White males dominate the blogger A-list, but do they dominate the blogosphere? Glenn Reynolds, a white male, opines on the topic. He also links to others who discuss the lack of skin color and “gender” diversity, although Glenn focuses on the latter.
Are women political bloggers more sensitive to the “hate” in the blogosphere? Glenn writes:
[I]f you look at the kind of hate that Zephyr Teachout got from her fellow Deaniacs (see the comments to this post), and if you believe, as Ann Althouse seems to, that women are more sensitive to that sort of attack than men are, then more politeness might help.I know that a lot of women feel that men are clamoring to get ahead of them, but on the other hand, I know that a lot of men are afraid that women will pile all over them — and play the double-standard “you’re hitting a girl” gender card — if they say the wrong thing. (And there’s evidence for this — ask Larry Summers.) That’s gender dynamics.
More interesting is a link to a Newsweek article by Steven Levy, who asks, “[W]hy is the blogosphere dominated by white males?”
Does the blogosphere have a diversity problem?Viewed one way, the issue seems a bit absurd. These self-generated personal Web sites are supposed to be the ultimate grass-roots phenomenon. The perks of alpha bloggers—voluminous traffic, links from other bigfeet, conference invitations, White House press passes — are, in theory, bequeathed by a market-driven merit system. The idea is that the smartest, the wittiest and the most industrious in finding good stuff will simply rise to the top, by virtue of a self-organizing selection process.
So why, when millions of blogs are written by all sorts of people, does the top rung look so homogeneous? It appears that some clubbiness is involved. Suitt puts it more bluntly: “It’s white people linking to other white people!” (A link from a popular blog is this medium’s equivalent to a Super Bowl ad.) Suitt attributes her own high status in the blogging world to her conscious decision to “promote myself among those on the A list.”
While I have noticed that the top bloggers tend to link to each other, and most of them happen to be white males, I know for a fact the “old boys’ club” of bloggers isn’t impenetrable. I’ve managed to break through several times, but that usually comes with e-mailing links, which is something I used to avoid. The drawback of such an admission is that if/when I’m linked by a high-profile blogger, the assumption is that I’ve e-mailed them. Not the case every time.
I don’t think the top bloggers have much time to read a lot blogs, and I suspect mine isn’t on their agenda most days. Consequently, I made the same decision as Halley Suitt. I decided that I wanted to promote myself among those on the A-list. I have high aspirations for my career as a writer and blogger, and getting the attention of high-profile bloggers is a necessary step.
For example, I wasn’t booked on MSNBC because my blog is so fabulous. I got a guest spot because I’ve been linked to by top bloggers, and the right people took notice. Other black or female bloggers may be doing something similar or nothing like it at all, but to get where I want to go (in the time frame I want to get there), I must.
Whites are still the majority in America, and the Internet tends to be dominated by whites. It follows that the majority of bloggers will be white. I have no grand theories, at least none I’d care to discuss today, why white men in particular dominate the top bloggers.
At the risk of sounding like a liberal, I do wish more blacks and women were invited to these blogger conferences and called for TV spots and radio interviews. I won’t complain too much, though. I’ll just continue blogging about what interests me and hope you find something on the blog that interests you.
I remain hopeful that “affirmative action” will keep its ugly hands out of the pot. We will rise or fall on pure blogging. And some high-profile linkage. 
Update: Liberal blogger Chris Nolan explains why men dominate the blogosphere.
Update II: Go visit the blog of a white male who asked me to guest-blog while he’s away. His rules: “Boost your traffic, have some fun.”
By the way, I don’t mind bloggers e-mailing me links to interesting posts or stories, so this is not an indictment against you. But as Glenn wrote: “Don’t be a pest (there’s one guy who emails me every time he updates his blog, which as a consequence I’ve never visited)…”
Update III: Check out Steve Sailer’s latest column, The White Guy Gap. Last year I blogged about his column on the white baby gap.
Update IV (3/14): Captain Ed responds to Steve Levy’s piece.
Thanks for posting your feelings about blogging and your professional aspirations. It’s like a behind-the-scenes look at a mega-blogger and public pundit/commentator.
Comment by mj — 03.13.05 @ 5:24 pm
Although I’d love to see many and more minority bloggers publicized, it’s best to make sure they’re blogging to begin with.
So let’s start recruiting!
I’m with you. And I know others will be.
