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The Virtual Glass Ceiling

Posted on Aug 8, 2007

By Ellen Goodman

BOSTON—It’s worth remembering that the blogosphere is still so new it baffles spell check. For that matter, if I type “blogger” on my screen, my retro software offers alternatives like “loggers,” “floggers” and “boggler.”

It “boggles” my mind to realize how quickly a piece of Internet terrain has gained power in politics. By now, the political blogosphere is to the left what talk radio is to the right. It is a forceful, sometimes demagogic, message-monger organizing tool for the progressive end of the Democratic Party.

The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait recently called the netroots “the most significant mass movement in U.S. politics since the rise of the Christian right.” In fact, they’ve amplified the antiwar, anti-Bush views, become an alternative fundraising operation, and linked cyberliberals across the country.

Last week, these progressive political bloggers not only attracted 1,200 to Chicago for the YearlyKos convention, but made it a designated stop for seven out of the eight Democratic candidates.

Nevertheless, there is another, less flattering way in which broadband has followed broadcast and the liberal political bloggers mimic the conservative talk-show hosts. The chief messengers are overwhelmingly men—white men, even angry white men.

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I began tracking the maleness of this media last spring while I was a visiting fellow at Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. An intrepid graduate student created a spreadsheet of the top 90 political blogs. A full 42 percent were edited and written by men only, while seven percent were by women only. An additional 45 percent were edited or authored by both men and women, though the “coed” mix was overwhelmingly male. And, not surprisingly, most male bloggers linked to male bloggers.

Yes, this is the kettle of the MSM—mainstream media—calling the pot of the netroots male. In fairness, half of all 96 million blogs are written by women. But in the smaller political sphere, what is touted as a fresh force for change looks an awful lot like a new boy network.

Now, after what’s been a long, low rumble over demography and diversity, a grass-roots rebellion is finally surfacing in the netroots. At YearlyKos itself, home of what Jennifer Pozner described on Huffington Post as the “blustering A-list boys of the ‘netroots,’ ” there was the panel titled gamely “Blogging While Female.” The question for the panel was this: “The blogosphere was supposed to be a place where gender didn’t matter and voice was all. So what happened?”

What did happen? Is it the angry voice—a netroots norm but a female abnorm? Markos Moulitsas, founder of the Daily Kos and namesake of the convention, said unabashedly in an ABC News interview last year: “I learned to talk the way I do in the U.S. Army. And we don’t mince words. In politics, I don’t see it any different. I see it as a battlefield. ...” The American Prospect’s Garance Franke-Ruta, who was on the panel, notes, wryly: “If you’re an angry man you’re righteous. If you’re an angry woman, you’re crazy or a bitch.”

Is it harassment? Women have been talking about this since blogger Kathy Sierra was threatened with a picture of her next to a noose. Convention organizer Gina Cooper has two e-mail addresses, just one carrying her female name. Only “Gina” gets the hate e-mail telling her “I’m going to hunt you down” and “what you need is a good f—-.” Who knows how many women are scared silent.

Is it because men raise their hands first in class? Cooper thinks one reason for the demographics is that educated, economically comfortable men were the early adopters to the technology and took the lead. Blogger Adele Stan suggests that white male bloggers have a network of “funding, linking, quoting, or bookings on political talk shows.” Or maybe we need only count viewers. The typical political blog reader is a 43-year-old man with an $80,000 family income. Is it any surprise that Hillary gets only 9 percent in most online-activist polls, while garnering more than 40 percent in traditional polls?

It’s not that women are invisible. There are “women’s pages” on the Internet. Technorati counts more than 11,000 “mommy blogs.” There are “women’s issues” blogs like the funny and bracing Feministing.

But this is not just about counting, not just about diversity-by-the-numbers. It’s about the political dialogue—who gets heard and who sets the agenda. Cooper asks herself: “Are we going to do the same thing we’ve done all along, but with computers? Or will we create a new institution that allows for marginalized voices?”

Next year, YearlyKos will undergo a name change. The assembly of progressive bloggers will call themselves Netroots Nation. But when will the members of these netroots look more like the nation?

Ellen Goodman’s e-mail address is ellengoodman(at)globe.com.

TAGS: bloggers blogosphere blogs ellen goodman gender kos net roots sexism women

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By Vashti, September 4 at 9:35 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Good morning. Three o’clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do.
I am from Belize and learning to speak English, give please true I wrote the following sentence: “The right cutthroat ceremony government exists fair, cutting in pubic many androgens lifting for sheets, fine thin hair.”

