Jun
14
Daily Blog Tips has a new Bloggers Face-Off posted today. The contenders are Wendy Piersall and Jennifer Laycock. I have never read either of them, but I will check them out now. Daniel’s Face-Offs always help me find fun new brain snacks.
One of the interview questions struck a chord with me, though and I’d like to discuss it. Daniel asked both women:
“Is there any discrimination towards female bloggers?”
This is an excellent question. Personally, I haven’t encountered any discrimination at all. My question is, if there isn’t any discrimination then why are there so few successful female bloggers? And, honestly, I don’t think it is about discrimination. So what is it about? Where are you, girls?
I can’t seem to think of a good reason why there aren’t more high-profile female bloggers. After I kicked aside the discrimination theory I considered a few others, but nothing fit. I did, however, come up with five myths about why girls don’t blog.
- MYTH #1: Tech is for Boys
Girls are good at beauty and English, boys are good at sports and math, right? If we didn’t already know it, most of us learned that this wasn’t true when they had to take “Math is Hard!” Barbie off the market. Obviously females have the same aptitude to excel at technological endeavors that males do. This, however, doesn’t change the fact that technology is still a male-dominated industry. And this domination extends to blogging. - MYTH #2: Girls Are Too Busy Doing Their Hair
I know this one is a myth because I don’t even wash my hair. Kidding! I wash my hair, but it’s so short that it doesn’t take that long. Perhaps I’m not the best girl to dispel this myth considering I have a frat-boy haircut. However, my best friend has long hair and though she does spend a good deal of time doing her hair, she still has time to be a telecom analyst by day and a beauty blogger by night. One of my online buddies does her hair, keeps the romance alive and raises two boys. - MYTH #3: Girls Think Blogging is Boring
This goes well with numbers one and two: the idea that girls are too stupid or shallow to commit to and succeed at blogging. Blogging is, to quote our commander ingriefchief: hard work. It takes a lot of time and effort to support yourself solely with blogging. For this reason, most dedicated newish bloggers (myself included) spend 9 to 5 at a “real job” and 5 to 2 researching, writing and optimizing. I’ve never worked longer hours in my life. You have to really love blogging to keep at it. Regardless of the niche, blogging is anything but boring. - MYTH #4: Girls Have Nothing Interesting to Say
I know this seems a bit far-fetched, but there really are still people out there who believe women should stick to kids and kitchens. Granted, most of the generations dominating the internet don’t outwardly express these thoughts, but I think many still think them. I had a professor in college who honestly believed that the only reason girls went to university was so they could meet an educated husband. And he taught at a liberal arts university in a very liberal major city. The fact is, women have plenty to say and their interests vary just as much as men’s. - MYTH #5: They Don’t Know How to Say It
There is a pervasive belief (sometimes only subconscious) that women are only suited to write for a female audience. Take, for example the genre of “chick lit.” If a book is about a young woman trying to make the best of herself, further her career and find love, then it is automatically considered a book for women. However, if a book is about a man who tries to make the best of himself, further his career and find love, it speaks of universal truth. Face it, if The Pursuit of Happyness had been written with a female protagonist, it would have been categorized as a chick flick. All the depth, universality and mass appeal would have been run over by reviews focusing on feminism and motherhood. A female writer could write the exact same words as a male and she will still be looked at as a “female writer.”
This isn’t meant to be some sort of feminist manifesto. Not even a little bit. And don’t get me wrong, there are some fantastic female bloggers out there. The sheer disparity in numbers is undeniable, though. There are simply more boy bloggers than girl bloggers.
This issue has plagued me for awhile now and I really want to get to the root of it. I’ve ruled out some reasons that people may think girls don’t blog in an attempt to get the ball rolling. I’m hoping that anyone reading this will seriously consider this issue. Give me some theories, ideas… anything you can think of that might have caused the scales to tip so severely? If girls can do anything boys can do better, why are there more boy bloggers?
