“Mommyblogging is a radical act,” is a phrase, coined by Alice, near and dear to my heart. I wasn’t even there when she said it…but I love her for very clearly putting into words exactly how I feel about blogging.
To be fair, I should say that “Mommyblogging rocks my fucking world” might be a more appropriate phrase for me. Or “Mommyblogging Lets me Talk about Other Women’s Stinky Snatchs'” or something. But you get the idea.
Sure, I post silly things. Sure, I will go on and on about preschool or teething, or sex with my husband. But every once in awhile, I post something that someone else “gets.”And that is where the “radical” part comes in. Suddenly it goes from the Queen spouting random crap to Queen connecting with other people. The kinds of people that have vaginas and children and Paxil in their medicine cabinet too.
Suddenly I am not alone. And suddenly I can speak my mind amongst friends. That is what I really want to get at here. The whole “speaking my mind” thing.
Not too long ago Her Bad Mother did a great post on the whole MommyWar thing. Which one of us hasn’t gone off on that in one way or another, I ask. And I commented that I really liked it when we all got down and dirty and fought about it. I said it means that we have arrived, and it is the next step in gender equality. Debate. Discourse. Battles.
Apparently I said something either so incredibly retarded or so way off base or so, maybe, thought provoking that it prompted yet another post.
So here we have a very large group of women discussing how to discuss what we are passionate about. Such is the nature of us broads. We can’t seem to just debate and argue. We have to talk about how we debate and argue. No wonder my husband is so exhausted.
But for better or worse, this is how we are. And this, I believe, is what sets us apart from those men who will wrestle to the death. We’ll talk to the death. They will fight to the death. Unless, of course you touch my kid or my chocolate martini…then I too shall fight to the death.
What many of you may not have noticed yet is that our audience is growing. And with that, comes a greater responsibility for us to say something. It’s no fluke that the brilliant women of the blogher conference launched their ad network with the mommies. As it turns out, we’re HUGE. And we’re being read everywhere.
I recently was syndicated with the Santa Maria Times (who then dropped me after that infamous blow job post) and I have a hush-hush/wink-wink/nudge-nudge lunch discussion in August with a MAJOR corporation. And MAJOR would be an understatement.
We have power. We have voices. That means we now have a responsibility. Like it or not. And we are now bringing our debates, our battles, our fears, our passions, our everything to the forefront of discussion in America and the world.
What are you going to do?
I challenge all of you Mommybloggers to use that power sometime before blogher to post something BIG on your blog. Write about postpartum. Write about child abuse. Write about adoption. Write about abortion. Write something other than those “bubblegum” posts. Just once. OR, write a bubblegum post you know will mean something to some other mom out there.
What YOU are writing and what YOU are saying is resonating SO MUCH with others that PR firms, advertisers, and major corporations are taking notice. Conferences are getting MAJOR sponsors, and millions of other mothers and women are finding friends, communities, help, and comfort in YOUR words.
Don’t stop talking. Don’t censor yourself. And DON’T stop fighting.
So what if we fight like girls. I say ding that bell and throw me in the ring, because the world is watching. And listening. And reading. And I’ll be damned if I’m not going to use this opportunity to say exactly what I want. To debate and fight about it and to respect all those who dare jump in that ring with me.
All I have to say is, You said it Sister! My only regret is that I didn’t start blogging years ago.
I agree, and luckily, I’ve had a lot of deep thoughts mulling around in my head this week (thanks to being off antidepressants and feeling the full weight of down moods again), so expect some serious posts soon. Actually, my post today is pretty serious, but there’s more where that came from.
So far, no one has asked me to run ads for them, but I am getting enough readership now that I’m being asked to review books. It’s a start, I guess.
Well, I’m one for the political posts, for sure. I’m with Christina, though, no one’s asking me to run ads either. But you’re right, I like the bubblegum, but I like it when folks talk about real issues too.
You rock, girlfriend. Seriously. I radical heart you.
Totally agree, obviously. That your comments provoked my thinking further on questions of feminist dialogue is evidence of the productive and provocative dialogue that “mommy”-blogging advances.
And anyone who reads the (mostly) anonymous posts in the Basement will also see this at work. Women (and some men) are spilling it, and moving others as they do.
Totally rad.
If it wasn’t after midnight, I would start writing a “big” post right now. Tomorrow morning (or rather, THIS morning, but after at least a few hour’s sleep), I plan to link to and quote from this post on my blog Table for Five. And then I’ll be racking my brains for something really good and juicy to post about.
BlogHer-I’m putting you on my list of people to try to find. I’m positive that someone I know also knows you. Maybe we can break through the gauntlet of bodyguards surrounding Alice and Heather together!
If you come say hi to me, I will totally ask my bodyguards not to use the taser. I can’t guarantee that they won’t, but I’ll certainly ask them.
Great post!
Can we all just pause a moment and say
HOLY SHIT IT’S FINSLIPPY
?????
Back to whatever it was you people were going to say.
I was going to say:
Dear Queen,
Please remove the vaginas and the children from your medicine cabinet …
Also, YES! on blogging about something that matters. YES! on the meeting with a wink-wink major corporation. And YES! on the finslippy comment.
But keeping them in the cabinet really helps with the postpartum.
YES. Thank you.
Really looking forward to meeting you at BlogHer.
I liked the post. Ok. I loved it. Like, I want to hump it now.
But I’m sad today.
You never stop and say “HOLY SHIT, IT’S MOCHA MOMMA” when I visit.
But, I understand. I mean… FUCK ME! THAT WAS FINSLIPPY BACK THERE, ERIN! FINSLIPPY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.
I lost my cool points now, didn’t I?
Well, I want to do this, but I really do sporadically write those things. Yet, this week? It’s been all bubble gum. You’ve given me much to chew on. (HA – that was funny. No? Only to me?)
This is a wonderful call to action. I love when people tackle societal issues or larger problems they face. It’s selfish, but I can only read so many “today was a long day…” posts. Besides, I think some women have a lot more to say than they give themselves credit for. I see it in my comments all the time.
Brava, mama!
Okay, I know YOU know this but mine is up. I have accepted the challenge.
I may not always agree with you, but I do think you are great. I can’t wait to meet you at BlogHer, and thanks!
Mine too.