Thanks for the help , Vashti.

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By Barbara36, June 17, 2008 at 10:30 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

The Glass Ceiling is almost impenetrable in the world of computer software programming. At a recent Rails conference, only 1 out of more than a hundred speakers was a woman.

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By Douglas Chalmers, August 16, 2007 at 1:30 am #

#95103 by Charles Barton on 8/15 at 8:26 am: “...Most of the Xanga blogs I subscribe to are written by women. Clearly there are very good women bloggers on Xanga, but few of them writedeeply about politics. ........So why arnt more women blogging about politics. I would have to say that the glass ceiling idea is a myth….”

Uhh, I wish they would, Charles. There are at least four Hillary Clinton topics running here at present but they are nearly all being dragged down by misanthropic mega-postings by guys with a negative or bigoted agenda. They have turned up like so many blow-flies. The few other postings are more or less insipid as far as the value of their views is concerned and very few are from women. Pity!

What is worse, though, the two most recent Hillary topics were based on false or misleading journalism by editorial staff at Truthdig. Denigrating Hillary Clinton is now something that they are doing intentionally and that sadly seems to be the new agenda here. “Truth” no longer seems to have much real value but smearing women political candidates does for some reason - even to female journalists on ‘once-was-Truthdig’.

See http://www.truthdig.com/report/commentreceived/20070814_hillary_pushes_the_button/ and also http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070811_kucinich_throws_down_the_gauntlet/ for disappointing and sexist blogging.

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By Charles Barton, August 15, 2007 at 12:26 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I blog on Xanga. Xanga was very popular with young people when I started blogging on it in 2004, but it had its share of adult bloggers. Most of the Xanga blogs I subscribe to are written by women. Clearly there are very good women bloggers on Xanga, but few of them writedeeply about politics. There are at least 10 liberal political blog rings on Xanga. My exploraion of these rings reveals that they have many women members, but few of the women members are actively writing about politics. They are reading what other, mainly male, bloggers write.

There is one exception. A woman blogger who shares my interest in global climate change. We started a blog ring together, and boost each other’s postings. In terms of reader response, her blog is more successful than mine. Her comments are well informed, intelligent and perceptive. Her blog has been linked to some of the best known climate change blogs on the internet. Clearly she has a voice and is being heard.

Most of the best women bloggers I have found on Xanga, writeabout what they know best, their own lives. They writebery well. Some writewith pathos, others reflect the confusion of the young. Some are cheerful, while several as just do damn funny.

Many of the guys who writeabout politics on Xanga don’t have much to say. The problem is not so much that they haven’t found a voice, as that they appear to not have one.

It seems to me that sucessful male political bloggers are often blogging for other guys. Most comments on the political blogs I read come from men. Women are not excluded from the dialogue, they just don’t engage in the conversation. There are exceptions. The English writer Linda Grant often has very perseptive comments on blogs that I read. But she does not keep a blog herself. Eve Garrard is highly regarded by the Euston Manifesto Group in the UK, and Norman Geras turns his blog over to her when ever she has something to say, but again she does ot writeher own blog.

So why arn’t more women blogging about politics. I would have to say that the glass ceiling idea is a myth. Ellen Goodman is playing the male conspiracy game. But she does not point to worthy women bloggers whose voice is being silenced by guys. Goodman quotes, If youre an angry man youre righteous. If youre an angry woman, youre crazy or a bitch.” This is preposterous nonsense. Angry male bloggers, get slammed. If you are a blogger, you need to be touch, and not let insults bother you. The reason more women political bloggers are not heard, is that more women have not raising their voices.

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By Mr. Wonderful, August 15, 2007 at 12:19 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I don’t know what Ellen Goodman is complaining about. The three main blogs we read in our house are Huffington (run by a woman), Firedoglake (two women), and Sadly, No! (four men).

But so what? The range of choices is staggering. Anyone with a computer can start a blog. There may be more male sites than female sites, but all are equally accessible and their popularity is as close as you’re going to get to a media meritocracy.

The fact that female bloggers are threatened by criminals and scumbags is outrageous, but it’s a separate issue from whether or not “the netroots” is/are “dominated” by men.

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By Forkboy, August 13, 2007 at 1:05 am #

Regarding #93463 by ardee

I think you have hit the issue squarely upon the head: should we be surprised that the wonderful world of political blogging might very well reflect the real world of politics? This isn’t an excuse, but simply a reflection of non-blogging life being replicated in the blogsphere.

