A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance I don’t have often — I was asked to speak to a group of women about blogging.
Instead of sitting here at my computer doing it, I had to actually put on some nice clothes and make-up and talk to a room of about 25 women about the burning question of the blogosphere:
WHY?
Not just why we do it, but why they should do it. Is it worth the time of women who work for non-profit agencies to spend some time blogging, and networking with bloggers, to get the message out about their missions?
I was specifically asked to talk a little bit about what bloggers are saying online about issues facing low-income women and families and how those issues are being addressed by the remaining presidential candidates.
I thought, easy-peasy! A few quick bloggy searches and I was sure I’d come up with a variety of posts.
You know what, I didn’t find that much.
Yes, I have friends who are dedicated to talking about issues like these, but many of us focus on the things that impact our own lives and those of our friends. And while we’re not a bunch of gazillionaires, many of us are lucky enough not to fall into the category of families who would be seeking out their services.
I told these women that I had not really been able to come up with any conversations about these issues. Sure, we’ve got MomsRising and some other organizational blogs that address some related issues, but I was shocked that we’re not talking more about how we can help low-income women and families get a higher profile for their issues — Head Start programs, school lunch programs, access to reproductive health services, home instruction for preschoolers — especially in an election year. One presidential candidate was, but remaining ones don’t get around to that topic much.
Cooper Monroe and Emily McKhann were on top of helping after Hurricane Katrina. But I wasn’t coming up with much more.
So I told these women, who were mulling over the power of the blogopshere, that they should reach out to us. Not in the way that some for-profit entities have done, sometimes with less skill than you might expect, but in a thoughtful and informed way.
I could see the twinkle in some of their eyes, thinking about how they could enhance the way they help women and children with a little assist from us bloggers. I invited them to all send me information about their programs and I’m hoping they’ll take me up on it.
I suggested they poke around our blogs and see who was talking generally about the things they feel are important for helping families and children, and send us E-mails about their programs. You don’t mind that I’m sending them your way, right?
But I know there must already be some others who are talking about how we can all advance the causes of low-income families. Who am I missing?
April 15th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Elizabeth at Half-Changed World has not been posting a lot lately, but she often talks about these topics.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Fantastic idea!
April 15th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Very interesting. You’re right about the pet issues thing. We all stay to our own little niches, largely. I know that if the horrific insurance situation hadn’t affected us so personally, I probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought.
April 15th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
It’s hard enough to talk about our OWN issues without attracting trolls. I think ppl are afraid to talk about people in other socioeconomic classes because they think they may do it wrong – sound preachy, condescending, or just miss something important.
What would be great if we could get people from low-income families the time, resources and help they need to tell their own stories.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
I think more of us think about it than write about it. Because it’s such a huge, complex, pervasive problem, and I think many of us feel very powerless to really do anything.
But you have inspired me. It’s been a long time since I wrote anything meaningful about social issues. I think the last one was that NCLB rant.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I’m so happy that you talked with them!! yay!
April 15th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Oh I would have loved to be in that session. You know my secret past in that community.
I think, unfortunately, that women who are struggling to make ends meet don’t have the time or resources to blog. And I agree with SUEBOB who wants to pretend they can be a voice?
It is an interesting idea for a project though. I’m sure your talk inspired many ideas.
As I’m sitting here, I’m just thinking of the potential. We should discuss this.
Way to go PM!
April 16th, 2008 at 12:38 am
Great idea! It will be interesting to see where this leads.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Very interesting point. Of course, the commenter noting that low-income women don’t have the resources (time, money) to blog is absolutely on target. They also don’t have the resources to advocate for themselves, mostly. And as I write ‘they,’ there’s the problem. Who are the low-income disenfranchised women? This is such a heterogeneous group, so diverse, it’s difficult to even identify who we’re talking about and what specifics they need. Perhaps attention to single payer or universal health care is one way into helping this group? And everybody else?
Going to check out all those links. . ..