____________________
Sara Christensen is a 9 to 5 techie with a BA in English and internet marketing dreams. She currently publishes two blogs. Pajama Professional is a source for free and inexpensive opportunities to make money online, blog reviews and recommended resources for marketers. Avandia Heart Risk Dot Com is a place for those who have been affected by the diabetes medication Avandia to come together. Sara hopes that someday soon she can stop trading time for money and be her own boss.
Great post Sara! I don’t know what the answer is… I’m a regular reader of several blogs that are written by women. Wendy, Jennifer, Jane, Kumiko, Liz, Gabrielle, JoLynn, Danielle, Kelly, Lorelle, and Rich Minx are some of the women bloggers that have made it into my feed reader and I keep up with them daily. But it would be nice to see more women take up blogging.
thanks david
i personally know of many women who have xanga accounts, but haven’t transitioned over to having their own domains. so i think it sort of depends on how motivated the individual is. most of the time, transitioning over to your own domain has a lot to do with being motivated by money. (why else would you want to pay for hosting fees, domain fees, etc) personally i think there are a lot more men who are enticed and motivated by the monetary potential of blogging (comparing men and women that i know who blog). in addition, blogs are cyber-egos. i don’t know that many women who love to talk about how much they know. read into that what you will… no offense guys 
Hi Sara,
I wonder . . . I know that part of the situation is that the boys got here first. As a result they are more known, more experienced, and more visible. Also, when I first got here, at the 11 or 12 million blog level, men were more interactive in the wider blogosphere. Women tended to read fewer blogs and stay in smaller communities. . . . I don’t know that the same fact isn’t true.
I do know that when I went to BlogHer.org for the first time I was surprised to find how many women bloggers there were there, and when I went to the BlogHer convention I was reminded of how many women bloggers don’t blog in the same part of the blogosphere that I do.
It’s an interesting question and you covered it so brilliantly. Thanks for the great read.
Liz,
Thanks. =) You make some really good points. Perhaps its the female nesting instinct that makes women bloggers find one community and stick with it, making it harder for them to be “known.”
Sara
When I asked my girlfriend if she’d like to guest blog for me, she initially refused because she said that she had a hard time getting her thoughts into coherent and interesting writing…. something along those lines. I eventually got her to do one concert review, but she has never written on my blog since. She has no trouble sharing pictures on Facebook, though.
Or maybe it’s not the nesting instinct, but just a interest elsewhere, willingness to stand outside of the limelight, or a conversational difference.
It would be interesting to find out how many of the bloggers that folks think of as “known” grew up with only brothers in an all boys’ neighborhood the way I did.
Liz,
Now that’d be a great poll. I do think women communicate differently among each other than they do with men.
I have equal numbers of brothers and sisters, but grew up in an all boys’ neighborhood and I’ve always had more male friends than female.
Sara
I have a good time blogging….I agree with Liz, I think the boys were here first, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take over, right?
Grace is a female name, is it not? I think females can be as successful as males, if they try hard enough.
Grace,
Of course! I wasn’t at all suggesting that women can’t be as successful as men. I’m just wondering why they’re currently outnumbered when it comes to blogging fame.
Sara
I love female bloggers … they bring a special touch to the blogging worlds that guys just can’t bring … example … us men … are like grunts … we get down and dirty … always trying to make things better … whereas women use what they have … and make the best of it!
wow … i can’t believe I just wrote that!
Darin
Yeah, female bloggers aren’t in the main stream blogsphere. It’s not discrimination, but I don’t think they offer themselves to get our attention.
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Sara,
Although, I am a little biased when it comes to your writing. 
Good points and great persuasive writing
Ju
When it comes to female bloggers, the biggest backlash I have noted recently is the wave of negativity toward “mommy bloggers”. Some self-proclaimed A-list bloggers have lately dished out a lot of nastiness when it comes to this particular subset of bloggers. But, there are some “mommy bloggers” out there who can not only beat the pants off the A-listers when it comes to traffic and various rankings, but also support their entire households from blogging.
It’s an interesting phenomenon.
Angie,
I completely agree. I’m a big fan of “mommy bloggers” because not only are most of them self-taught, but they often have little quiet time to blog. I know it’d be a lot harder for me to find time if I had kids to take care of 16 hours a day.
