Bad Words
Half the words I might use to describe myself are frequently said with a sneer by varying percentages of the population. Words like Liberal, Feminist, Working Mother, and occasionally (for me), Stay at Home Mother. There's also the word I can't use, for fear it will be misconstrued. By the way, with this sort of blatant discrimination still going on in 2007, you better believe I'm a feminist.
A post from PunditMom the other day got me thinking of the word MommyBlogger. It's not a word I use because as she says:
Whoever came up with the phrase "mommy blogger" was not trying to do us any favors.
Yet, I feel slightly guilty because I didn't start blogging until after I became a mother. I wanted a place to put the story of our adoptions after a number of people responded to my stories with "You should write this down somewhere." And though I do write about that experience and the adjustments our family has made along the way, I find myself writing a great deal more about social issues than I do about our day to day experiences.
However, most of those issues would be nearly invisible to me without the experience of being a mother. Yes, I've always been a politcal junkie, but I would never have known how hard it is, for instance, for a mother to find a new, career-oriented job unless I experienced myself. I would never have seen the experience of the crying child on the airplane as anything more than a nuisance if I hadn't been through it. Trying to get around Boston with a stroller was a real eye-opener.
It's been weird - like walking a mile in someone else's shoes and suddenly realizing that those shoes fit me.
Yes, the term MommyBlogger is often used disparagingly, but in the few short months that I've been blogging, I've seen some MommyBloggers do some really cool things. And we're not just talking to ourselves, we're talking to voters, politicians, and policy makers. We're talking to corporations and product makers. And it's not just the writing, it's the videos, the podcasting, the networking sites, the online magazines - forget MommyBlogging, let's call it
Ooooo! I LIKE that term!
Posted by:PunditMom | June 21, 2007 at 04:09 PM
Ooooo! I LIKE that term!
Posted by:PunditMom | June 21, 2007 at 04:10 PM
I love mama media!
Posted by:Mom101 | June 22, 2007 at 10:06 AM
How appropriate. Mama Media. I LIKE IT!
Posted by:CPA Mom and Soccer Mom Angela | June 29, 2007 at 02:38 PM
I awarded you A Perfect Post for June. I LOVED this post - great job!
Karen
Posted by:Karen | July 02, 2007 at 01:47 PM
I LOVE THAT TERM!!!!!!
Amen!
Posted by:Tendrils | July 02, 2007 at 02:33 PM
Ohhh, kickass!
Posted by:Mer @ Living Behind The Curve | July 02, 2007 at 02:55 PM
Very worthy of the Perfect Post award!!
Posted by:Sarcastica | July 02, 2007 at 06:04 PM
YEY! That was a great post!
Found you via Vodkarella's perfect post award to you :-)
Posted by:Chris | July 02, 2007 at 08:48 PM
I found you through Vodkarella, as well, and clicked on the link because I recently wrote a guest blogger post at PlainJaneMom.com about the tediousness of labels and the limitations they set. Your post is fantastic! Congratulations!
Posted by:Megan/ Velveteen Mind | July 03, 2007 at 09:00 AM
Mama Media -- I like it! I can identify.
Posted by:Daisy | July 03, 2007 at 02:04 PM
Mama Media -- I like it! I can identify.
Posted by:Daisy | July 03, 2007 at 02:04 PM
Mama Media -- I like it! I can identify.
Posted by:Daisy | July 03, 2007 at 02:04 PM