One of the latest big stories (memes?) in the greater blogosphere is to select the 20 greatest figures in American history. The deadline has passed, but I think many bloggers are making a list anyway. Some of the people who are getting nods are making me cringe: an honorable mention for Rush Limbaugh?! Anyway, I'm glad Meryl Yourish points out the exclusion of women in most of the lists. She calls it what it is--sexism in the blogosphere:
Which brings me back to the women. I say again, there is definitely a boys' club in the blogosphere, and this list is entered into evidence as Exhibit A. There are a lot of bloggers on that list who have some pretty thoughtul, well-researched posts. But they couldn't see fit to include a single woman?
Yeah, there's something wrong with that picture. Sexism in the blogosphere, again. [links in original]
Cross-posted at CultureCat.
just sexism--einstein?
i was surprised to see that the man considered by many to be the greatest scientist of the 20th century was not included. perhaps it's because he was a naturalized citizen. or is it a christian bias?
Charlie
cyberdash
"Greater" Blogosphere?
Clancy, I'd say check out whose list it is. Consider the source. Hardly the "greater" blogosphere: c'mon, you're posting a link from Right Wing News. Someone asks you to line up feminism and antifeminism with the political left and right, what would your answer be? Look at the vitriol Hillary Clinton received from the right, and the form it took: from the rhetoric, one would assume that her highly active and visible political role de-gendered her and made her into "Billary." Look at the figures like Phyllis Schlafly, on the political right, and Gloria Steinem, on the political left, and what they stood for. Look at the political orientations of the Iowa groups who opposed the Iowa ERA. Look at the consistent ideological alignments between the political right and groups invoking constructions of womens' roles based on highly conservative versions of Protestant interpretations of the bible. Rightwingnews antifeminist? Whodathunkit?
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Mike Edwards
www.vitia.org
"Greater" Blogosphere
I knew the link was to Right Wing News before I posted it. I know right wing=antifeminist. :) And I certainly don't mean "greater" as in great content or greater population of bloggers. What I'm saying is, out of the bloggers who blog about politics, many of whom posted lists on that site, the ones who have the most readers, i.e. the ones whose voices get heard the most, are ultra-pro-war, conservative, and antifeminist. That's the point I'm trying to make and the point I've seen Meryl Yourish make as well.
CultureCat
Gotcha
Sorry; from your original post, it just sounded to me like you were surprised this was coming from Rightwingnews. I shoulda read more attentively, and of course I shoulda known to give you more credit than that; my apologies. :) As for the loudest/most extreme voice getting heard the most, I'd definitely agree; Coulter & Limbaugh stand as examples -- but that's not just true of politics; fiction writers know that for a story to be interesting, it has to have conflict, controversy. (This seems to connect tangentially to the insights Dennis offered regarding irenic and agonistic discourse.) That said, I'd suggest that if it had been another top 100 bloggers, I'd be a lot more distressed at the sad antifeminist state of things. But yeah, those boys from rightwingnews -- I see plenty of evidence of similar (often more extreme in their misogyny) perspectives in our "conservative" campus newspaper (which is not to say that the other campus newspaper is by any means "liberal"), and I sigh, and I say, Maybe they'll grow up.
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Mike Edwards
www.vitia.org