Comment by ditariel — 03.13.05 @ 5:44 pm
Maybe white males just have too much time on their hands and too much of a sense of self-importance….like me! oops!
Comment by stan — 03.13.05 @ 5:50 pm
stan,
We agree on something …LOL I am just kidding
Comment by Renee — 03.13.05 @ 5:54 pm
I’d like to see more diversity of those interviewed in the MSM as well…adding to your list I’d say: college-age bloggers!
It’s a hard balance in the blogosphere. I’ve seen some excellent blogs, and I read their traffic statistics averaging at 30 per day. These blogs have been going at it for over a year, so…I suppose it’s hard to figure out how much you should try to promote yourself vs how much you should just write (and write well at that).
Comment by Athena — 03.13.05 @ 6:07 pm
I hear you, Athena. If you have a lot of pride like I do, it’s tough to solicit links. I want to write well; at the same time I want to make blogging my business. My goal is have enough independent sources of traffic so I won’t need links from the big boys and won’t have to e-mail anyone to make them aware of anything because I’ll be a daily read.
Comment by La Shawn — 03.13.05 @ 6:21 pm
LaShawn,
Young males (teenager in MD) are more tuned to the technology, on average. How many computers have you taken apart compared to teenage males? You and Michelle Malkin are increasingly quoted! Most blogs by woman are about family (their children and grandchildren)! Yours and Michelle’s are political and topical. Both mention murders in Atlanta (or alleged). Michael King knows the geography of Atlanta better than either of you!
Were either of you blogging when sniper(s) were killing people in DC area. Montgomery County and Prince George County are my old homes. Things change names, but my father worked at Federal Research Center at White Oak. Last lived south of Montrose Rd between east of I270 and west of Rockville Pike before father moved to Fairfax County with Alexandria address.
James M. Barber
Comment by James M. Barber — 03.13.05 @ 6:32 pm
You should go for it. You and your site have a lot of unreached potential. By the way, someone mentioned “traffic statistics of 30 per day”. What does that mean? How many visits or hits or comments a day determines the success of a blog? My main question is with so much competition, how long will the blogging phase last in its current form ? It must be extremely time consuming.
Comment by stan — 03.13.05 @ 6:47 pm
I have a responses of a fews different levels.
One on the fact that most the names on most of top of most of the blog lists are deemed to be run by white males, so what? It if a free choice and people are making their choices.
Two, as to blogs list, they are what other people are reading. So what. I don’t read a blog because someone else reads it, or lot of someones reads it. I read a blog because I like what the blogger has to say. and quality of the people post comments on the blog.
In the case of LBC I like the blogess and I like the quality of the comments posted. Beyond that, where LBC stands on some ecosystem or other list doesn’t matter.
Three, there are a lot more blogs that I can read or that any person can read. Each blog reader has a choice to select and pick the blogs he wants to read. Personally, I think I have a pretty diverse blog list I read.
If my personal list doesn’t comform to the top of the ecosystem or what blog MSNBC happens to think important, so what. I mean I have Ana Marie Cox bookmarked but I don’t read her much. She doesn’t have much to say. You should choose your blogs to read based on the quality of their content and not on their fame.
There seems to be an endless number of blogs. Everybody has their own percular idea of the proper mix of blogs. Given the range of choice everybody is free to create their own individual blog universe. There are more than enough blogs to go around.
Four, as to who is on the top of some blog list, why should anybody, aside from the blogger himself, care? It is not any big deal.
Five, to argue with myself, links are a nice way to find out about new and different blogs. You see a link, you follow it, you read it and if you like it you bookmark. Following link will get you to blog. It will not keep you coming back.
Six, I feel like doing a Howard Dean scream. The real world does not exist in neat demomgraphically proportionate ratios. The blogsophere does not either. Political corrrect theory does not work in the real world. It should not be a concern.
Comment by David L — 03.13.05 @ 6:53 pm
Hey… I’m an Hispanic/Native American/bald blogger…
La Shawn is lamenting the slew of white male bloggers: White males dominate the blogger A-list, but do they dominate the blogosphere? Glenn Reynolds, a white male, opines about the topic. He also links to others who discuss the lack of
Trackback by Brutally Honest — 03.13.05 @ 6:58 pm
A few years ago, the majority of people even using computers were white and male. That’s changed dramatically.
Since I discovered blogs and got comfortable with them, I’ve found myself deliberately seeking out bloggers of other races simply because I’m curious to see things through their eyes.