And I think the very first comment by Douglas Chalmers brings a very relevant point to the discussion. In his comment he quotes Ellen Goodman saying “.....I see it as a battlefield..” The art of politics is not unlike the art of war. You have your side and then there’s the enemy. Perhaps it is the winner-take-all, military-like/inspired manner in which the political blogsphere operates that actually turns off many women to it?

A long and drawn out conversation could be made about the differences between men and women that may shed light on the issue brought up in the article. Why do we see so many ‘nuturing-oriented’ blogs by women, but almost nothing by men?

I welcome anyone’s opinion and their gender is irrelevant. However, their gender may not be irrelevant to them and to what is important to them. As in important enough to enter the dog-eat-dog world of political blogging.

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By Douglas Chalmers, August 10, 2007 at 8:58 pm #

#93694 by 1drees on 8/10 at 8:13 am: “...BTW i really do appreciate hearing from some WOMEN bloggers, i dont know if you noticed it but i did atleast notice that most WOMEN are more outspoken than most North American Men, especially Canadian WOMEN can be observed on some sites as aljazeeradotcom….”

Oh, yes, there are so many English-language blogs + forums around the world. You only have to take a little time to check the speed of the local culture and their sensitivities and ethnic makeup to be able to make many friends. Here’s one http://www.channelnewsasia.com/discussion/forum.htm

#93682 by ~B~ on 8/10 at 7:38 am: “...I’d love to see a day where America strove to live up to its traditions of freedoms and rights….”

That’ll be when it stops congratulating itself on what it has done to itself and the world! Reality is just around the corner…......

*****************************

#93770 by Paracelsus on 8/10 at 3:03 pm: “...I hate to hear these tales of these animalistic sorts who verbally assail woman bloggers with especial ferocity. I have seen and heard their type on Fox news and talk radio….” and #93762 by Jacks on 8/10 at 1:40 pm: “...There is a stark difference between receiving hostility for your views and being sent hate mail with the determining factor being your gender….”

There is something wrong with these guys. They have gone from a kind of blindness about their totally eclipsed feminine side to a meanness and savagery as a result of their pathetic denial of a part of their humanity - and their part in humanity. They have a deep underlying FEAR…. of losing their balls, ha ha!

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By ardee, August 10, 2007 at 7:45 pm #

As an addendum to 1drees slightly incorrect reference to Vanunu, he is in jail, that is true, but only for an additional six month sentence, which commenced in July of this year.

Israel has indeed treated Vanunu abysmally, about as unfairly as 1drees treats the subject of Zionism…..
Mordechai Vanunu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Mordechai Vanunu in the garden of St. George’s Cathedral. This picture was taken two days after his April 21, 2004 release from prisonMordechai Vanunu (help·info) (Hebrew: ????? ???????; born Marrakech, Morocco, October 13, 1954), also known by his baptismal name John Crossman, is an Israeli former nuclear technician who revealed details of Israel’s nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986. He was subsequently abducted in Rome by Israeli Mossad agents and smuggled to Israel, where he was tried in secret and convicted of treason.

Mordechai Vanunu spent 18 years in prison, including more than 11 years in solitary confinement. Vanunu was released from prison in 2004, subject to a broad array of restrictions on his speech and movement. Since then he has been briefly arrested several times for multiple violations of those restrictions, including giving various interviews to foreign journalists and attempting to leave Israel. In July 2007, Vanunu was sentenced to a further six months imprisonment for speaking to foreigners and travelling to Bethlehem.[1]

In its press release of July 2, 2007, Amnesty International said “The organization considers Mordechai Vanunu to be a prisoner of conscience and calls for his immediate and unconditional release. “[2] Vanunu has been characterized by some as a whistleblower[3][4]and by others as a traitor.[5][6][7][8] Vanunu told his Shin Bet interrogators that he opposes the existence of a Jewish state, stating the world needs a Palestinian state instead.[9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordechai_Vanunu

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By Paracelsus, August 10, 2007 at 7:03 pm #

On the Question of Stalking Female Bloggers

As a matter of honor and gallantry(I might be assailed as backward and paternalistic. Oh well.), I hate to hear these tales of these animalistic sorts who verbally assail woman bloggers with especial ferocity. I have seen and heard their type on Fox news and talk radio. I caution that it is best to use a pseudonym on the net. I have never, except on rare occasions, revealed my real life identity on the net. Baneful and evil is the perpetrator, no matter the political views of the attacked blogger. I am most driven to anger, knowing the sensitive nature of women. I wouldn’t want onerous free speech restrictions, but I am sure the worst cases involving threats of violence, etc. can be referred to law enforcement. Be aware that bad cases can make for bad law. Lastly, please don’t overly revealing of yourself. We live in a dictatorship. Let that statement by your guide.

