I think the first time I was told to keep my eye on the ball was by my father, when I took up the very challenging sport of tee ball. Then it was golf, and then soccer.
I’m not sure quite what that says about my soccer skills, but for the rest, it seemed to make sense.
Keep your eye on the ball, and you’d be able to swing with confidence, make a solid connection, have the greatest impact and go the longest distance.
Unless you’re putting, in which case, that’s not your goal. But that’s not really the point.
The point is that the reasons for keeping my eye on the ball during my young, athletic (er, well, young anyway) years are very similar to those that I offer when people ask me why I’m obsessed with blogging–and particularly blogging on women’s issues.
Largely because I agree with Jay Rosen when he calls blogs "little first amendment machines" and with Digby when she notes that "bloggers are part of a revolutionary participatory democracy."
Because I think they hold the power to unleash great impact through solid connections.
To me, blogging is becoming, and will continue to emerge as one of the greatest, most accessible forums in which women and girls can offer, connect with, learn from and disseminate their own voices and perspectives, in a media landscape where all too often, these viewpoints are not at the forefront.
Or anywhere at all.
As Christine Cupaiuolo writes, "The under-representation of women is industry-wide and shockingly tolerated. The question we ask is: where are the women, where are the women and men of color in our media?"
Good question, and one I’ve asked before. And I can’t help but sometimes answer it with, in the blogosphere. Where nearly half of those publishing are women.
Blogging is the great equalizer, I often find myself saying, where pretty much anyone can have a voice, regardless of income or access to the nation’s top editors and media companies. The Internet is, to me, truly a marketplace of ideas, where the best slowly bubble up to the top, and the rest sink to the bottom.
And, most importantly, the conversation is two-way–with readers commenting on what has been written, and, in turn, becoming writers themselves.
An empowering notion, this one of conversation. It harkens back to me of my first day in college where professor after professor explained that true learning does not occur when an expert stands up and delivers knowledge without refute, but when scholars come together to converse and share ideas.
A model that is not only effective in the classroom, but for activism as well. Like keeping your eye on the ball, it tends to get impact. Moveon.org’s Adam Green says, "Bloggers should be seen as activists and strategic partners. Blogs are so effective because they band together as a community and are able to make news that way."
One shining example of how this is working particularly well for women is documented by Sheila Gibbons in "News your can relate to? Try your local ‘Placeblog.’" She explains, "Women are creating "placeblogs," or online information sites abuzz with hyper-local news and commentary. Their creations have the potential to offset deficiencies in the way news organizations depict women…Women have embraced this new media platform…How refreshing to…avoid a daily dose of Paris Hilton’s antics, what Nancy Pelosi and Queen Elizabeth II are wearing on their rounds…How pathetic that traditional media focus on these things and not on the basics that animate women or, for that matter, men, who are flocking to placeblogs in nearly the same numbers as women."
For different ideas, dialogue, opinions and perspectives than those that are being covered by the traditional, male-dominated media.
And begging the question, what would our media, and our world, look like, if it were framed and produced largely by women?
What would the current debate and policy on HPV look like if the dialogue and decision-making were shaped entirely by the women who would be receiving the vaccine? What would labor law and paid time off and workplace child care look like if shaped by women–the vast majority of those doing the caretaking of children and working to make ends meet–often as single heads of households? How would the news around the next presidential race–with its first serious female contender–look different?
For the answer, I tend to say, look no further than the blogosphere.
For now, and certainly in the future.
It’s not perfect, by any means. For now, according to recent data, when it comes to who is being cited, quoted and referenced in blogs by serious news outlets:
- More males (88%) are mentioned in the articles than females (12%);
- Males are mentioned multiple times in the same article more often than females;
- Males are mentioned earlier in the articles than females; and,
- Males are more likely to be mentioned by name than females.
But, due to the community, collaborative, conversational nature of the blogosphere myself, I have far greater hope that this will change there, first, than in the traditional news media. Because as legitimate holders in half of the real estate–and the ability and access to claim far, far more (Write on, women!)–on the blogosphere, with a commitment to citing, commenting, referencing and elevating each other’s ideas and perspectives, I’ve no doubt that these statistics can be dramatically altered.
As long as we keep our eye on the blog.
At a meeting last week with a group of Grantee Partners where we discussed our blog, one of the participants quoted her daughter, who had said, "We all have to walk into the future."
My sense is very much that, for women, and minority populations everywhere, that will mean opening the door on the blogosphere.
My sense is that by keeping our eye on the blog, we could very well be headed for a slam dunk for women’s voices, perspectives, ideas and issues.
As long as we continue to step up to the plate.
Ready to take a swing? The Women’s Foundation’s blog is committed to diversity and welcomes submissions from across our community–and beyond–related to raising the voices of women and girls. Got an idea? Email me. (I’m friendly, I promise.)