Comment by RebeccaH — 03.13.05 @ 7:04 pm
I made this comment on another site… I think female bloggers are less likely to agressively promote themselves (as many male bloggers do — and some, as you noted, overdo). I rarely bother, I have a decent (albeit not stellar) readership only because I was an ‘early adopter’.
I would say you are taking the right tack in e-mailing the A-listers links. As long as you don’t do it every time you make a post… I’ve redirected several male bloggers into my spam box for that (I suspect one of them is the same one Glenn mentioned). I’ve never had a single female blogger mail me a link to a post unless it was a particular post they thought would interest me.
I do mail links myself, once in a while, but they are always to a particular blogger (or two) who has shown an interest in a particular topic and who I think might be interested in my take on it (or the take of whoever… I’ve been known to send links to other bloggers).
Comment by Kathy K — 03.13.05 @ 7:06 pm
We need more women to help keep the blogosphere civilized. You know how men are.
Comment by RedBeard — 03.13.05 @ 7:12 pm
This is definitely one of my complaints about the blogosphere, though I suspect it is more of an issue of publicity. For one reason or another, white males manage to claw to the top of the charts while other blogs go unnoticed.
Gender-wise, I concur with Kathy K: women are just not as competetive. The women are out there, but they don’t tend to call a lot of attention to themselves.
Comment by Ashtony Sanders — 03.13.05 @ 7:46 pm
I am a white female. I’ve noticed that I almost solely read female blogs. In fact, most of the ones that I regularly read are by minority females ie: you (LaShawn), Michelle Malkin, Ambra Nyokl, and Baldilocks.
I like to see what women are writing about. I am also unlikely to return to any site that links to vuglar stories and/or uses foul language. I appreciate knowing that I can read the news as posted on these sites and not be offended by the language or pictures.
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK LASHAWN!!!
Comment by Kimberly — 03.13.05 @ 8:08 pm
I have to confess, it’s NEVER occurred to me to e-mail another blogger with a link back to my blog. The few times bloggers have e-mailed me with links to their blogs they’ve been (a) male (b) not related to what I blog about. I guess that made me think the practice of self-promotion to that degree was tacky. Maybe I should reconsider.
I’ve made it to the top 120 in the Ecosystem. Now that I have less time my numbers are falling. I’ve always thought that my blog was judged by my writing, opinion and sense of humor. It never occurred to me that anyone cared that I was male or female, white or black or American Indian.
After reading your post I almost wish I had chosen to blog under my initials instead of my real name. Not because I might be discriminated against because I’m female but because I may get unwarranted publicity because of it. I don’t want to have my blog be promoted BECAUSE I’m a woman.
I thought this (cyberspace)was a level playing field. I’m disappointed to find out that the same rules apply as in the real world.
Comment by Janette — 03.13.05 @ 8:57 pm
I have to admit I’ve never looked at a blog and wonder if the poster is white or not (it’s normally clear they are mostly male). But you need to remember, blog for yourself first. Doesn’t matter if the big “guys” notice you or not. Cause really, what have any male said that is of any significance?? (grins) (and yes, I don’t take myself seriously)
Comment by Angie — 03.13.05 @ 9:05 pm
Hi La Shawn
The diversity thingy is more than a little offputting to me. How are we supposed to know the race, religion, socio/economic group or sex of any given blogger? Some of my favorite bloggers are women…Michelle Malkin has to be the hardest working person in journalism and her blog is the best. You, and Amy Ridenour, Ann Althouse, Betsy’s Page, Mary Eileen (Stand in the Trenches) and others are among my daily must reads. Not because you’re chicks or in some minority group, but because you’ve got good blogs.
I hope we don’t get to the point where we have to begin our posts, “I’m an Indonesian transgendered, paraplegic, latent heterosexual, and I hope you enjoy my blog……”
But then, only an angry, heterosexual, christian white guy would make such an observation;>)
Blog on, sister!
Comment by rich glasgow — 03.13.05 @ 9:37 pm
Two comments about your post. It’s interesting that people are commenting on the fact that the blogosphere is made up of white males because, to me, it is colorblind. That is, unless someone posts their picture, no one knows whether they’re white, black, asian, etc. It is only as some of these bloggers have gained fame or a presence, and, therefore, have been interviewed that we know what their race is. But what about all of the bloggers who have not become famous, are the majority white males? I’m not convinced of that.