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By Jacks, August 10, 2007 at 5:40 pm #

There is a stark difference between receiving hostility for your views and being sent hate mail with the determining factor being your gender. It is true: when both women and men post similar opinions online, it is the women who receives overwhelmingly more hostility than the man for the same damn view. If anyone needs to get a thicker skin it is those sensitive (read: reactionary) bigots who are offended by the very existence of women, enough so to warrant hysterical screams of rage.

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By C.P.T.L., August 10, 2007 at 1:01 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

This is silly, myopic, un-necessary, cheerleading the water-cooler chat, ineffective and frankly: lazy. The form has overwhelmed the function here. It amounts to little more than an observation and the cry: WHY?!

And what of it?

Who are the top ten political women bloggers? the top twenty, fifty? It would do us all a service to be made aware of them. I’d be heading off to read them right now.

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By 1drees, August 10, 2007 at 12:13 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

P. T. on 8/09 at 3:05 pm

If you want to see abusive e-mails, start a pro-Palestinian website like Norman Finkelsteins. The Zionist expansionist hysterics go nuts.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well P.T. the short Summary is if you want to mess up your life in North America all you need to do is just speak the truth about the Zionists & Israel and soon the scums will descend on you. Forget emails, how about being GANGSTALKING? just coz you speak the truth that they are so bent on Hiding. The Achilles heel of Zionism seems to be truth, you see Vanunu spoke the truth & rots in jails to this day. Israel of today has god nothing to do at all with the Biblical Israel, its just a

BTW i really do appreciate hearing from some WOMEN bloggers, i dont know if you noticed it but i did atleast notice that most WOMEN are more outspoken than most North American Men, especially Canadian WOMEN can be observed on some sites as aljazeeradotcom.
It is true that truth speakers are attacked personally by the “ministry of proaganda personel” when they find the truth to be overwhelming & then it doesnt matter if you are male or female, you will be slurred.

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By ~B~, August 10, 2007 at 11:38 am #

#93435 by Douglas Chalmers on 8/09 at 8:56 am

“Well, your New Preamble of the Constitution is certainly a disappointment…”

Yes it is very much so as well as saddening frankly. I just thought maybe it was time for some honesty at least. What is more disappointing is that it seems to be the more accurate.

Maybe if the citizens knew more about what this nation really stands for they would do more about it. If noone speaks how does change begin?

I’d love to see a day where America strove to live up to its traditions of freedoms and rights.

http://b-political.blogspot.com/

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By cyrena, August 10, 2007 at 8:09 am #

#93555 by rage on 8/09 at 4:59 pm

Thanks for this rage. Its an excellent post. Im smart enough in my over 50 status, to pretty much avoid the likes of myspace. (and the young geniuses around me have been advised to do the same, and to be cautious with all others). Because, as you so clearly pointed out, Ignorance is NOT Bliss. Its just ignorance, and it can create enormous dilemmas, personal and collective social dilemmas.

When I read the article, I tuned-in more to the fate of female bloggers and other activists that come under attack, that wouldnt come under attack if they were men.

That isnt always the case. In the political environment now, theres no doubt that men who speak up are also targeted.

Still, when women get the same, it takes on a different nastiness that only a white male dominated establishment can provoke, one that weve not managed to get beyond. Still there are those of us who keep at it. Takes some guts. Heres a short piece on one who certainly has.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/07/3023/

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By Douglas Chalmers, August 10, 2007 at 6:59 am #

Is America missing something? http://xiaxue.blogspot.com/
Xiaxue, means “snowing” in Chinese http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaxue

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By Dusty, August 9, 2007 at 10:28 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I do not know about Blogs, but there are way to many chick movies.

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By momo, August 9, 2007 at 9:33 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

This is so stupid, I mean do you want to force us men to read your blogs or whatever stuff you write!!!If I want to read for a man or a woman that is my business not yours…now go to to the kitchen and make me a ham samitch….ok.

