Do Blogs Have a Gender?

Everyone is in an uproar over a Maureen Dowd pity fest and MSNBC's Steven Levy's assertion that the blogosphere is dominated by white males, and I do mean everyone.....

Michelle Malkin
Our Own Captain Ed
Jeff Jarvis
Instapundit

There are enough links in their posts to keep you reading from daybreak to sunset.  You'd almost think there couldn't possibly be one more thing to say about the issue.  You'd be wrong. There's no way a blog written by nine, count 'em nine, women can pass on joining the discussion.

I may be ostracized for saying it, but here goes..........Yes, Virginia, men and women are different!

Have you recovered from the shock?  It's O.K.  Take a minute to gather yourself.  Deep breath.

Ready for more?

Viva la Difference!  It's the spice of life.  Face it.  If we only had to learn to live with our own sex, and were not forced to adapt and grow by learning to live with the opposite sex, we'd be a lot poorer for the lack of challenge.

There are the....uh....obvious differences, that we've been told in our post feminist society to ignore!  Ignore those sex organs behind the keyboard!

Even if it's become politically incorrect to admit it, I'm sure you can easily list the character traits we associate with each gender yourself; women are more social, men insult each other as a male bonding ritual, she thinks about their relationship, he thinks about the oil that needs to be changed in the car, etc. etc. ad naseum.  Every male/female joke throughout history depends on exposing our differences.

Note that different means different, "Unlike in form, quality, amount, or nature; dissimilar."  Not better. Not inferior. Just different.

So what does this have to do with blogging?

First, I agree with the crowd that blogging is a great equalizer.  Often we don't know squat about who the author is, neither male or female, east coast or west, Bud Lite or Rum cocktails with the little umbrellas.  Which leaves us only the words and the viewpoint they convey to base our opinions on.

Isn't it just possible that a man might be more likely to relate to the way another man approaches an idea or states his case in writing?  Or that a woman might identify more easily with the thoughts of another woman?  Note in either case, the reader need not be aware of the sex of the author they are reading.  Their only guidepost is the words, the tone, the ideas.

It would be a mistake to conclude our different approaches correlate to the aptitude, intelligence, or interests of either sex.  Yet it would also be a mistake to deceive ourselves into believing that we do not respond to gender differences, even when they are not explicitly known to us.

Mystery solved!

Which leads me to the top reasons both men and women need to be reading M.A.W.B. Squad:

• Placenta talk.  I believe we can say with confidence that you won't find in depth coverage on this topic anywhere else.
• We have it on good authority that men love women.  Women also identify with other women.  Everyone wins!
• Where else can you guys learn what's really sexy?  (Getting caught with her copy of Cosmo can be embarrassing.  With M.A.W.B. Squad, just a click of your mouse makes the evidence disappear.)
• Blog spankings when the lines of civil discourse are crossed.
• Unique want ads:  Jo, did you see you have an applicant?
• Hugh Hewitt listens when we talk politics.
• We think interesting scientific phenomenom is cool.
• Sound advice on parenting and raising the next generation of capitalists.
• Endorsed by the M.O.B.  Open to appeasement.

And the final reason for everyone to hop on the M.A.W.B. Squad band wagon:

• Female Dictators:  What's not to love?

 

Comments

[rew]

I never really thought of bloggers as having a sex. I always pictured them as stick figures with giant emoticons as heads.