Of the bloggers I visit daily, I would say it’s a 60/40 male female breakdown. I’m not convinced that the blogging world is dominated heavily by males. Those that have gained fame in the last year are males, but it was during a very political climate. As we get further away from the election, I think we will find that the good writers with expertise in specific areas will take off, like Michelle Malkin, and compete in their niche the way the Power Lines guys have.
I think it is interesting that the first blogger I ever visited, who is very influential and has been around for years is Lucianne.
Comment by MK — 03.13.05 @ 10:07 pm
I didn’t know there had been a running tally on who ran what and who was on top but isn’t that what competition is all about. The best will rise to the top.
With all the boards I visit LaShawn’s has got to be in the top 5 of the best and I would say on the rise.
I don’t care what a persons color is, for me I look for content, character of the individual and of course Conservative.
But isn’t that what achieving is all about being the best you can be.
Comment by Mark — 03.13.05 @ 10:23 pm
LaShawn’s Corner is that fabulous.
I admit somewhat ashamedly, that whenever I see a Black person in a position of power or authority, in the back of my mind I suspect that affirmative action might have had something to do with it (example: Chief Moose during the Va./DC sniper incidents). With LaShawn, I know she’s earned it!
Comment by Mark Slater — 03.13.05 @ 10:32 pm
Who in the cares about this subject? To me it’s obvious that anyone with access to a laptop will express his/her opinion! Let’s hear it for democracy folks!
Comment by Mescalero — 03.13.05 @ 11:16 pm
I just added up my blogroll… 8 of 12 blogs are women.
Comment by Retired Geezer — 03.13.05 @ 11:32 pm
Blogging Diversity
I don’t know about others, but I read blogs from men and women, conservatives and liberals, white, black, yellow, and brown, and from many countries. And when I see something I feel should be commented on, I do so, with a link to the originating blog…
Trackback by Don Singleton — 03.13.05 @ 11:44 pm
La Shawn,
I remember reading you back when you were a Large Mammal and I a flappy bird. You write good stuff and that’s what’s important. If you can remember back, I sent you one e-mail a long time ago, not for a link, but to say thank you for a post you wrote. I don’t throw e-mail at big name bloggers unless I think something needs to be heard. I just think it’s better for me to be self launched than instalanched. My business is not journalist related, yours is. You have a viable reason to try to hit A list bloggers (which you are).
Something to note is that most, if not all of the top echelon of bloggers have been on television, or quoted on television. Effectively, they are journalists. I think it might say more about journalism than it does the pajamasphere.
There is one category on the blogosphere that females are the absolute dominant force: blog-design. How many white males do you know that have are doing this for money? I can name three female companies doing this off the top of my head: Web-divas, elegant webscapes and Essential Design. You have sort of cornered the market.
Comment by Jeremy — 03.14.05 @ 12:20 am
Political orientation, not race or gender, is what I look for in a blog. Some are obviously more to my liking than others.
But I’ve come back to this blog because Lashawn is a conservative African American woman, and it’s a perspective that I’m interested in hearing more of. I’m as fascinated by it as Liberals are repulsed by it.
Comment by Carlos — 03.14.05 @ 12:41 am
Diversity
Although I never really stopped to notice…the blogosphere is in fact a diverse universe.
Trackback by Air Force Voices — 03.14.05 @ 12:43 am
La Shawn, I have several bloggers that I go to every day to see the lastest. I will admit that white men make up the majority of them, but I love you, Michelle Malkin, Betsy Newmark, and Lorie Byrd.
Comment by jesusland joe — 03.14.05 @ 1:07 am
Blogging about Bloggers and Blogs
La Shawn started it…then, I went and read this, and this, which led me to this, then this. Then I stopped….
Trackback by PunditGuy — 03.14.05 @ 1:27 am
La Shawn
I reckon you and Michelle Malkin are by far some of the best blogs out and about. I read all the men, but not usually until I have read Michelle, you and my good friend Chrenkoff.
As long as you continue to post the interesting, insightful and topical posts that you have to date, I can’t see why you won’t become one of the most linked to/talked about blogs around.
I agree with previous posters, I don’t care who writes/what colour they are. If its good reading I was would read stuff written by a black jewish lesbian. Race,gender and sexuality ain’t important in the blogsphere!
Keep bloggin
Comment by Jellis — 03.14.05 @ 2:57 am
Diversity in the Blogosphere?
LaShawn has some interesting comments on diversity within the blogosphere.
