After seeing Raymi’s blistering rant on the topic of “no women bloggers”, I had to put in my two cents. Raymi covered the topic well, although I’d have used fewer cuss words, but she was playing to her audience, not my straight laced crowd.
Warren Kinsella for those who don’t know, is a Liberal with a lot of baggage, and writes for the National Post. He has a moderately lame blog. Still, many people read it because he has a newspaper for backing. I poke fun at him occasionally, which some say is risky because he’s been known to sue.
He made a top 10 list of best bloggers, and they were mostly all guys, and he lamented that he can’t find women online… who blog, that is.
Some bloggers took up his list as a challenge to identify the “smartest” female bloggers. Liberal Catnip collected blogger’s submissions on the subject. “Smart” is a pretty unclear definition, since some people consider Kate of Small Dead Animals smart, while others [Edited Jan. 31, because I presumed too much. That should teach me to rant late into the night.] like her about as much as Cindy Sheehan likes George W. Bush. I’ll give Kate more credit than that, she knows how to market (to a base of idiots, mind you), and that alone makes her smarter than average, if we count marketing skill as smarts.
The blogosphere is all about circles of friends/lists, and if you find yourself trapped in a circle where there are only guys, and you want women, you have to go where you haven’t been before. Some web surfers just don’t know how to do that.
That’s what was cool about Blog Awards, and also that 2000 Bloggers meme that’s taking over right now. They are both easy ways to find yourself where you wouldn’t go normally.
@hotmail.com
![[EFC Blue Ribbon - Free Speech Online]](http://www.efc.ca/images/efcfreet.gif)
Steven Hodson | 31-Jan-07 at 1:19 pm | Permalink
just slightly off topic - sorta- Kinsella also has no RSS feed for his blog which makes it inaccessible to those who use RSS clients as their way to monitor blogs. This pretty well neuters him as far as the blogosphere is concerned in my opinion.
skdadl | 31-Jan-07 at 1:39 pm | Permalink
I think raymi is right. The guys are stuffy.
I mean, when Scott tries to add up women on progblogs, he gets all worried about how many blogs are “overseen” by “females.” Now, think about some major USian sites for about five minutes, and tell me how sensible that worry is? That many major contributors to major blogs don’t count as bloggers because they aren’t “overseers”???
(Obviously, I think about this issue because I contribute to a group blog. But, y’know, these days, who doesn’t? And why not?)
I am grateful that Scott considers me a friendly opponent and all, but I really wish that the men would lighten up and loosen up and brighten up a little.
And Warren Kinsella is not a blogger at all. He runs a personal website. The only two high-profile media sorts I would call genuine bloggers have been Coyne and Zerbisias, who deserve a lot of respect for taking comments and mucking in with the rest of us. Much as I enjoy people like Wells and Mercer, they aren’t really blogging; they’re doing career sidebars or something. (Forgive me; I’m deeply immersed in the Libby trial at the moment.)
Scott Tribe | 31-Jan-07 at 1:53 pm | Permalink
Actually Skdadl.. I’m not worried at all about how many women run Prog Blog sites or not. The count is what it is. Some of you appear to be misreading my post - I was telling Warren there were a LOT of good women bloggers around, and while I was merely saying that at our affiliation, we had such and such a number, and it reflected at our site anyhow that there were less women bloggers then men, that number was increasing.
Somehow, that’s gotten turned by some people as me bemoaning along with Warren the lack of women bloggers, when its far from the truth.
catnip | 31-Jan-07 at 2:15 pm | Permalink
That’s a pretty wide definition, since some people consider Kate of Small Dead Animals smart, while others like Liberal Catnip would possibly call her the stupidest person alive
Please don’t put words in my mouth. I have never said that about her, nor would I say that about anyone, including George Bush.
As for Raymi’s rant, no one at my blog insulted her so I don’t know what she’s on about and I certainly don’t agree with everything she wrote. I think she’s taking this a bit too seriously.
Saskboy | 31-Jan-07 at 2:23 pm | Permalink
Sorry Catnip, that was my interpretation of what you were saying, even mentioning how you figured she should be sued for certain things she’s posted.
If you feel people are going to misunderstand the “possibly”, I can edit the post if you want.
skdadl | 31-Jan-07 at 2:43 pm | Permalink
I didn’t mean to be ungrateful, Scott, and I do appreciate how attentive you have been.
But really. This is all so self-conscious, when what we really need to be is self-confident. And we deserve to be.
