Women, Geeks, and the Blogosphere
David Weinberger informs us that the first BlogHer Conference will occur this July, in Santa Clara, CA. This "first of its kind" conference hopes to provide an opportunity for the female blogging community to meet in person. In addition, the organizers plan for it to focus the event on the following ill-structured problems:
- Discuss the role of women within the larger blog community
- Examine the developing (and debatable) code of blogging ethics
- Discover how blogging is shrinking the world and amplifying the voices of women worldwide
Now, anyone who’s been following the evolution of the blogosphere will note that the two questions that will not die are absent from the list. Those missing questions are, of course, "Where are all of the female bloggers?(a really stupid, but persistent question)", and, "Why aren’t there more female a-list bloggers?(Not a stupid question… but nevertheless a question that tends to be very toxic to conversations…)" The organizers of the conference are very wise to avoid those polemic inducing questions for two reasons: Firstly, the questions make unwarranted assumptions. Secondly, the questions tend to neither produce solutions, or greater understanding of situation.
So if ya’ll don’t mind, I’d like to do my part for the good of the conference, and strike those two questions down. To begin, allow me to answer the question, "where are all the female bloggers?"
->Females make up 56% percent of the blogosphere. Men are, in fact, the minority. (2)
So now that we’ve established that women are-in-fact-blogging (golly! how swell is that?), we’re immediately faced with another question "how come the minority of men dominate the blogosphere?" Now, if this question were asked on a TV show like Crossfire, the wide range of existing opinions would probably be reduced to these two sides:
Opinion 1: Men just make better bloggers then women… obviously this is because they have testicles, are "naturally more competitive and warlike"(1), and have larger hands and broad shoulders (or something… usually this side’s argument suffers from a dearth of evidence).
Opinion 2 which differs from Opinion 1: Men are just being men (a.k.a. pigs); in a serious of secret meetings, the steering committee of manliness passed several resolutions to prevent women from succeeding in the blogosphere.
Obviously, most everyone will find these two extremes idiotic… however, even moderate versions of these views are –IMHO — misguided at best. So, let’s consider this issue by asking a different question: "What advantage do men have over women, that might account for their over visibility in the blogosphere?" Have you figured it out? It’s right under your nose…
Computer geeks, web designers, developers, and various other nerd-trades — until recently — have been overwhelmingly dominated by males. The technology that allows the blogosphere was created by geeks; since they were here first (and indeed, geeks are hugely over-represented in the blogosphere), they’ve been in a better position to dominate this early period in the evolution of the blogosphere. In my opinion, various social expectations and peer pressure are to blame for the lack of women geeks. Seriously… let us not forget the way almost all of us thought in middle and high school. How many girls dared to be deep geeks (and, by way of common interests, socialize with the geeks)? At my school, I seem to recall only five girls who were deep geeks. All of them were truly astonishing people, for on the one hand, not caring about the very real social consequences of being a female geek, and tolerating the clumsy passes that the male geeks would make on them.
Now, the bright side of this is that technology is becoming more common place; thus the stereotype of "if you can use a computer you are a nerd" is steadily disappearing. In addition, the learning curve for blogging technology is steadily decreasing. Combined, these two trends will almost certainly overpower the early advantage that the geeks (who happen to be overwhelmingly male) had in the blogosphere.
That said, there are a few remaining points I wanted to make. Firstly, in regards to there being a lack of a-list female bloggers. In order for a blogger to gain a mass audience, they must appeal our more vulgar, and reptilian-brained interests. Basically, the content has to be television-ized; for, as someone once pointed out, people tend to be very similar in what vulgarities they find interesting; but when it comes to their noble and enlightened interests, they tend to be wildly different. Most of the female bloggers that I know will never become a-list bloggers for the following reasons:
a) They already have jobs that pay a lot better than even the most succesful full time blogging gig.
b) Have a tendency not to compromise their integrity and morality for the sake of appealing to a mass audience.
c) Recognize that in a many-to-many medium, a high quality audience is much more rewarding, both intellectually, and emotionally, than a large mediocre one (if you don’t believe me just read the comment threads at Wizbang).
I’m not claiming that those reasons are a "female thing" — they are just my personal observations.