Sara
[...] Pure Blogging discusses the Myth’s of Female Bloggers [...]
I never looked at blogging in terms of gender before–you pose an interesting question. As for me, I think blogging would be fun, but after staring at a computer all day at work, the last thing I want to do is stare at one at home. Maybe I’m not the only girl who thinks this???
Great writing on your part, by the way. =)
[...] Wanted: Girls for Blogs – Guest blogger Sarah shares 5 myths why girls don’t blog. [...]
[...] Christensen of PureBlogging.com discusses the myths surrounding the lack of female bloggers. It’s clearly true that there are far more male bloggers out there — John Chow, Darren [...]
Hmmm… My friends (girl) like blogging but what they write is just like the diary. And they just write about the real life, their school, their friends.. just like what I’ve done a few years ago. But there are still girls who love tech..
[...] Wanted: Girls for Blogs - Sara attempts to find out why there aren’t more high-profile female bloggers and comes up with five myths about why girls don’t blog. [...]
[...] Wanted: Girls for Blogs -Here David discuss his 5 myths on why girls don’t blog . Ms. Danielle from http://www.msdanielle.com has the opinion that blogs are just cyber-egos and basically that men need as much ego stroking as possible. [That is a tough point to provide a counter argument against] Do you agree with Ms. Danielle or not - either way go join the conversation. You might just win a $100. [See I guess men are driven more by money.] This post was written for Some Make Money. If you found it interesting or helpful, consider subscribing to our full RSS feed. If you’re already a subscriber, thank you! [...]
hmmm… I wonder if boy bloggers know how to make money online… I know that’s a big stumbling block for me personally…
I think I could spend more time on content if I could get some revenue coming in - I could do that if I had a clue as to what I was doing!
I think I’m just now understanding after 9 months or so what I need to do… also, I wonder if females in general don’t get as much computer time! I know I’m in charge of everything, my husband helps but it is ultimately *my* responsibility to take care of everything and with three little kids, there is always something to do!
I have to say that there are more female bloggers on the internet than most would think. The real issue with ’success’ depends on what side of the internet these bloggers are on. In the run of the mill personal site world there are thousands of successful female bloggers that didn’t have to show their goods in order to get their readership, it’s based on solid well-written entries that keep people coming back for more.
It’s also an age group thing. Naturally a 15 year old isn’t going to want to hang around the website of someone in their late 30’s - early 40’s. The two would have close to nothing in common and I can almost guarantee that the 15 year-old would have no idea what the 40 year-old is talking about half the time either.
I personally float around many different age groups and writing styles. I will admit that I primarily see more successful male bloggers than I do female but it’s also the ‘birds of a feather’ mentality for me. A new male blogger will linger around the successful one until they can personally peak themselves and then so on and so forth. It’s unfortunate that I haven’t seen many women doing the same.
My apologies for the rambling, I came across your site from Google and this entry screamed out at me from your sidebar.
[...] Wanted: Girls for Blogs – Guest blogger Sarah shares her 5 myths why girls don’t blog. [...]
[...] Wanted: Girls for Blogs – Guest blogger Sarah shares her 5 myths why girls don’t blog. [...]
I recently read an article about how so many female bloggers have been harrassed and intimidated online, particularly if they were professionals and/or experts in their particular field. Sadly, many of them grow tired of this and drop out of the blogging community. I personally think this is stupid, both on the part of those harrassing the bloggers and on the part of the bloggers giving in to these blatant efforts to silence them. This is a BIG social issue that I feel needs to be addressed from a social and legal standpoint. The harrassers should be called to account for their misconduct and the bloggers should NEVER let anyone crush their ideas and opinions.
James,
That’s really sad. I haven’t encountered any harassment at all. I would encourage any girls who encounter harassment to change nothing except where they hang out. There are lots of great blogging communities out there and there’s no reason to stick around with jerks. Although there are very few females in comparison to males in most of the blogging circles I frequent, all the boys have been really nice.
Sara
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