Remember last year I tried my hand at the somewhat oddly constructed contest that the Washington Post created to get free content called, The Next Great American Pundit. Thousands of people entered and I did not make the cut. No big surprise.
I wasn’t going to try this year, but I figured, Ah, what the heck! Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Well, with try number two, I came out with “nothing gained.” That’s okay, there are plenty of voices that ought to be in punditry that aren’t. But the thing that bothered me the first time around is the same problem again — only about 20 percent of the finalists are women.
Really? Out of 1,400 entries, the Washington Post could only find ten women they thought were worthy of having a shot at this? I am mightily disappointed in Katherine Graham’s granddaughter, who now runs the Post. I’d like to think she’d carry a little sway when it comes to evening out the numbers for women pundits.
Last year, the three finalists after several round of competition were two women and one man. The guy was the winner, though it wasn’t clear how much of his get-out-the-vote efforts played into the final result since there was a reader vote element to the contest.
Fingers crossed the for the ladies this year. And in case you’re interested, here was my entry:
Political Mothers Rising
We’re a country with mommy issues.
As parents, we’re adamant that children treat us with respect. We set aside one day a year to honor moms. Mothers keep everyone’s lives humming along and the media love us – as long as we know our place. Step off the traditional path of wiping spills and wiping noses to secure a place in politics or business, and we get batted down faster than a mosquito on the screen door.
Marketers pursue American mothers with a passion, especially the tens of millions of us who have embraced the world of social media. We rule Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, not to mention all those blogs. But when mothers use social media to become serious about politics or business, we can feel the virtual pats on the head.
Mothers as influencers? When suggesting that in connection with the release of 2010 election polling data on so-called “Walmart moms,” I was greeted with the retort of “Nonsense!” Mom’s voices lack authority, the pollster proclaimed, adding that middle-class mothers are worried in this election season only with putting gas in the minivan and getting dinner on the table.
While the media love the handful of political “mama grizzlies” who’ve come on the scene, for the most part, when mothers stake their claim as influencers, they find little room at the table. As Sarah Palin discovered the hard way, even mama grizzlies running for political office are scrutinized through the lens of “good motherhood.” And mothers who want to grow their online business presence get marginalized by the likes of the New York Times as women seeking some “girly-bonding” at a “modern day coffee-klatsch.”
The women founders of organizations like BlogHer and 85 Broads, who don’t put motherhood at the forefront of their business and political efforts, get serious consideration by those who are already in charge of the games. Maybe our current 1950’s Mad Men fascination has thrown us off the idea that women who happen to be good with a diaper change and a carpool line can also run successful businesses and shake up the political status quo.
The world of social media has no barriers to entry and will ultimately open these doors that mothers have been trying to knock down for years. Don’t worry about the rising takeover, though. As our kids know, moms are benevolent rulers.
Sun, October 17, 2010
Changing the World, Making Our Political Voices Heard, Moms & Politics