Because I Can and You Don't Know
See now, I had no idea Lester kept a blog.
1. Initially had no intention of participating in this meme because I already answered similiar ones here, here and here, but after reading a number of blog posts expressing scorn for this meme, I'm quite pleased to be tagged. Nothing is more annoying than someone bitching on his blog about what someone else is doing on his blog. If you don't want to know what someone ate for breakfast, go peruse the latest issue of Very Intellectual Poetry Criticism until you absorb your daily brilliance requirement. And why does anyone feel the need to announce on his blog that he's not going to write about what he had for breakfast or how she won't be posting any kitty cat pictures? Why establish jackassery from the get-go? Nobody's gonna show up and be all Yo, where are the mother fucking omelet jpegs? You don't need a sign. Take it easy, relax. After one short week of posting well-thought and considered ideas, your serious poetry blogger credentials will be firmly established and not a soul will dare confuse you with the wretched mommy-blogger scourge. In 7 months you'll be eligible for the Serious Poetry Blogger Hall of Fame.
2. I am aware of the irony in stating on my blog that "nothing is more annoying than someone bitching on his blog about what someone else is doing his blog."
3. This blog will not discuss "reb bumps on the penis" or "red bumps on the penis" or any sort of "bumps on the penis." EVER.
4. This morning I ate my usual breakfast, a bowl of SmartStart with 2% milk.
5. For dinner this evening I ate a bean burrito with green chile. I am married to a man named Chris and he ordered the carne avodada. 23 months ago I gave birth to a son who we named Gideon. For dinner, Gideon refused his cheese quesadilla opting instead for a flour tortilla and single corn chip dipped in salsa.
p.s. Go tag yourself!
posted by RL @ 12:01 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I come back to the idea--discussed in blogland several months ago, I believe--that sexism plays a role in the scorn heaped on us for our particular style of blogging. If it were simply uninteresting we'd be ignored. But when people get angry, I suspect it's because they're uncomfortable--uncomfortable that the personal and emotional are making inroads into the public discourse.
Fuck those people.
If my own blog isn't more intellectual, it's partly because I wonder whether it's the right medium for it. Say something controversial, and suddenly there's an enormous conversation. Say something merely insightful, and there's a good chance no one will respond. One could easily argue that the pseudo-intellectual blogs do little more than allow men to bond in the way they find most comfortable: through competition.
If women's controlling 50% of the discourse didn't represent a real loss of power for men, I doubt there'd would be so much pressure to conform to the male-centered model.
Lest I seem to be painting with too broad a brush, I realize (and admire the fact that) many bloggers do not fall neatly into one or the other category based on what's going on between their legs. Like Virginia Woolfe, I admire the androgynous mind.
Nonetheless, I do think certain gender-based cultural trends drive this desire to form hierarchies out of the radical egalitarianism of the blogosphere.
Ginger, you make some good points.
Sometimes, I can find a lot more intellect and profoundness in a bowl of cereal than a territorial marking essay.
I have no problem with the mini-essay style blog and read and enjoy quite a few. They don't threaten my existence -- even if they tried. Maybe some are trying and I'm not noticing. My blog isn't here to take over anyone's town or run anyone's house. Let your daughters out of the attic. I wasn't eyeing them. All the reluctant/serious bloggers needing to bluntly distinguish themselves from my ilk need not worry -- we were never trying to claim them in the first place!
Hi Reb. I understand where you are coming from, I agree, but you know I think that when a person does that sort of thing, it can only reflect their insecurity. It's like a one-upmanship: I'm not going to write about this on MY blog therefore I'm better than so and so and so...putting someone down to elevate the self.
I don't know that it has anything to do with men versus women bloggers. There are certainly male bloggers who write about the personal. I think it just depends on how comfortable a person is being open about their life on the internet. I tend to prefer the more personal blogs because I am interested in people and personalities. I like to know the things they think about and eat and what they watch and read. It humanizes them. On the internet we don't have the luxury of body language, tone of voice, or quirks. And it's the voices that compensate for the lack of that I'm most drawn to.
Jenni, there are definitely women-bloggers who make similiar idiotic remarks (the "I won't be posting pictures of my cats") was written by a woman. I didn't mean to imply it was a man vs. woman thing, although I do share some of Ginger's thoughts regarding underlying sentiments, whether conscious or unconsious. Yes, there are plenty of man-bloggers writing the domestic or however one prefers to describe it and perhaps that comes off as feminine as well, hence the stigma of that -- or perhaps it's way more complicated. The "ugh, fucking mommy-bloggers" comes from both genders. In the end, I think you nailed it with the one-upmanship observation -- wherever that one-upmanship is stemming.
BTW (not directed to Jenni), on a related note and to be 100% clear -- I never called or implied ANYONE is a sexist. That's not a term I use lightly. My examples were just that, examples, not aimed at any one particular blogger -- there are many who do what I called out. Examples used were ones I came across recently and were fresh in my mind. The post isn't directed at any one or two bloggers, but responding to a trend.
So how about the flame throwers and fanners just chill out. Maybe do a little self-reflection why one is compelled to always jump to such heightened accusations.
I didn't think I called anyone sexist either. Rather, I pointed out a sexist undercurrent *in the culture* that privileges some forms of public discourse over others. My strongest language was aimed at anyone, be they male or female, who wants to maintain those hierarchical oppositions online.
Gloria Steinem's "If Men Could Menstruate" is a good introduction, for those who need it, to the concept of cultural (vs. individual) sexism.
[Ha! My word verification is 'pulyz'!]
Nobody called anybody a sexist here.
One might ponder the purpose of such accusations.
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