Glass Walls at BlogHer
Ronni Bennett posted on the recent US Supreme Court decision that erodes progress that pro-choice advocates have made over the last forty years or so. She cross posted at BlogHer and two active and different discussion threads opened up on the topic. I felt welcome to comment at Ronni’s, but I don’t feel welcome at BlogHer. Too bad, because those gyno-centric discussions at BlogHer could sometimes use a little y-chromosomal leavening. Particularly in this matter of a woman’s right to choose, the echo of a male partner’s feelings would provide a dimension that’s missing from the discussions so far.
The BlogHer blog is behind a glass wall for me. It’s a place where men can link but they can’t touch. I don’t feel that in a nice way, like I do at Blogsisters. BlogHer reminds me of Ms. Coming out of the sixties, there was Ms. magazine. Ms. was a corporate media co-optation of the second wave of feminism that was bringing equal treatment of women center stage. I think BlogHer is like a little Ms. I think it will continue to be profitable for the women who own it. I don’t think it’s bounded condition will limit the expression of those who are welcome there. I think, in fact, that like Ms. magazine it will empower women, support them in their search for free expression. And help them find the best gyno-brands, like Virginia Slims.
I read a lot of blogs by women. One blog, by Mina, reflects a blogger that I think would be welcomed without question in the BlogHer community. Mina linked to me, and I followed the link back and read her work. I don’t know how long I’ll stay interested, but she seems like a nice person with a strong sense of herself. She reminds me of Danah Boyd, only with christ on the cross instead of the burning man thing.
Another is by Leslie, someone who may not be all that welcome at BlogHer. I will always read Leslie, even though she makes fun of me for my intemperate use of extraneous apostrophes. I love her work and it so transcends the BlogHer corporate community values bullshit that I am embarrassed to reference her in the same paragraph. See how red my face got? Embarrassed!
Unlike Leslie’s blog, where self-expression rules, BlogHer is a meta-creation, a place where the voices of the owners emerge mostly to create boundary conditions and to steer marketing intentions, a place that provides a little curtsey toward revenue generation for all, while serving as a potentially bottomless rice bowl for the big three.
In a little ironic twist, earlier this week Ronni felt the need to explain her own linking behavior. Ronni’s blog has emerged as a web publication with a solid foundation covering the elder beat. Ronni seems poised to monetize readership based on the quality of her work. This is great. It’s in the best traditions of independent journalism. Day after day Ronni’s integrity and clear vision shine out as a counterpoint to the compromises that inform the work of the mass audience builders like Scoble and the ladies of BlogHer. Ronni is one of several bloggers who remind me of Esther Roisman’s husband.
A month ago I found myself apologizing to Kathy Sierra for being a MeanKid. I have mixed feelings about that apology today. Kathy treated a couple of my friends in a miserable way, and the crush of public opinion that she generated with her accusations was out of proportion to those people’s real or perceived culpability. But Kathy had a sound personal reason for her obdurate behavior. The ladies at BlogHer, on the other hand, chose to engage in a way that so far has diminished us all. They’ve held up their own mass media code as a model for individuals, and they’ve been part of the clamor to erase all the shades of gray from the unfortunate situation that Kathy brought to our attention, and turn it into something black and white at the expense of some of their own best supporters.
So ladies, here’s what it is…