Whites are still the majority in America, and the Internet tends to be dominated by whites. It follows that the majority of bloggers will be white. I have no grand theories, …
Trackback by Myopic Zeal — 03.14.05 @ 7:03 am
La Shawn:
I love your blog because you are provocative - you don’t hesitate to discuss race as an issue, even though you yourself would prefer to be “color blind”.
This is a great part of your character - you are not afraid to be yourself.
PS - I just never think of gender when surfing a blog - what you say is much more important. And many are discovering that.
Comment by Frank Zavisca — 03.14.05 @ 8:32 am
Well, I think you should have gotten the guest spot on MSNBC because WE(your bloggees) think your blog is fabulous, and it is.
Keep up with the fantastic blogging, LaShawn. I know I appreciate it.
Comment by Kiki B. — 03.14.05 @ 9:16 am
Captain Ed has posted a good piece about this kerfuffle and along the way cites are our favorette blogess.
Comment by David L — 03.14.05 @ 9:20 am
La Shawn,
If you don’t market yourself, no one else will (for long). Don’t be reluctant, just be smart about it like you’ve proven. Ed Morrissey has some great tips between the lines in his comments on this subject. Keep up your good work!
Comment by Another Betsy — 03.14.05 @ 9:28 am
This discussion reminds me of my nephew’s advice to his older sister, my neice, when she was writing her resume, “Now, remember Deb, this is no place to be humble.” Perhaps, we women have misinterpreted Christian humility. When I was in college I remember reading Augustine saying something like humility was having an accurate estimation of your own abilities. Or as Dizzy Dean once said, “If you kin do it, it ain’t bragging.” La Shawn, “You kin write well.”
Comment by Evon Bachaus — 03.14.05 @ 9:40 am
There are people in this world who LIVE for the chance to point out racial “unfairness” Not enough black execs. Not enough women doing such and such. Not enough latinos as per their percentage of the population……… Bla Bla Bla
Of course the N.B.A. does not exist in their world. Male fashion models earn just as much as their female counterparts right?
It’s time we all adopted a more mature and realistic attitude concerning all things racial. If asians outscore others on standardized tests, let’s stop accusing whites or “the system” for “institutional racism”. There is no such thing. If black basketball players outperform their non-black fellow players that’s just the way it worked out. There was no conspiracy. There was no “institutional racism to blame. The marketplace determined that if one was forced to bet on points scored by white players against points scored by blacks, the smart bet would be on the black players. Does that make me a black-supremacist?
I grow impatient with those “race counters’ and their faulty logic.
Comment by pajamazon — 03.14.05 @ 9:50 am
La Shawn, you’re great. But, partly I read you because you ARE: Christian, black, woman. Christian minority is actually most important to me, because too many Christians are TOO spiritual to hold my interest, and too many non-Christians are too EMPTY of any religious feeling.
Frankly, I haven’t found another pro-Christian blog I like as well — and I keep looking. The fact you are black and female (facts?), makes it more likely you will be picked up to be a “diversity” token in debates.
[Don’t you want a Hispanic surname, too? Imagine a college: 10% black, 20% Hispanic surname, 30% female: and 70% white, male]
But, if you ARE picked up to be a token — the jokes on them. You are the real deal!
Thanks; keep it up.
Comment by Tom Grey - Liberty Dad — 03.14.05 @ 9:55 am
Affirmative Blogger Action
La Shawn Barber points to a Newsweek article by Steven Levy asking why the blogosphere is so white. Steve Jenkins, an editor at Washington Post magazine and blogger, wrote in Rebecca MacKinnon’s blog: “It has taken ‘mainstream media’ a very…
Trackback by UNCoRRELATED — 03.14.05 @ 10:25 am
Let’s get off the “do white males” do things. Stop focusing on ‘white males’ and start focusing on yourself, and things will come together.
Comment by Dan — 03.14.05 @ 11:08 am
WHO NEEDS MAUREEN DOWD?
In the New York Times yesterday, Maureen Dowd bemoaned how difficult it is to be a woman with opinions–or whatever she calls the half-cooked rhetorical omelette she dumps onto the Times op-ed platter every week: In 1996, after six months…
Trackback by Michelle Malkin — 03.14.05 @ 11:28 am
Promoting a site takes a huge amount of time, which many women don’t have — several of the top male bloggers are tenured academics, or professional writers, who can afford to spend all day on the internet.
