Still, and ultimately, anyone who blogs has to blog because it’s fun and he likes it. The pay isn’t great and there are few perks. Making friends with incredibly smart and interesting people is one of the perks.

Women have to deal with a lot to blog, but for those who love it, there’s no excuses. They sacrifice other activities and time and do what they want–blogging.

Posted in Mind • Nerd Stuff
Tags: Blogging • Feminism • Men • Psychology • Women