posting with passion: blogs and the politics of gender

Hi again!

I am presenting this week, on Melissa Gregg's article Posting with Passion: Blogs and the Politics of Gender.

I have noticed that a quite a few of you have mentioned that you are new to the blogging scene. Just as a way of introduction to this topic, and so we have a few things to talk about in the tutorial, I would love for you all to visit a few of the following blogs. You don't have to spend a lot of time on them, but maybe just read a few of their posts and their About Me page for a little insight. These are some of the most popular, influential blogs written by Australian women. (I have made this assertion purely from my own observations - I have no figures to support that claim!)

• MamaMia: Mia Freedman is a former Cosmopolitan editor, Channel 9 executive and author who blogs on current issues relevant to Australian women. Her blog is built around a strong (mostly female) readership, which she calls her "community", who comment on her posts as a way of discussion. Mia is a 37-year-old mother-of-three living in Sydney. She also appears regularly on the Today Show and 7PM Project as a commentator.
• Sarah Wilson: Sarah is another former Cosmopolitan editor who now writes about making life "better". Sarah is in her thirties and lives alone in Bondi. She is also a host and producer on Foxtel's Lifestyle You and a regular panelist on Sunrise.
• Rachel Hills: Rachel describes herself as a feminist blogger. Her site is called "Musings of an Inappropriate Woman". She discusses popular culture and its affect on women, particularly those of Generation Y. Rachel is also a freelance journalist for various women's magazines. She is in her late-twenties and currently resides in London.
• Kerri Sackville: Kerri represents the growing "mummy blogger" phenomena with her blog "Life and Other Crises". Her impetus is to expose the reality of motherhood with frank, sometimes brutal, honesty and humour. She is in her late-thirties and lives with her husband and children in Sydney.
• Annabel Crabb: Annabel is the chief online political writer for ABC blog The Drum: Unleashed. She also appears on Gruen Transfer and Insiders on ABC. Annabel is a well-established journalist (formally writing for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald) and author. She is a working mother based in Sydney.
• Primped: Primped is an online beauty magazine headed by beauty writers Zoe Foster and Yasemin Turker, formally of Cosmopolitan and Harper's Bazaar magazines. They write about beauty products in a "fun, accessible" way. They are both in their late-twenties and live in Sydney.

NB I am mentioning snippets of these bloggers' personal life, not because I think it is at all relevant to the quality or relevance of their writing, but to identify their diversity (or, in some respects, lack thereof), and also because their personal lives are often mentioned as part of their blogs and reflect their readership.

And to compare, perhaps visit a couple of these blogs written by Australian males. To be honest, I don't read or know of many blogs written by men, which may be significant to blogging culture or, more likely, just reflects my own taste.

• Scrivener's Fancy: This site is designed to look like an online newspaper and is actually a collaboration between two women and two men, so it's not strictly a men's blog at all! But perhaps if you focus upon Tony Martin's blog "Scarcely Relevant", we could pretend. Of particular interest is his recent article Out of Step with Community Standards in which he explains why his "column" does not appear in print media - he's not enough of an "everyman", the inference being that the internet allows for diversity (although, personally, I am much more akin to Tony that the so-called everyman, which some of you may relate to!) Tony is a comedian with a career encompasses TV, film and radio. He is divorced and lives in Melbourne.
• Andrew Bolt: Andrew Bolt's blog is, according to his Herald Sun profile, the most-read political blog in Australia. Andrew is a newspaper columnist in the Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph and Adelaide's Advertiser, and regularly appears on Channel 9, ABC's The Insiders and radio. He has an identifiably right-wing persuasion and has engaged in a lot of controversy throughout his journalistic career. He is married with three children and lives in Melbourne (I think).
• The Backpacker: Ben Groundwater is am author and travel writer for Fairfax. He specialises in backpacking and budget holidays. He lives in Sydney and has no children.

Phew. I think that is enough! Please add your own suggestions in the comments section, particularly if you know of any other male bloggers. I have chosen to focus upon Australian sites, just because I think it will be easier to discern any trends amongst them if we have a smaller, more concentrated focus group, but, of course, we feel free to discuss any any other, non-Australians blogs that you like (or hate).

Just a few things to think about prior to the tutorial, and maybe discuss in the comments section...

1. The article refers to female blogging discourse being restricted to "noticeably white, college-educated and US-centric" voices. Either from your own experience or the blogs above, what kind of generalisations can and have you make about popular female bloggers with respect to class, ethnicity, geographical location, education, occupation, etcetera? Do you think those generalisations are a significant and/or accurate representation of the blogosphere and feminist discourse, in general?
2. Gregg refers to the inference that blogs written by males are more "influential" than those written by females. There are many definitions of "influential" that we could consider, but let's assume that "influence" is measured by the number of readers, as opposed to the effect that the blogs have upon them. Why do you think the content of male blogs have broader appeal? The article theorises that men tend to write about politics, while women focus upon the personal and the domestic. Does this still apply? Why do you think this trend may occur, and what are the implications for contemporary gender differences in the public and private realm?
3. Most of the bloggers I have come across, including those I have mentioned above, have a public profile outside of their blogs, whether in print journalism (magazines or newspapers), tv, radio or as authors. There is a discourse within the blogging world which refers to "building your own brand". Bloggers are expected to embody the "message" they promote through their writing. This seems to be more true of female bloggers than male. Why do think this may be?

I hope all this gives you some food for thought. If you have any queries or points that you'd like to discuss, I would love for you to do so in the comments section!

Thank you for reading, see you all on Wednesday!