As for the lack of minority women bloggers, maybe the media’s not listening because minority women like myself are saying things they don’t want to hear
Comment by Fausta — 03.14.05 @ 11:43 am
Tom Grey wrote, “Too many Christians are TOO spiritual to hold my interest, and too many non-Christians are too EMPTY of any religious feeling.”
Tom has a valid point. His comment has prompted me to transform my own blog so that it might be entertaining yet spiritual. Perhaps if I use La Shawn as my blogging godmother, then maybe I’ll have a blog worth reading.
La Shawn, I promise that I’ll be a good Dodo and keep my blog clean.
Comment by Dodo David — 03.14.05 @ 12:07 pm
Dodo…what is your blog, I would be interested in checking it out…
Welcome back, HiRez. Click on David’s name to link to his site. - Admin
Comment by HiRez — 03.14.05 @ 12:14 pm
La Shawn, I thought you were in the top echelon. I guess I just don’t pay much attention to ratings.
I know you are tremendously influential, and I believe you’ll get where you want to go. The top blogs of today are not going to be the top blogs of tomorrow. Consistency, honesty and quality counts. So many more people will be flooding into the world of blogging that there is plenty of room for everyone.
Comment by MaxedOutMama — 03.14.05 @ 12:28 pm
I probably got here from one of the big boys but now I just select your site from my bookmarks. Keep up the good work.
My demographic? Married, middle-aged WASP with kids, just as an FYI.
Comment by steve cotton — 03.14.05 @ 12:34 pm
I don’t blog, I read. I do research, specifically to fact-check and supplement articles I read in my local newspaper. The way I found your blog was through a cite by another blogger in an article about Eason Jordan.
In retrospect, I found nearly all the blogs on my favorites list by recommendation rather than original search. The original recommendations came via MSM, and then from links in various blogs. The reason is that topical searches are inefficient. A search on any given topic will yield too many hits to wade through.
So, I would encourage you to follow your linking strategy, because it works.
As for the preponderance of bogs by white guys, all that means is that more blogs by white guys get ignored. I think people voluntarily disclose personal details because those details help them explain where they are coming from. But those details have little influence on the question of whether a blog will be added to a given “favorites” list and develop lasting traffic. You write well. Your positions are thoughtful, and have texture and nuance. You know how to track down useful and interesting information. That makes you a keeper, regardless of the personal details.
Comment by Valerie — 03.14.05 @ 12:57 pm
Why No Female Pundits, Part MXVII
A Newsweek piece by Steve Levy and Maureen Dowd’s weekend pitty party have reignited the never dormant “Why is it so hard for women to break through as opinion writers?” discussion.
While a man writing a column taking on the powerful may be seen…
Trackback by Outside The Beltway — 03.14.05 @ 1:04 pm
With regard to your point about conferences and MSM spots– isn’t it interesting that when the legacy media looks at blogs, they can’t help but to find people like themselves (wonkette, Jarvis, Sullivan, Kaus.) Media bloggers seem to be even less diverse than the blogosphere as a whole.
Question: Is Ann Althouse overlooked because she is female or is she overlinked because she is a law professor? I know that there is no answer to that, but i think it does show the danger of looking at this question through a single filter.
Comment by craig henry — 03.14.05 @ 1:30 pm
Ahem … you’ve had some of us pudgie white guys at hello!-)
Then again, up until last week, I was one of your neighbors. Promise to take my good habits w/me!-)
Comment by Mean dean — 03.14.05 @ 3:03 pm
Blog Patronage: A Token of Affection
The very persistence of the question of black blogs amidst ‘white male hegemony’ demands that the real black bloggers please stand up, and it’s about time. But you and I both know that the A-List Bloggers or the MSM have to say it’s an issue before…
Trackback by Cobb — 03.14.05 @ 4:20 pm
Stan wrote, “Maybe white males just have too much time on their hands and too much of a sense of self-importance . . .”
Stan, I resemble that remark! I might be another white, male blogger, but at least I offer a Crabby Patty to anyone who might actually read my blog.
Comment by Dodo David — 03.14.05 @ 7:11 pm
Top Ten Real Reasons Why There Are ‘No’ Female Bloggers
Once again, bloggers and mainstream media reporters are wringing their hands over the perceived lack of female bloggers. I’ve written about this before, but the issue just won’t seem to go away. Today Chris Nolan of Politics from Left to…
Trackback by Dummocrats — 03.14.05 @ 11:36 pm
LaShawn, please consider the media near-censorship of Christians in their own news organizations. I consider the lack of a respectable Christian perspective a much bigger reduction of diversity than a lack of women or blacks.