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By rage, August 9, 2007 at 8:59 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

How can anyone mention Arianna Huffington and imply a female glass-ceiling in the blogosphere in the same story? Arianna has taken the cat fight to a new political distance with her online Hillary attacks. Hillary probably wants to invite Ari to go quail hunting Cheney style. That’s a ceiling two men could never break without hearing the jeering mockery of a cocaphony of screeching felines each time the subject was broached.

And another thing! My suggestion to the victimized she-whiners, who fear the defamation of having their noosed heads Photoshopped onto Rush Limbaugh’s jaba-the-hutt body, is to stop posting their most personal details along with actual pictures of themselves everywhere. They betray themselves online like a dog marking his territory, and then wonder why some right winged loon creeping behind the virtual bush along the Internet Super Highway knows how to reach them at home, work, and by cell text messaging. Well, there are only, what, 100 photos of the liberal feminist menace with Hillary at various social degrees of separation, captioned with too much information. So, yeah, the crazoids have targeted them as low hanging fruit. This predicament, however, bespeaks more the consequences of a feminist’s failure to use some common sense than it supports the presence of any virtual glass ceiling over the Internet Super Highway.

These “educated, economically comfortable men” who eagerly became adroitly adopted to the technology can actually be anyone or no one in particular from any walk of life. Particularly sniveling adolescent geeks with way too much free time! Teenagers tend to conclude quickly that anyone savvy enough to have that much political expertise prominently published on MySpace, replete with pix to gloat about political connections is suspiciously likely to be one FBI entrapment sting away from joining the other registered sexual predators currently banned from their virtual sanctuary. Kids will rat out a thought criminal for as little as group entertainment. By age fourteen, these wicked and technically astute little providers of free tech support are politically in league with Satan, can get around any enterprise firewall for every known operating system faster than Norton and McAfee in a joint effort funded by Microsoft, and already have feasible plots in place to take over the planet by the year 2010!

Thus, I am not as concerned about the perceived female glass ceiling as I am the digital codger force field. This punative barrier tazes folks over fifty who dare to merge onto the Internet Super Highway traffic during the digital rush hour for striking out there at slower than 5Megs using an inferior operating system. It’s a common horror experienced by folks who either have no teenaged kids, or whose teenaged kids have gone off to college, leaving these folks with no access to free tech support or a good excuse to upgrade to that blazing gaming system with the spec sheet that schematically diagrams the Bat Cave. I’ve seen that paralyzing zap send many a dazed confused elder reeling back to the comfort of inferior printed and broadcast news media. Ignorance is not bliss!

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By P. T., August 9, 2007 at 7:05 pm #

If you want to see abusive e-mails, start a pro-Palestinian website like Norman Finkelstein’s. The Zionist expansionist hysterics go nuts.

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By Paracelsus, August 9, 2007 at 4:49 pm #

My main worry as regards the world is returning the United States to a constitutional republic. We could worry whether the enough, women, disabled folks, black people, gay/lesbian/trangendered/transsexual, hispanic get as much recognition as angry white men. Perhaps white males can beat their chests in angst over being the chosen. We have no control over whom the MSM focuses its attentions upon! None! As for myself, it is a matter of triage- priorities. We have a frank dictatorship in the White House, and it is baldly stupid that we should listen to a mainstream hack like Ellen Goodman as if we should go into sensitivity sessions over the perceived failings of the blogosphere. I do not see Ellen Goodman questioning the malodorous conspiracies of this government. This is the equivalent of asking firemen to say pretty please before axing down the door of a flaming house. Perhaps when Ellen Goodman has the kidney to ask about the coming marital law nightmare, then we can respect her opinion on other matters. But no, this is her contribution, identity politics. This inquiry of Ellen’s does not seem to bode well. What should we do? Take a gender survey of the blogosphere, and then degrade QoS for white men?

Furthermore the reason Hillary Clinton only gets only 9% only online polls is because the online community know well her past in Arkansas as well as her trips to the Bilderberg conferences. In the least, She should be arrested for violating the Logan act.

In conclusion, we, the online community, are not a bunch of mushy brained ninnies. We are the types who get thrown out by security by Queen Hillary. We have courage; we have heart.

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By Boffa Jones, August 9, 2007 at 3:50 pm #

I don’t really see this as a problem. It isn’t like women are being discouraged or stopped from having blogs. We just have to wait until more women are actually keeping them.

I don’t have many female blogs that I subscribe to, but the ones I actually do, are always great.