On a final note, this whole debate fails to bring up one of the most beautiful aspects of the blogosphere: who gives a crap whether a blogger is male or female? This whole special attention that has been given to females and blogs seems almost sexist to me. For example, read just one post from Citizen€™s Rent, Rebecca Mackinnon, Rox Populi, IddyBud and Feministe. The first thing you€™ll notice is how wonderfully diverse, intelligent, and entertaining this independent form of commentary we call "the weblog" can be. Then, you might notice that all of those posts happen to have been written by women.
However, clearly, the greater lesson is that you can€™t just lump bloggers together like insects and say €œfemale bloggers face this challenge€€ or, €œfemale bloggers tend to€[whatever]€. Re-read those five bloggers and try €“ just try €“ to come up with one generalization about them that rings true; and has nothing to do with their gender. In addition, this might be a good time to reconsider the assumption that males have the sufficient power or "natural ability"to sabatoge or interfer with the rise of these voices.
Continuing this Discussion
Be sure to check out Katharine’s additional thoughts on her experiences in an overwhelmingly male dominated tech industry at Cut to the Chase.
For further discussion, I wrote a rather lengthy, and detailed response to her post at my weblog.
Notes:
1. Anyone with eyes and a brain knows that idea of women being naturually peaceful and cooperative as opposed to competitive is complete crap.
2. " One study published in €œInto the Blogosphere,€ a collection of scholarly materials covering blogging, looked at a sample of media coverage of bloggers and found that male bloggers were mentioned 88 percent of the time and women bloggers just 12 percent. Is that because more men are blogging? Not according to a 2003 study by Perseus Development Corporation, which estimated that 56 percent of blogs are created by women. " -[excerpt from article in Minnestoa Women’s Press]
April 13th, 2005 at 6:06 pm
Most women bloggers, unfortunately, seem unable to create a pure politics blog. They want to write about their cats, their boyfriends, and other boring stuff from their personal lives that no one wants to read.
April 13th, 2005 at 6:52 pm
And just what is that guy behind Wilber doing? Huh? Looks like a leadup to a reach around.
And no, Half Sigma, you are as mistaken as, apparently, misinformed.
April 13th, 2005 at 7:33 pm
Attention from everyone in U.S.A.
I am jheka and I am blogger ever since I found internets on my computer. Now I’m available for opportunity to chat with YOU everyone about website.
In my photograph on my new American blog YOU can see that I am a Russian man living in San Francisco USA.
Well, if YOU are ready I am ready so we can go to our computers and chat or whatever about fine American website.
Do not be afraid if I am man with strong opinions about American politics. I have learned much about politics in the modern day of U.S.A. from email and world wide web. I am interesting to chat with and I have much to say.
BTW…
I know the location of the g spot. I have tried this place on myself and it is correct. Yes and also I have very large amounts af hair surrounding (encompassing) my g spot.
It is seriously jaw dropping.
I have groomed most of this hair off with water and the spoons I am clean.
So…
I am happy to have chat with YOU and if you want we can talk together until.
Do NOT deny my request.
Thank you.
jheka
April 13th, 2005 at 9:08 pm
Isn’t it past your bedtime Jheka?
Thomas, “what exactly is wilbur doing?” is among the most widely asked questions in all of history. All I can say is this: I have no idea, he just had “the look” I wanted for the guy who would lead that imaginary PAC.
Half Sigma, in case you haven’t noticed… a huge number of men are incapable of writing anything worth reading. Can we just settle with, “most bloggers write crap.”? Bear in mind that woman are likely to find male blog-crap just as distasteful as you find female blog-crap.
April 14th, 2005 at 8:30 am
Nick,
Wise commentary.
I made comment at Iddybud today.
I don’t aspire to be a testosterone and ego-fueled “Powerline” - or to tackle the next big scoop which could make me CNN’s Queen of the Bloggers. My own ego doesn’t require it. On the average, I get about 140 readers a day. I enjoy connecting with a like-minded community. It brings me simple satisfaction to know I’m part of a team, regardless of size or popularity, of people who wish to bring about a healthier democracy and social justice; of people who wish to see a more united Democratic party and of whose members aren’t afraid to be a party of deep conviction; who share my values, hopes, and dreams for America and the world.
Jude
April 14th, 2005 at 11:30 am
Nick,
Thanks for including Citizen’s Rent in your list of blogs that happen to be authored by women. You noted that the special attention to women bloggers seems almost sexist. The fact is that the discussion is generally in response to posts that are sexist. Whether it’s Kevin Drum saying that women can’t stand the vitriol unleashed in political debate or Maureen Dowd opining that women aren’t comfortable opining, the starting points for the discussion tend to be generalized, sexist comments about women’s inability to engage or their disinterest in doing so.