Respectable meaning with similar assumptions about judging results. Note that 30% recovery rates of religion based AA is not that great — but is better than any other major program for helping alcoholics.
Comment by Tom Grey - Liberty Dad — 03.15.05 @ 5:12 am
[…]Read Instapundit and La Shawn Barber. THE BIG QUESTION: Should the old media dictate the necessity and attain […]
Pingback by SmartChristian Blog — 03.15.05 @ 10:00 am
Is there any real lack of female, or any particular demographic, bloggers? There ar something like eight million blogs. I am not aware of any census of these some eight million blogs.
In reality the complaint is not about a lack of females bloggers, but a complaint about a lack of female bloggers on at the top of certain blog lists.
I suggset, that the only blog list that maters to to the individual is the blog list he uses for himself. As your personal blog list is anything you make it, you are free to put anybody on it you care.
For a strange twist, David Burge, Iowahawk, has a rather good take on this kerfuffle.
Comment by David L — 03.15.05 @ 10:03 am
A lot of catching up to do, pt. 1
At AfroNetizen, Christopher Rabb spends some time on a panel explaining “[t]he trouble with me being the Ambassador for All Colored Peoples.”Big Mama’s Joint posts “Marketing to children: why they want expensive sneakers” points to Washington Post…
Trackback by Negrophile — 03.15.05 @ 3:22 pm
This topic fascinates me to no end, thanks for your input Ms. Barber! I’ve posted on this topic as well and will continue to do so until I become a b+/A- blogger, lol.
Great Job Woman!
Comment by Cupie — 03.15.05 @ 11:52 pm
Hey La Shawn,
I can’t believe that YOU have had to email links–that shows exactly what the issue is about! I’ve never really thought to email a link to a post of my own, but that’s probably more laziness on my part. I really thought “they” all read you every day anyway and wouldn’t need prompting, although as I’ve said before, I’m not surprised.
I think a lot of people are missing the point. I’m certain that the biggies maintain that status because they constantly feed off of one another without much regard to those not closely related in their niche. And because they’re big and get all the inside tips from not just the MSM, but other bloggers, the rest of us keep an eye on them just to read the pulse. I’ve thought for quite some time that we female bloggers need to work together a lot more; not ignore the big white guys, but spend more time helping each other out. Same goes for minority bloggers (specifically, black bloggers–although it seems to me there’s some good support within the group).
I also honestly think that minority–and to a lesser extent, female–bloggers get overlooked because of the topics covered. Most whites, because they (we) simply don’t feel minority issues in the same way, tend to not pay attention because of a lack of understanding. This isn’t everyone, to be sure–I enjoy reading race-issue posts and I know a lot of others do, but it’s just my intuition that tells me a lot of others don’t.
It’s not an Affirmative Action or liberal thing to think any of this, either. It’s a matter of supporting each other, teamwork, whatever you want to call it.
Sorry for the LONG comment; once again I find myself saying “I shoulda just blogged it.”
Comment by Beth — 03.16.05 @ 3:06 am
Ten New Voices - Number 4, 5, and 6
Tara Calishain…
Trackback by Sandhill Trek — 03.16.05 @ 1:34 pm
Lol… yeah, you do sound like a liberal (I am one; I promise we’re not all evil), but I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Men aggressively seek links and attention for their blogs in ways that (most) women don’t.
As for being invited to conferences and TV shows: You get there in the same way you get links from A-List bloggers:
* Ask to present at a conference.
* Email quality stories and posts that may be of interest.
* Tell them you’re available.
Self-promotion is key.
Comment by tiffany — 03.16.05 @ 7:24 pm
Frankly, about the “diversity” thing, well, I DO NOT CARE. I read your blog regularly because you do it so damn well. I makes not one jot of difference to me your gender, race, age or viewpoint. I often disagree with what you have to say but I would defend to the death your right to say it-and say it well. Is that not what the blogosphere is all about? A merit based culture? Well, if your blog is a good example of the triumph of ideas versus the politically correct view of fitting all citizens into little blocs based on things that, in a better, saner world, would go unremarked. I find diversity of viewpoint far, far more to the point than differences based on the accident of birth.
Comment by Warspite — 03.18.05 @ 9:41 am