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By P. T., August 9, 2007 at 2:30 pm #

Blogger girls, those ornery e-mails are from conservative males and females. Both sexes receive them.

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By ardee, August 9, 2007 at 2:08 pm #

I am puzzled as to why one might think the blogosphere any different than society in general?

Those symptoms discussed in this article, and Ive not read any of the responses to it instead just jumped right in, are the same as we see in any other areas of our culture.

We take our problems with us, wherever we go.

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By melanie mitzner, August 9, 2007 at 1:07 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

this is so familiar, the male dominated POV. we experience the same thing in every discipline, even in e-commerce, particularly when we’re trying to get the attention of journalists on the subject of sustainability. i once authored several articles under a male pseudonym to see if I received more feedback and I don’t have to tell you the answer to that. political blogs are changing the world and we have women like ariana at the huffington post to thank for that.

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By Douglas Chalmers, August 9, 2007 at 12:56 pm #

#93412 by ~B~ on 8/09 at 7:33 am:

Well, your New Preamble of the Constitution is certainly a disappointment, B’tilda. What a strange country the USA is. The people who should participate in politics are filling the churches of dead dogma whilst the really spiritual preach mere politics and are haunted by their loneliness.

Don’t Read This Crap, ha ha! There’s no use craving for others do do what you most need to - FREE YOURSELF!!! There’s no use exhorting others to action if they have willingly enslaved themselves. You only do both them and yourself a dis-service.

We all really communicate through thought anyway. Our energies encompass the Earth as She encompasses us. Words are only the medium we use for the record. Sex is merely the lesser part of Spirit. Pray then to the Mountain…...

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(Unregistered commenter)

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By Sid, August 9, 2007 at 12:17 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

Ellen,
Your article is nonsense. The biggest blog out there is
Arianna Huffington’s Huffington Post.

The most influencial blogger is Digby. She disagrees with you:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/who-are-we-by-digby-for-variety-of.html

There is also Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake. She disagrees with you also:
http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/08/06/yearly-kos-and-the-myth-of-the-white-male/

Others include Marcotte on Pandagon, Valenti on Feministing, Cooper at her eponymous blog as well as at Daily Kos and Franke-Ruta at Tapped and TheGarance.com.

Boys club indeed.

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By Dale Andersen, August 9, 2007 at 11:42 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

As a male, (although my income is a leetle less than 80,000) I find this:

“Is it any surprise that Hillary gets only 9 percent in most online-activist polls, while garnering more than 40 percent in traditional polls?”

...well, I find it sexist. The nudge-nudge, wink-wink, “Well naturally they don’t like her, old girl, she’s female, know what I mean” is surprising coming from Ellen Goodman, who usually displays better judgment.

Political blogs are a communications phenomenon that have tapped into a strong anti-imperialist, enough-corporate-politics mindset. Ms. Clinton is the most imperialist, corporate-friendly candidate on the Democratic side, even if she is of the womanly persuasion.

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By ~B~, August 9, 2007 at 11:33 am #

Well, maybe I’m not your usual reader. I read any political blogs that have any semblance of intelligence. What I have noticed is this: of the female bloggers I do read most are either foreign or american “conservatives”.

What it comes down to in my opinion is content. I personally do not want to read posts that are off topic, uninformed, lazy, or without any real thought just regurgitation. That is the stick I use to measure a blog. Here are a couple of female bloggers I have been reading recently:

http://angryblackbitch.blogspot.com/

http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/

Why do I like these authors? They are impassioned. I don’t agree with all their content but that isn’t the point now is it. If we read only to read what we know….what’s the point right?

Also, Doug’s point is also valid - if you feel your identity will damage the message of your writting don’t identify yourself. Many of the authors of the Federalist and Anti Federalist papers used false names in an effort to remove their persona from the impression their writtings were meant to impart.

I think content has more to do with it than sex to be honest. I also think getting the blog’s url out may have something to do with it - as well as the ways chosen to do so.

If the posts are well written and intelligent I think most intelligent readers will continue reading regardless of sex. The other type of readers? Well really who cares those are the ones who post comments like “L1BTARD!@1101110”. They already vote neo con your blog won’t change it.

http://b-political.blogspot.com/

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By Douglas Chalmers, August 9, 2007 at 11:09 am #

#93388 by cyrena on 8/09 at 6:01 am: “...I know the wisdom of your words. On the other hand, why do I have to do this in a “nicer way”? I’m just about ready to beat ITW’s brains out…... Never mind, now I’m starting to sound like Condi….... So, I don’t know how “nice” I can be, but I can manage to refrain from beating anybody’s brains out….”