I’ve worked in high tech and the reaction in some quarters of the blogosphere is familiar to what I’ve encountered professionally. It can be incredibly disheartening to struggle to get your job done and know that the roadblocks are gender-based. I’ve learned how to navigate those groups where testosterone is the proposed prerequisite for membership.
Instead of telling a developer that their suggestion doesn’t solve the problem, I say, “I’m confused… how does that solve X?” In answering, they figure out that it doesn’t. I use humor to deflect the sexist comments, usually with some reference to a man’s need to compensate for, well, you know. Instead of demanding to be heard, I’ll ask the boys to help me so I don’t get it trouble with my boss (if I don’t go back and tell him I got a response to this idea he’ll kill me so can you guys just help me out here?). It used to stick in my craw and sometimes still does. But the bottom line is that at work I have a job to get done and if I have to navigate the boys club and play girl to get it done I will. I pick my battles - like when the development team I was on decided to hold meetings at a local strip club, when a guy insisted that the price of admission to a meeting was a table dance, or when a male manager insisted that I wear skirts when I met with him.
The sexism in the blogosphere is present, but it’s minor compared to the meat world. I can easily ignore the trolls who dismiss me with real body slams, i.e slurs about my body. I can build a readership without begging the a-list men for attention (though I’d take it if it ever came for anything besides the fact that I’m a woman - the only topic on which I’ve been linked by them). I can dream of huge blog success while being satisfied with the small regular readership I have. I can follow the same path as all the other unnoticed blogggers who hope that they’re doing more than yelling into the wind. It’s enough to add my voice to the mix and to know that every now and then I move the conversation forward for a reader or two. At least it’s enough today.
I’m not sure we’ll ever really get past the issue of women who blog. We may stop asking where they are but I suspect that once we’ve been found a new woman and blogging meme will arise. We seem hard coded to look at gender and I don’t think cyberspace will be exempt.
I don’t know if the blogher conference is a good idea or a bad one (sisterhood or gender ghetto) but I like the idea of meeting bloggers who I read. My real hope is that we can move the conversation forward among men and women, as I think your post does. Thanks for that.
Kathy
April 14th, 2005 at 1:44 pm
Kathy, no wonder you started your own tech company! Holding a meeting in a strip club? What sad freaks! What the hell are these guys thinking? I can just see them thinking to themselves “Heh.. this will impress her, I’m going to make her go to a dirty strip club so that she can see that I like breasts… and she can listen to me talk about how I like breasts… I’m a very special boy…” Let me guess…. all of these guys insisted that they had totally hot girl friends, but for some reason, all of their girl friends seemed to always live in another state, so you’ll never see them…
After writing this post, I’ve slowly begun to realize that one of the biggest barriers in tech industry for women is this prevading sea of sexual retardation. From what you and others have described, it seems that the likelyhood of a woman suceeding in the tech industry is directly proportional to her ability to channel sexism to her advantage (much in the same way as one uses an opponents weight in judo), and the amount of creepy slimminess that she can tolerate. Jesus… what a mess. I must say this: I admire your endurance and ability to use these sort of situations to your advantage.
And what’s up with insisting you to wear a skirt? I imagine some sort of sling-blade-esque character saying to you, “I sure do like a lady in a skirt… uh hmm… (insert 10 seconds of awkward silence, while the freak spastically shifts his posture around) ..I like them biscuits and gravy… uh hmm….”
Anyhow, one thing that I always have to keep in mind when discussing this topic is that however enlightened I’d like to think I am, my views are almost 100 percent the result of the enviroment I was raised in. My Dad, Step-Dad, and Grand Father — all of them made an effort to make sure that I was taught to respect woman. I remember once when I was 8 I laughed a commercial, but my Dad was not amused at all… from there he proceeded explain why that commercial was sexist, but did so in a gentle way of course. It sounds like a small incedent, but for some reason it had a huge impact on me. In addition to that, all of the female figures in my life have been very strong. Between the ages of 8-14, I spent most of my summers at my step-sister, and her partner’s House in Vermont. They were both very strong feminists and advocates for gay-rights, and they weren’t afraid to educate me.