WTH does Warren Kinsella have to do with the Canadian blogosphere anyway? Like, nothing, so far as I can tell. Without even trying, I could list off two dozen women writing to the forums who could write circles around Warren in their sleep.
So clearly we’re not talking about quality or intelligence here. We’re talking about the fact that a B-list celeb can get the whole of the Canadian blogosphere all knicker-twisted by writing a few semi-literate lines to his execrably designed vanity site.
Let’s get past that, people.
JimBobby | 31-Jan-07 at 2:58 pm | Permalink
Whooee! Thankee fer pointin’ me at that there Raymi’s boog. She’s a ravin’ ranter alright but she makes sense, sez I. I reckon there’s plenty of smartypants fellers an’ gals an’ tryin’ t’ come up with a Top 10 is sorta stoopid in the first place.
Mebbe it’s like they’re sayin’ an’ there’s more hombres than mujers boogin’ but so what? I’ll betcha there’s more gals who’s pole dancers than fellers an’ I betcha they make more dough than us dumbass male boogers.
I figger boogin’ takes sum ego. I mean when we spout off an’ pontificate on our boogs it’s like we figger sumbuddy’s gonna give a ratsass. I figger, boys an’ men’re more egotistical an’ self-important than gals an’ wimmen. We do more boogin’ cause we’re full of ourselves not on accounta we’re any better at it. I might even be a better pole-dancer than booger.
JimBobby
catnip | 31-Jan-07 at 3:10 pm | Permalink
Sheesh.
skdadl,
As I wrote over at my place, it wouldn’t have mattered to me who said they thought the blogosphere needed more smart female bloggers. It could have been Joe or Josephine Blow in Estevan Sask. I took on the challenge because there are so many great female bloggers who deserve more recognition. Who knew this would all turn into a blog brawl? That sure wasn’t my intention.
Saskboy,
Yes I know you used the word “possibly” but that isn’t something I would even “possibly” say. I know you meant no offense to me.
JimBobby,
Enlightening as ever. And I mean that in a good way.
skdadl | 31-Jan-07 at 3:15 pm | Permalink
catnip, I love you. You know I love you.
I just have a rilly rilly hard time with Warren Kinsella.
liberal | 31-Jan-07 at 4:13 pm | Permalink
good on you skdadl. and don’t worry about him suing. i hear his hands are pretty full at the moment.
raymi | 31-Jan-07 at 5:55 pm | Permalink
im completely over it and have not taken it at all too seriously.
Olaf | 31-Jan-07 at 6:11 pm | Permalink
Saskboy,
Very interesting. I liked you analysis: “he has a moderately lame blog”. That’s a fine way to put it.
My favourite part of Raymi’s post is when she called her blog a “mockery of intellect”. And what’s more deserving a mockery than “intellect”. Compassion maybe? Physical fitness? Helping people?
sheena | 31-Jan-07 at 7:12 pm | Permalink
OH, thanks for reminding me, Olaf. I have some great stories about this guy in a wheelchair I used to know.
Tanya | 31-Jan-07 at 7:36 pm | Permalink
I refuse to read people, vagina or no, that refuse to use proper punctuation. Anyway, I am female, or at least I was the last time I checked. I have no idea why that matters on the blogosphere and I really wish we could all stop worrying aout gender so darned much. All this blogging about blogging is giving me a headache.
Saskboy | 31-Jan-07 at 7:53 pm | Permalink
Tanya, blog navel gazing is fun. I’d make it a category on my blog, but I already have too many categories.
And mangling punctuation can be amusing, if done right.
And mangling punctuation can be amusing if done, right?
A Panda, eats, shoots, and leaves.
Saskboy | 31-Jan-07 at 8:03 pm | Permalink
“Kinsella also has no RSS feed for his blog which makes it inaccessible to those who use RSS clients as their way to monitor blogs. This pretty well neuters him as far as the blogosphere is concerned in my opinion.”
Good point Steven, and Skdadl I partly agree also that a blog without comments isn’t much of a blog. But I cut blogs like those some slack because I used to run one until about 2005 ;-)
“WTH does Warren Kinsella have to do with the Canadian blogosphere anyway? Like, nothing, so far as I can tell.”
He’s got a newspaper, unfortunately, while we don’t. If you’re in the media, you outrank bloggers in Canada, period ;-) The day is coming though when newspapers will be groveling for top-blogs’ attention instead.
Hi Raymi and Olaf. Oh really Sheena, do tell? ;-)
My favourite wheelchair story is about Ashley getting run over by an electric one. She survived.