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Why are there more men involved in online politics than women?

Jill

That’s the question that Katherine Seelye is posing on the NYTimes blog today. She recognizes that the entire premise of the question might be wrong, and that’s where I stand — I don’t think there are more men involved in online politics than women. I just think “women’s issues” and women’s voices end up being marginalized, silenced and ignored.

What do you think? Head over there and share your thoughts. I’d be curious to hear them over here, too, so double-post if you can.

13 thoughts on Why are there more men involved in online politics than women?

  2. It’s hard for me to say, because almost all of the political blogs I read are feminist blogs. So I see tons of women bloggers, but I agree that female voices are marginalized, both because women’s issues aren’t deemed important political issues and because women’s views on more mainstream subjects like the Iraq war are not seen as authoritative as men’s are (though I’m sure that it has nothing to do with SEXISM).

    I think that the question is why female political bloggers don’t get more attention. And while we’re at it, there sure seems to me to be a fairer ratio of male and female political bloggers than there are male and female political pundits on television or radio. Has the mainstream just completely given that up by now, though?

  4. Cara, I suspect it’s the second word in your email address — sets off the porno spam filter. Sorry! I’ll see if there’s a way I can fix it.

  7. Maybe it’s because the women involved don’t use female screen names (Anna1234 or whatever) so they don’t get harassed online. So people assume they are men.

  10. Anna, I think that’s a very real possibility. There are a variety of reasons behind the name I’ve picked, but its general gender-neutrality is one of them. Of course, the fact that I frequently blog about feminism and quote-women’s issues-unquote is a pretty solid giveaway*, since men who post sincerely, knowledgeably, and with abiding interest about feminism are few and far between.

    Which is another thing that gets to me – why are men who post sincerely, knowledgeably, and with abiding interest about feminism few and far between? Women, perhaps because of the history and ongoing status of the feminist movement, recognize that anything that happens to a small segment of the population affects the entire population. But it’s rare (decreasingly rare, but still rare) to see a female/gay/black blogger blogging on any subject who isn’t automatically pigeonholed into their own little minority, while the white menz get to ignore the issues of any minority group and yet be seen as speaking for the whole of society. What’s up?

    Also the fact that I’ve referred to myself on numerous occasions as a woman, using feminine pronouns, etc. In the beginning, I did try for a digby-esque level of gender anonymity, but that stuff’s hard, y’all.

  12. Well, when a woman daring to show up to a meeting with a former president ignites a blog trend of condemning her sweater, I’d say that we’re not entirely welcome.

  13. Pingback: Feminist Focus - Today Top Blog Posts on Feminism - Powered by SocialRank

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