The point of me giving all of this information is to emphasize that my attitude is unique, because my enviroment, and role models as a child were unique. Its important for us Progressives — and this is true of practically every issue — to remember that not everyone is lucky enough to be raised in an enviroment which causes them to see the world progressively. I think it is crucial that we all make an effort to understand, and (if we can stomach it) even have compassion for the ignorant.
Back when I was making a name for myself in the service industry, confronting sexual harrassment progressively (i.e. with compassion, humor, and sensitivity) worked beautifully for me. I remember back when I managed an ice cream store, I’d occassionally deal with what our legal code calls “sexual harrassment”. I remember one instance when one of my employees jokingly(I suspected she wasn’t joking, but felt like she had to) complained about how creepy a new hire was. Initially, this suprised me; the guy in question was a complete dork, and no older than 17. However, the comments she repeated to me were truly unacceptable. But, the situation was complicated by the fact that although she was obviously made uncomfortable by his comments, and I had a very real obligation to stop the behavior immediately; she was also very adimant that I didn’t bring it up with him (I’m guessing this had something to with her being only 16). Of course, I had to do something,; luckily, I knew that the guy in question looked up to me and respected me, so I was able confront his behavior slyly.
I scheduled myself to close the store with him a few nights later, and during conversation I basically baited him to share his views on woman. As I predicted, he flew into the trap head first. After he was finished I said this:
Notice that instead of demanding that he show respect for woman or there would be consequences, I basically informed him that he would die a virgin if he didn’t change his attitude.
So what happened? He stopped being creepy, and he and that girl ended up actually becoming friends. To this day, neither of them know that I ever interveined. I actually ran into him a year ago at a kegger. He had lost about 60 pounds and had found himself a very attractive girl friend. Since I’m a total egoist, I’d like to think that I had something to with that…
Every situation is different, and this solution obviously won’t work all of the time. However, I just thought it was one good example of how to approach this problem progressively, and compassionatly.
April 14th, 2005 at 7:26 pm
I like to think that things are improving and in some ways they are, as the old dinosaurs retire and younger men move up the ladder. But it’s not huge improvement. Most of the developers I mentioned in my earlier comment were in their twenties and thirties and all you need to do to lose hope is spend some time in the financial district in NY. It’s extreme.
I have plenty of stories, most funny now but a few that still pinch. I’ve been the only woman in more meetings than I can count and have a million strategies for dealing with neanderthal men.
Be and look smart. Use humor. Confront the first instance of sexism or your sunk. Be very, very good at your job. Don’t speak unless you know what you’re talking about. Don’t directly challenge men publicly - at all if they’re at your level or higher. Do it indirectly. Challenge sexist language (aggressive vs assertive, bitch, castrater, never let rape be used as a corporate metaphor). Use your sexuality with customers but not colleagues. Be a daughter to the old men, a niece to the next age group down, and a sister to the rest.Never let them call you Mom. Don’t forget that it’s always a competition and know when you want to win. If a man harrasses you sexually, take him out of the game in any legal but unofficial way you can. If you can’t, then get transferred or quit. Don’t date co-workers but if you do, do it secretly until you’re engaged. NEVER date a man in a higher level position than you. If it’s love, get another job.And hey, that’s just off the top of my head.
Clearly, sexism in the work place isn’t a thing of the past. I didn’t set out to develop strategies for dealing with it - I had to. It’s a real barrier and can crush you if you aren’t prepared. Compared to that, the issue of sexism in the blogosphere is almost laughable to me. I can handle some troll trying to dismiss me by insulting my body or making demeaning assumptions about me because of my gender. It’s irritating, sure. But it’s a far cry from the kind of offline sexism I’ve encountered that can derail you, baffle you, hurt you. Maybe it’s that I don’t know the men behind the comments and they don’t know me. It’s not personal. It makes it easy to dismiss them as ignorant cowards.
You interpret the strip club meeting as a really f**ked up way of impressing. That’s interesting since the real intent was to exclude. They knew we wouldn’t attend. I think of sexism as excluding or controlling women - it can but doesn’t always include sexual misconduct. When it does, particularly if it’s overt, it falls into the category of harrasment. I’ve lodged harrasment complaints twice. Once unintentionally (I asked my boss for advice, not knowing that she had a legal obligation to respond in an official capacity). The second time, I was asked by the division president to file a complaint (a legitimate one) to support an effort to oust the guy. I wouldn’t ever file a complaint on my own unless I was prepared to quit, sue, or I had a lot of power. Complaining about sexual harassment is akin to announcing that you can’t handle the big boys, that you are too fragile for company politics. So you handle it yourself or get out. Formally complaining is often a career killer.
