2:00 p.m. (PT) Putting aside substance for a minute, let’s talk about form. Stacy Harp asked a question about the prevalence of male bloggers in the blogosphere generally and the evangelical Christian side specifically. Stacy also blogs at the Christian Persecution Blog.
Her question emboldened someone to ask why the main discussion panel was comprised of Presbyterians. Interesting. Read updates on the GodBlogCon blog.
Answers? What can you say? Most bloggers are white males…and/or high-profile or “important” bloggers are men. Even at a Christian conference, you can’t get away from “political” questions. 
Check out these Christian women bloggers: Kicking Over My Traces, Amy Hall, Post-Darwinist, Church of the Masses, Wittingshire, The View From Her, By Dawn’s Early Light, Laura’s Writings…
More women: Little Red Blog, Skye Puppy, Just A Woman, Salvation Walls, B Revelant…
Carolyn McCully is a Christian author and blogger I met at a meet-up, but she couldn’t make it to the convention. Check out her web site and blog, Solo Femininity.
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Look in the pew behind you… what about me?! http://brelevant.blogspot.com
Yes! The View from Her is an awesome blog for Christian single women. Thanks for the intro to some more Christian women bloggers.
La Shawn,
Thank you for the link. I look forward to meeting you this weekend. You are an inspiration.
Lores
Just A Woman
http://www.justawoman.org
Carolyn McCully just did an excellent seminar at my church on Feminism and Biblical Womanhood. Her website and blog showcase some of the discussions.
thanks for the links to other Christian bloggers who happen to be female
Heather McDonald wrote has written about the fact that the blogosphere is dominated by men….Essentially, she says that the blogosphere is an equal opportunity employer. For years, journalists like Susan Etrich have complained about the glass ceiling in journalism for women. Yet, when presented with a forum in which one ‘makes it’ simply by virtue of one’s ability to attract readers, women are falling behind. Many on the left are advocating quotas and fairness doctrine techniques….I say, “Woman, go out there and ride that pony!”
I think the reason there are more influential male bloggers is that men are typically more competitive and more confident than women. Those two things combined give men a bit of an edge over women when competing for readers.
Does anybody know if Presbyterians tend to be more competitive?
La Shawn, I have to wonder if the image of Christian women promoted by the MSM and popular culture plays a part (even a small one) with the relative scarcity of Christian women bloggers. Pick one or more – or maybe all – of the following popular stereotypes: Stupid, white trash, big frizzy blond hair, pancake makeup, Southern drawl, crooked, racist, homophobic, hypocritical, a barefoot and pregnant little mouse with six kids she secretly hates and who tortures them when her husband is not beating her half to death. Have I left anything out?
Of course men do not exactly get a free pass, but it seems to me that the reaction to Christian women by our cultural elites is downright toxic by comparison. For all the talk about emancipation and the right to make choices, women who are not a combination of Hillary Clinton, Cindy Sheehan and Madonna really catch hell for their efforts.
Question: Is it a bad thing that the blogosphere is dominated by men? Or any venue for that matter?
Do women find it threatening? If so, why?
Presbyterianism tends toward “thinky” christianity… which in turn tends toward blogging. It works the other way too. How many bloggers from whatever traditions are tending toward presbyterianism.
Couldn’t tell you about women bloggers, but my knee-jerk is that it’s just not true. Blogging cuts across the board. The question is why do so many men tend toward talking about “public” things, while women bloggers tend toward talking about more personal things?
I also Sherri from Bring your Brain — url is:
http://www.lifeisforeveryone.com/blog/
LaShawn,
You should also link to woman-blogger (and homeschool-blogger) Bonnie Lindblom, Off the Top and Intellectuelle. She’s at the conference and, if you’re going to be there today, I’ll make sure you two meet.
Kyle;
When McDonald was speaking of women versus men bloggers, she was delineating those with enormous readership..ie..those with ‘word clout’.
I can’t believe they’re talking about this issue. Who cares if bloggers are men or women? I go for the writing and ideas. (I’m female, by the way).
Some of my best friends are Presbyterians and my wife of 40 years is a Baptist. Stop picin on my people. Everyone is not a Methodist.
Mj;
therein lies the point..You’re right..In the blogosphere, the playing field is leveled (despite what those oh so sensitive social anthropologists can determine is structurally detrimental to the success of women). So, carve out your readership by being readable…..
Thanks for the link, LaShawn! It was nice meeting you.
I agree with commenter MJ she said,
I can’t believe they’re talking about this issue. Who cares if bloggers are men or women? I go for the writing and ideas. (I’m female, by the way).
I agree. And I think the same is about color. It is the writing and the ideas that draw me to a site. It bothers me when the left brings up race and gender equity as an issue and it equally bugs me now. If they male is more qualifie then let him speak. If the woman is then let her speak.
I want to hear from the best.
Glad you were there. As I browsed the site I couldn’t find any women at God Blog Con. Are they just linking or do they actually participate.
Hi La Shawn,
Well now… I would have loved to have been there to meet some of you. But hmmm… seems the women bloggers were in short supply. Need to do something for next time I think. Because women bloggers do blog on different subjects a lot – not all do but many do.
That’s easy: because it was predestined by God from the beginning of time to be so!
Thanks for the information on Christian blogs and I will check out the blog about Christian Single women.
Hello,
I was at GodBlogCon so here is one more female blogger to add to your list!
Christine
La Shawn, at Fine Dry Wit we are a group blog, two men and a lady named le; we got together having enjoyed each other’s company at another blog. We are all Christians, having fun with our own personal soapbox on the Internet. May God continue to Bless you-you do a great job with the blog and as a journalist.
It doesn’t really matter, men or women, as long as we Christians have our fellowship….
The color or gender of the blogger mean nothing, it’s their message that I come for.
LaShawn always has a good message, and even admits when she makes a mistake or isn’t Christianlike in her comments (Hey, as she’s said recently (I might add), we all sin, we are none of us, perfect, but thanks to Christ, our Lord, we are saved…)….Thank you LaShawn for the links, I shall certainly peruse them, men or women bloggers that they be!
Dan
A lot of women bloggers write on different topics though – a conference is not a blog, so it wouldn’t hurt to have some other points of view. Homeschooling is a very important issue – so why not have that perspective on a panel? It’s not all about theology and politics.
(Quickly runs and hides).
There probably aren’t as many female bloggers as there are male, but we are out there (Christian ones, too). For whatever reason(s), we might not have the high readership and name recognition – however, in my experience, the female blogs and their readers tend to have a unique, almost nurturing camaraderie that isn’t as evident on the male blogs. This is not to say that the mens’ blogs aren’t friendly, but…there is a different spirit on the ’smaller’ blogs of many women.
What do you think about this person’s Blog post:
http://www.quinnell.us
“Evangelical Christians in Office
I don’t believe that Evangelical Christians (or any similar groups) should be allowed to serve in high-level public office. Sound like discrimination? Nope. An Evangelical Christian (or similar person) declares that his or her primary allegiance and over-riding authority is God. In our country, high-level government positions (President, Supreme Court, etc.) have a duty to primarily serve and give authority to the country and the Constitution. Anyone who can’t give primary allegiance to the Constitution and the country cannot fulfill the duties of the position and therefore should be disqualified.”
Thanks for the link. It was good to meet you–if every so briefly–by the Saturday breakfast table.
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