Each day, thousands of mothers sit down in front of computers and compose short essays about life, parenting, pop culture or whatever happens to be on their minds. They publish those thoughts to blogs. They read other blogs. They do their thing, whatever that thing may be.
Some women blog to entertain. Some women blog to reach out. Some women are trying to generate income or rack up some professional experience. Some women stay home. Some work. These women are individuals, all as unique and different as they were before they had children or began trying to have children or thought about children at all.
While very few tangible common threads run between these internet-savvy mothers, they are consistently lumped together as mommy bloggers. Mainstream journalists, social media gurus and “big name” bloggers make sweeping generalizations.
Our common threads are soul-deep.
Mommy bloggers are swag whores.
Mommy bloggers are unprofessional.
Mommy bloggers are marketers.
Mommy bloggers are drunks.
Mommy bloggers neglect their children.
Mommy bloggers kiss up to corporations.
We struggle to define ourselves. To define our little pieces of the Internet. To identify with others. To form an identity through words and pictures. We resist labels, we shrug and shrug and shrug off the blanket statements. The stifling negativity.
Would these generalizations be made we were identified simply as women and not mothers?
Would it fly if a news piece smugly reported that women are using the Internet? The Internet! They’re checking email! They’re learning things! With computers!!
The fact is, mainstream news pieces will never do justice to fringe communities. (We may be the talk of the town, MommyBloggers, but we are a fringe community.)
Sensationalism. Advertising! Drinking! Abuse! The FTC! Neglect! Those MommyBloggers are at it again!
Have you ever read an article about a group you didn’t identify with? Live-action-roleplayers? Cross-country-skiers? Drag queens? Bingo players? Did you think that article gave you an accurate, respectful portrayal of that entire community?
Because it didn’t.
Right now, we’re here to entertain the masses. Not with our words, or our lives. Not with our humor, or our pain. Not with our blogs.
We’re here to be put under a microscope, to be stereotyped, to be judged—until the next big thing comes along and we can focus on our voices again.
The limelight is an ugly place.
Fuck that noise.
Our blog—our voices—will still be here when our fifteen minutes are up.
This may or may not be related:
