What happened to Mom and apple pie?
Suddenly mommies are the bad guys….. if you saw the front page of the New York Times Style section today, which used this graphic for a piece about mommy bloggers. If you’re clueless about mommy bloggers, the title spells it out:
Honey, Don’t Bother Mommy. I’m too Busy Building my Brand.
Ouch.
It can be rough out in the blogosophere. Unlike journalism, blogging is so new the rules are being rewritten every day. And after this article, mom bloggers are up in arms; defending themselves far better than I could.
Technically I qualify as a mommy blogger—even though I’m old enough to be a mommy blogger’s mommy.
Things were different for us. We couldn’t instantly rally 3,000 friends and share information in 140 characters, or bring down a major marketing campaign in a matter of hours.
We got our friends in playgroups, our information from Dr. Brazelton. Marketing was when we went to the grocery store.
I can’t speak to the marketing side. And there are as many disputes as there are mommy bloggers. But still I wish mommy blogging had existed when my kids were small.
I don’t mean the free trips to Disneyland— though I probably would have been first on line. I mean having a place to express yourself. Connecting with other moms in the same situations. Having a place to record the daily miracles of being a mother. And maybe most of all, having a community…….people who are in the same straits at the same time….who support each other….even help carry each other through personal crises and tragedies.
Among the mommy bloggers who make a difference in the world, is one young mom I’ve grown to know and admire—who started a blog for Moms with cancer. Over the past few days, one and maybe two of these young moms learned they have recurrences of breast cancer. So right now when I hear “mommy blogger” that’s who I’m thinking about.
I will not allow the threats to silence me, nor will any of us. And that is the true power of mommy blogging. It is the first time in all of our history that we can not and will not be brushed aside. And our children will be all the better for it.
Freedom of expression is liberating, and I think mommy blogging is another step in the evolution of women in general. The difference from the past is that today, with the internet, no one can silence anyone else.
This piece was pretty scathing towards the commercial aspect of mommy blogging, but it’s business like any other business.
Plus there’s such a huge range in “mommy bloggers” that it doesn’t even begin to describe what’s out there.
I don’t think my words really made clear how much I’ve personally appreciated being part of several “mommy blogger” communities–especially the Silicon Valley Moms blog.
http://www.svmomsgroup.com/
As I said, I only wish mommy blogging had existed years ago.
I, too, wish blogging had been around when my kids were younger. When my twins were born 16 weeks early, it would have been wonderful to have a place to chronicle and share their journey, and to meet up on the Interwebs with the few other moms back then who were experiencing what I was.
I’ve been a little on the fence about all the “free” material on the Web. Is it accurate? Who’s vetting all the information? Do we really want to hear every thing from every one? What does it mean for professional writers? What does it mean for the quality of writing in general?
But until today, I didn’t realize what power and voice the Internet gives to women writers. In many ways, I think that’s what prompts all the vitriol against Mommy Bloggers. This is a demographic that has never before in history had this kind of power to influence.
I agree; think the web is so wide open it feels like a free-for-all—and there is no such thing as vetting anything.
As for the power of women writers online, somehow I think, and hope, this is a milestone.
It is such a DIFFERENT world. I remember back in the 70′s and 80′s being part of a group called La Leche.
How I wish we had the internet back then! Women all over the world were helping their “sisters” via snail mail, telephone calls and visits when possible.
I am grateful to my computer savvy son for convincing me (several years ago) to start writing online. It has increased my readership so much from the days of writing for local newspapers and magazines. And the BEST part is the friends you make from everywhere!
Mommy Bloggers…Keep on writing!!
I’m with you–even though sometimes I feel sad that my kids didn’t get to experience the relative safety of the “good old days”, having the internet would have changed all of our lives—in so many ways.
I’m also grateful to the person who convinced me to start blogging, even though I had to ask what a blog was.
I have no opinion because I am not a mommy. but for sure my mother should have enjoyed a lot, she only, at the time, can talk about things very low to their children, behind the back of my father. It is a great time for women, mommy or not. Enjoy and dont stop, rights that are not use, sucumbs.
Absolutely right about using the rights we have. As you said, things were so different for our mothers, sometimes we forget how much that’s changed for us today. So already that makes this a great time to be a woman. My hope is that it will be even better–for our daughters.