Yes, I noticed, cyrena. Just stay cool, eh? What was that song - “Don’t worry, be happy!”? Isn’t there something to be “realized” from this for you?

Well, if you are scared of Condi, then do focus on her (or the question of why) and see if you can find out the answer within yourself. That’s where most of the answers to all your fears and anxieties are to be found - sooner or later. Anger too, ha ha!

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By GodSend, August 9, 2007 at 10:53 am #

Ellen Goodman sounds like a Zionist, spreading a sinister philosophy of ‘gender-wars’. There is only ONE thing that matters in Blogs, News sites or other websites: Truth! The gender of the author(s) is irrelevant and usually unknown - and that is as it should be. Beyond the posters there are many more listeners and lurkers and they will be able to tell the difference (IF they pay careful attention) between the deceivers and their propaganda and those who tell the truth. For the 1st time, people can go to a place where truth is readily available if they really SEEK it. Anyone who still pays attention to the deceptive, Zionist-controlled MSM is getting their brain scrubbed down every single day! ‘Thank You’, Mr. Murdoch, Mr. Sulzberger, etc.

Collective consciousness of truth is gathering momentum through the Internet every single day and we will soon just KNOW who the Zionist deceivers and liars are! Then, we’re gonna “smoke ‘em out”! After we “smoke ‘em out”, we’re gonna “drum ‘em out” of America and take our country back. ‘We’ means women and men, standing shoulder-to-shoulder against the Zionist deceivers, liars, brainscrubbers and de-moralizers

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By Deborah, August 9, 2007 at 10:50 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

I don’t see Arianna Huffinton running scared. Talk about someone who kicks anyone’s butt blogging.

Also from the not scared silent crowd: Me, myself and I.

As for the poster who says “what more women need to learn, is that when online, in a forum, or even a chat or IM environment, you have gained if the other party not only doesnt KNOW if you are male or female” you can’t be serious? I think women learned early that being anonymous didn’t earn them anything but more silence.

That’s part of the problem. People feel that they can get away with just about anything in an online forum. When people say offensive things about women or minorities, should I pretend to be some white guy standing up for these things? I have no experience being a White guy. I don’t think I could pull that off for long.

Even if I could, why should I hide from people that I am Black and female? I think it’s all the more imperative because being black and female gives me a much different perspective from white folks in general.

To blog is to be honest: about who you are, what you think, what you feel and where you stand.

I refuse to be less than who I am to placate others. I refuse to lie to make you feel more comfortable.

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By diogenes, August 9, 2007 at 10:26 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Women must understand the enemy they fight. Its racism, pure and simple. As long as they fail to recognize the substance of the thing they fight they are doomed to senseless battles that rob them of their relevance.
Glass ceiling: Only if you recognize it as such.
Besides Albert Einstein, my heroes are Alexandra David-Neal, Margaret Mead, Margaret Sanger and Madame Curie. Why? Because, these women scaled heights, for women, never seen before, long before the modern feminist movement. They failed to recognize their limitations. I think Feminism has hurt more than helped the ascension of women in this world, because it politicized something that should be beyond politics. I was luckyI was raised by a mother who was effectively discouraged from following her hero Margaret Mead, but never really quit her love of Anthropology and taught her son gender doesnt matterperiod.

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By cyrena, August 9, 2007 at 10:01 am #

#93316 by Douglas Chalmers on 8/08 at 11:17 pm

...“Nevertheless, they are easily beaten at their own game - and it is only necessary to use their own malicious words against them but in a nicer way.”...

Yes Doug,

I know the wisdom of your words. On the other hand, why do I have to do this in a “nicer way”? I’m just about ready to beat ITW’s brains out.

Never mind, now I’m starting to sound like Condi, who happens to be more dangerous, and scarier by far, than any of these psychotic posters.

And I don’t say that because I think she’s gonna beat MY brains out, but she’s sure doing on number on all of us as a whole.

So, I don’t know how “nice” I can be, but I can manage to refrain from beating anybody’s brains out.

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By 127001, August 9, 2007 at 9:22 am #

Aren’t numbers nice? I really do like the 127.0.0.1 mentality.

A real leap forward, and what more women need to learn, is that when online, in a forum, or even a chat or IM environment, you have gained if the other party not only doesn’t KNOW if you are male or female, but doesn’t think about it in the first place. It’s an afterthought.