That’s why it’s so important for women to develop alternative methods for dealing with sexism - and for building an informal network of progressive allies who can intervene like you did (great job, by the way, appealing to his greater interests). I use humor, for sure. But for serial offenders, I plot and scheme to disempower them outside of official channels. I usually succeed but not always. Sometimes all it takes is spreading the word that he’s out of touch. At the very least, I build a network of allies that can support me.
On a side note, the skirt thing is very east coast and old school. I don’t think the guy was a lech, just had strong opinions about “proper women”. I felt like ceding the skirt issue was a slippery slope that led to all kinds of “ladies do/don’t” rules. I got a lot of pressure to conform to his wishes which magically disappeared when CA passed a law saying you couldn’t require women to wear skirts if it wasn’t germane to the job. Yay for us.
I have a few advantages in fighting the overt as well as the less explicit sexism I bump into in the professional world. I grew up in a female world - four sisters, three step-sisters, a half-sister, mom, step-mom, and two very powerful grandmothers. Men? Father, step-father, one grandfather and a step-brother. 13 to 4. Men were somewhat peripheral in my estrogen soaked world. There were no women’s roles (not enough men to split the jobs) and we were told again and again that we could do anything we put our minds to, that we better be able to take care of ourselves and not expect anyone else to (consequences of divorce). Unfortunately, we were also indirectly taught that men were somewhat peripheral to the important things in life, that they weren’t quite as mature as women, that women really made the world go round, that amused indulgence was the preferred response to immature men and if that didn’t work, just take ‘em out. Those are lessons I had to unlearn but they armed me for early encounters with sexism.
Sorry for the very long comment. The issue of sexism in the work place is a very real one to me and I’ve seen so many women hurt by it. So I’m a little passionate on the subject, especially since so many people think it’s a thing of the past or pretty uncommon these days. By comparison, sexism on the blogosphere is almost an intellectual exercise, one that doesn’t touch my hear
April 17th, 2005 at 3:06 pm
Oh god not AGAIN. Come on, it hasn’t even been the requisite three months! Please note, “in regards to there being a lack of a-list female bloggers,” DEFINE YOUR TERMS. What’s “a-list?” It’s self-selecting, is what it is. Those of us who have loads and loads of female bloggers on our blogrolls (and I have HUNDREDS) have a totally different definition of “a-list” than most guy bloggers do. But haven’t we discussed and discussed this to DEATH in the last couple of months? I devoted an ENTIRE MONTH to it in my blog. Maybe THAT’s one of the reasons we’re not bringing it up at BlogHerCon. (Full disclosure: I’m a member of the BlogHerCon advisory board.)
April 18th, 2005 at 6:15 am
(gacked from flea, http://buggydoo.blogspot.com/)
Popular, Liberal Male Blogger: Why don’t women blog? I’ve looked on my blogroll and I don’t see any women bloggers. Therefore, they must not exist. Women must not be interested in thinky stuff like politics or computers.
45 Women Bloggers respond in the comments section: WTF? We all have blogs!
Liberal, Male Blogger: I don’t mean blogs about tampons. All women do is talk about feminine hygiene products. I mean, Where are all the women who blog about important stuff; the stuff *I’m* interested in.
45 Women Bloggers: You’re right. We only talk about feminine hygiene products. Here’s more talk about feminine hygiene products: You are a douche.
Liberal Male Blogger: Wahhhh! You’re oppressing me! Censorship! My civil rights are being violated!
One Asshole Woman: I am so embarrassed to be a woman right now! Don’t you listen to those hairy bitches, Liberal Male Blogger! *I* understand you!
Liberal Male Blogger: See there? One woman has validated me! That means you all are wrong and I am right!
45 Women Bloggers: douche.
Liberal Male Blogger: Wahhhh!
Repeat in three months with a different blogger.
***
Still funny after all this time. Thanks, Flea.
April 18th, 2005 at 11:13 am
if your reasoning were true, the technorati top 100 would contain a selection from the oldest weblogs in existence: these guys.
as it is, I’ll be you haven’t heard of any of the weblogs listed under “ye olde skool” — all of them weblogs started before january 1998.
April 19th, 2005 at 3:51 am
Female bloggers rule.