That's why a large segment of the blogosphere is buzzing because today, Oprah's show is all about mommy bloggers.
All I can say is, "What took you so long, Oprah?"
Conversations Without Borders
Women writing online have shifted the nature and tone of the conversation. Where we used to interact with a small circle face-to-face in playgroups, coffee shops, and girls night out, now our sphere of influence can be so much greater. The online environment provides opportunitie for exchanges 24/7 and the conversation stretches across countries, time zones, cultures, races and religions.
Don't let the term mommy blogger fool you. We are not women simply writing about the lives of our children. There's a lot of politics, opinion, and substantive work going on in the mom blogs. A sampling will show you how serious we can be:
- BlogHer - the community for women who blog
- Momsrising - bringing motherhood and family issues to the forefront
- MOMocrats - politics from a parent's perspective
- PunditMom - a mother's guide to politics
Blogging for Change
Good blogging isn't simply about "how was your day, dear?" Good blogging can lead to social change. It provides a platform from which you can observe the world, question why things are just so, and propose alternatives. Good blogs analyze, speculate, place current events in the context of our lives, and show us where we are and where we might go.
Staking Your Claim
In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle last year, I expressed my belief that we are living in a time that approximates the California Gold Rush of the mid-1800s; but instead of gold, it's information that's valuable. Every woman should be out there staking her claim on the internet, signing up for a blog (nearly all of them are free for a basic-level set-up) and writing down her thoughts.
You can choose to keep it private, or you can have it open to search engines. You can blog by yourself, or link into one of a number of blogging communities for women such as BlogHer. You can maintain the status quo, or you can agitate for change. There is no wrong or right. It's really all about finding your voice.
For the woman who starts her own blog, nothing is quite as exhilarating as having the first comment posted by a stranger who somehow finds your blog, agrees with what you have to say, and says so. It's validating, it's empowering, and it reminds us that we are all in this together. By reaching out, we reaffirm each other and amplify each other's voices.
Breaking a History of Silence
Why does that matter? It matters because for generations women have been silenced. Our opinions weren't welcomed. We couldn't vote. We couldn't own property. In fact, in many cultures, we were regarded as property. Turn the clock back one hundred, two hundred years, and many women would have given their lives to have access to something like the internet in their lives - a powerful conduit for the exchange of information and ideas, and a way for women to find each other, collaborate, and work towards change, empowerment, and equality.
Do you blog? You should. Your foremothers would have wanted you to. They may have fought to gain women the right to vote, but what's at the root of the struggle is the right of every woman to speak out in her own voice and be heard.
Blogging 101
If the idea of a blog seems too hard, too time consuming, or too scary, here's information on how to start your own blog.
You don't need permission - you just need the impetus. And that's what Oprah's providing us all today - a reason to blog, and examples of women who've made it the center of their lives.
There's a place for you in the blogosphere. All you have to do is step up and claim it.
And if you have a blog, I'd love to know about it. Please leave a comment and post your link here.
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Comments
You may also want to check out http://www.motherofallconservatives.com, a political website authored by mothers that perhaps brings a bit of variety to the list above!
Great post, Linda!
My blog deals with domestic violence prevention. Today’s post is about gun control that doesn’t involve Congress.
I think mums should also be taking care “Down Under”. Check out HoldItSister.com.
It helped my enormously with pelvic floor issues I was having – so much so, that know I’m trying to raise awareness for Mary’s new eBook.
I don’t think blogging is necessary — it is like having a journal everyone can read — and I believe it can be used against you. Besides isn’t it better to use the time you might be blogging to help others — I get Meals on Wheels all delivered by volunteers — why not spend the time you would use blogging to help others, such as the handicapped, the elderly, who have no one to help them?
Donna, blogging is so much more than ‘journaling’ and can lead to social change. I urge you to follow the links I’ve provided; Momsrising is an incredible vehicle that encourages service for the greater good. Please take a look before you dismiss this tool in your comments and thoughts.
Two reasons to blog – to connect with others who share the same passions, and to promote those causes not in isolation but in solidarity. That can include Meals on Wheels, which had over 72,000 mentions when I searched it on blogs alone:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=meals+on+wheels&btnG=Search+Blogs
As for the idea that blogging takes time away from helping others, consider this: A woman has a full-time job and a family to raise. Her only ‘free time’ is late at night when everybody’s in bed. She’d like to participate and connect with a larger community, but really…what can you do at 12:30 am?
Blogging gives her an outlet – be it creative or political. Realistically, she can’t be helping anybody in real-world terms at that hour, but she can participate in other ways in a rich community that feeds her emotional and intellectual needs.
Blogging is NOT necessarily done in isolation. For those who don’t blog, we have to change the way we see this tool. Not as our mothers’ or grandmothers’ diaries, but as a vital form of new media in which we can come together to hammer out solutions to the universal challenges facing women.
Great inspirational post! Reading other blogs validates our own impressions and helps us to see a little more clearly. This is particularly true of media issues. I’m very interested in the hypersexualization of your media and its impact on our children (http://akamamma.blogspot.com/2009/03/on-our-walk-home-from-school-my-six.html). This post was the beginning of my research into this topic after my first grade daughter started to talk about “sexy.” Since then I have read two books on the topic, blogged about the tweening of Dora the Explorer and will be attending a conference on the topic offered by a specialist, Lilia Goldfarb, at the Montreal YWCA. The more I read, the more I want to know about how we as mothers can band together and protest this disturbing trend.
Hi. I enjoyed your article!! I guess I was too late for Oprah, LOL!
I started my blog just about 2 months ago, and am LOVING IT! I swear, i feel like I have thousands of friends around the world. The woman’s connection has been incredible. My readers are enjoying the info I have been giving them.
My Blog is called, Women On The Fence (www.WomenOnTheFence.com), For all Women On the Fence in Life, in Love, at Work it’s time to GET OFF THE FENCE and start living!
This is what it’s about:
Hi to all my Women out there! I am Erica Diamond. I am 34. I am Wife. I am a Mother of 2 young boys. I am an Award Winning Entrepreneur and Businesswoman. I am a Reality TV Show Writer. I am a Hockey Mom. I am a serial Volunteer. I am a Woman On The Fence.
This blog was created for all of us women who are on the fence… In Life. In Business. In Love. In anything. Period.
We are bright. We are dynamic. We are educated. We are perfectionists. We are tired. We love our husbands. We hate our husbands. We love our kids. Our kids annoy us. We want to work. We can’t juggle it all. We expect two dozen roses on our anniversary. We give. We get. We’re happy. We’re discouraged. We’re intuitive. We’re funny.
We’re women. Black. White. Asian. Hispanic. Through it all, we stick together.
Therefore my ladies, my goal of this Blog is to unite all women. To let you all vent your frustrations about living life on the fence. It’s time to make a move. It’s time to GET OFF THE FENCE! It’s time to make up or break up. It’s time to quit your job. It’s time to enroll in medical school. It’s time to come out of the closet. It’s time to speak your truth. It’s time to start LIVING YOUR LIFE!
I want to hear from you… OFTEN! You will be my guide. I will abide by the laws of supply and demand. I will give you what you ask for. I will let you set the tone.
“Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!”
Oh The Places You’ll Go!
DR. SEUSS
Now, here I go. I’m getting off the fence…
xoxEDxox