Playing With the Big Boys

This post first appeared in the comments section of Lisa Belkin's New York Times parenting blog- Motherlode.
Thanks Lisa for continuing this conversation. I, like some have already said, was surprised to hear that you didn't think the article disparaged women, though your point that the Conference Organizers calling themselves--Bloggy Bootcamp didn't cultivate an aura of legitimacy—is well taken. (My sister-in-law raised this on my blog, as well.)(Sorry Cinnabar) ( … though I will forgo the link.)
I would like to speak to the topic of the Women’s Movement.
A million years ago, I was a Women's Studies major. I began to view our culture through a lens that considered access to power, and noticed time and again, that which is associated with women is devalued. One lesson learned from that time was this: what goes on in one woman's home, office, courtroom and vagina is not only her private experience, but one that could (and should) be spoken about in order to transform, i.e the personal is political.
Sadly, what is associated with women, in this case, mothers who blog (about many things, including mothering) is chided and trivialized. “Heed the speaker’s advice, and you, too, might get 28,549 views of your tutu-making tutorial!” I suspect most young women, if given the choice between being associated with the successful blogger Mendelsohn refers to, or the NY Times reporter who mocks the tuto scholar, I’m guessing many would go with Mendelsohn.
I think the blogosphere is our modern day consciousness raising opportunity. And as more women have success in this dot com (if you will) then perhaps one day, we’ll make it to the business section; which is no better or more important than the style section. Except, you know, it’s where the big boys play.