Michele is taking a poll about blogging. And, since I both like Michele and try to suck linkage out of her every chance I get, I thought I’d respond. Besides, she’s asking some damn good questions.

Do men make better political/war bloggers than women?
To look at the popularity indices and the small number of women politico- or war-blogging, you’d think so. But perhaps the former is influenced by the latter. I don’t think either gender has a monopoly on it, but I’m surprised at how few women seem interested in this type of blogging.

Do you prefer blogs by males, females or you don’t care?
I don’t care at all about the blogger’s gender. I care about the content, the quality of the writing, and the humor.

Do you find that males and females write differently about the same subjects?
No, not particularly. If they’re writing on the same subject, that is. I find the big disparity is in the choice of the subjects themselves. On an large-scale, “this is the focus of my entire blog” level, men and women pick different topics to blog about. But when we get to the actual “here’s my entry on this current happening, no.

Do you have double standards? That is, do you think it’s okay when a man makes sexual innuendos and curses in his posts but you are turned off by a female blogger who does the same?
Me? Me??? Hahahahahaha. Of course not. Now, what I do get turned off by is men who blog only about “boobage,” or whose blogs are primarily about “boobage.” Likewise, I get turned off by women whose blogs are primarily about boobage – theirs – with little other content. I certainly like a good innuendo (or ten) and have no problem with swearing (with the exception of a few words that even I won’t use), but I’m not into blogs that don’t have broader subject matter than boobs.

Do you find that males or females tend to be more opinionated in their writing?
Opinionated, no. Defensive, yes. I sense a defensiveness in some blogs written by women when their political or war blogging gets called into question.

Do you find there is a lack of quality female bloggers who write about politics, current news and world events?
Yes, I do. And now I expect a flurry of email cussing me out for saying that. But I calls ‘em like I sees ‘em.

Do you find you enjoy male or female blogs in general (on any subject) more than the other?
The author’s gender has nothing to do with my enjoyment. That said, because I prefer blogs dealing with politics, current news and world events – and because the majority of those blogs are written by men – I find that my reading list is primarily male bloggers. That’s just how the numbers add up. But as for my enjoyment of the blog itself, it has nothing to do with the author’s gender.

Who is your favorite read for political/war/news commentary for male and female bloggers?
I know it’s going to sound like a cop-out, but I have numerous favorites depending on what I’m in the mood to read. I mean, when it comes food, for instance, I have favorite main courses and favorite snacks. Likewise with books, one day I may be in the mood for historical fiction. I have a favorite author in that genre. The next book I might be in the mood for a spy-thriller. I have a different favorite author for that. Blogs are the same way.

If I’m in the mood for humor, I have a handful of blogs that I go to. If I want war, there’s another group, and ditto for current events, tech stuff, essays, contemplatives, general journaling, etc.

Monday, May 19th, 2003, 7:01 am   |   Blog bites  |  RSS feed Comments and pings are currently closed.