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By TomChicago, August 9, 2007 at 9:14 am #

Recommendation: Pam Spaulding’s Pam’s House Blend.
for Gay/Lesbian issues and more. I’m not affiliated with her site in any way, I’m just citing an example of a woman blogger who is not “scared silent”.

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By Zennie Abraham, August 9, 2007 at 5:46 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

Hi Ellen,

I agree and referred to this problem in my video-blog which touches on how ABC News just uses the “cute” image of the very smart video blogger Amanda Congdon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjQqh19H6ts

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By Douglas Chalmers, August 9, 2007 at 3:17 am #

#93309 by cyrena on 8/08 at 10:45 pm: “....but the bottom line is that there is still, (and particularly here in the U.S.) an underlying misogynist mentality that reigns here. ...... And, to be honest… this has become MORE of an issue in the past decade or so, than it ever was before. Or, maybe I just didn’t notice it as much. .......Still, in the work-place as well as the blogosphere, women are victimized more often than it may seem, because there’s really no “legal” defense….”

Yes, cyrena, the failing male ego is thrashing blindly about as the incompetents of the lower order of sperm compressors realize the futility of their existence, ha ha.

Rage and viciousness are symptomatic but anyone can fight back in a blog or forum equally armed. As hurtful as the words may be, they are only words. You and I have learned already to effectively counter them in various ways.

There is no legal defence and many blogs such as Truthdig are either complicit or lax in doing anything about the worst offenders. Nevertheless, they are easily beaten at their own game - and it is only necessary to use their own malicious words against them but in a nicer way.

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By cyrena, August 9, 2007 at 2:45 am #

#93305 by Douglas Chalmers on 8/08 at 10:19 pm
Well, dont be silent - or scared. All you have to do is not identify yourself too much through either your screen name or what you reveal about yourself, your occupation ro your location on the net. That is your firewall! I am only using my name because I do want to be identified in a more or less political blog but that is all and I dont offer any other personal identifying detail.

Doug, on this, we of course share the same common wisdom. Really, ANYONE, should feel free to participate, and all should take reasonable precautions. Just because there ARE so many crazies among us. The internet allows them to hide in plain sight.
Still, these fears are not to be cast aside easily, and females in journalism or any other anything, should not have to hide the fact that they are. And, this is not new. Women (authors in particular) have written/published under just their initials, or other pseudonyms to even have their work objectively read. I admit that this doesnt happen so much at the scholarly level, (at least not any more) but the bottom line is that there is still, (and particularly here in the U.S.) an underlying misogynist mentality that reigns here. It appears to be a cornerstone of the religious right, but it is certainly not limited to them. Oh no.

And, to be honest, from my own observations, this has become MORE of an issue in the past decade or so, than it ever was before. Or, maybe I just didnt notice it as much. Still, in the work-place as well as the blogosphere, women are victimized more often than it may seem, because theres really no legal defense.

For that reason, many women remain silent and/or afraid.

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By Douglas Chalmers, August 9, 2007 at 2:19 am #

Quote Ellen Goodman: “...“I learned to talk the way I do in the U.S. Army. And we don’t mince words. In politics, I don’t see it any different. I see it as a battlefield. ...” The American Prospect’s Garance Franke-Ruta, who was on the panel, notes, wryly: “If you’re an angry man you’re righteous. If you’re an angry woman, you’re crazy or a bitch…. Is it harassment…?”

Well, don’t be silent - or scared. All you have to do is not identify yourself too much through either your screen name or what you reveal about yourself, your occupation ro your location on the net. That is your firewall! I am only using my name because I do want to be identified in a more or less political blog but that is all and I don’t offer any other personal identifying detail.

Quote Ellen Goodman: “...one reason for the demographics is that educated, economically comfortable men were the early adopters to the technology and took the lead. ......The typical political blog reader is a 43-year-old man with an $80,000 family income. ......Is it any surprise that Hillary gets only 9 percent in most online-activist polls…”

Frankly, I don’t really like it either, EG, because the last people I want to bother with are “angry white men” who are having some kind of mid-life crisis that they can’t adjust to as a result of their bodies’ inability to process estrogen (the real reason for the male menopause!).

The good thing about blogs like Truthdig are that there are people who are willing to and are capable of conversing intelligently. Solo rants and drunken diatribes are not appreciated nor the boozy crowd of anti-reglious nuts slagging off at each other.

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