Which I'm still not sure if this blog completely is.
But anyways, I've been ruminating on this for awhile between diaper changes, breast feedings, playing with BD and then collapsing into deep, deep sleep (because a fourth-month old is KICKING. MY. ASS.) and whether or not it's a niche or a dirty word.
There's some great mommy blogs out there. I personally like Her Bad Mother for how she mixes politics, philosophy and the big picture in with some very, very funny stories about her daughter, as well as Dooce -- the mother of all parent blogs.
However, for every good mommyblog, there's the Jim's Journal-esque "OMG! My kids are so adorable! Here's some photos!" blog. There's nothing wrong with that -- I'll fess up to having a family blog so my friends and family can know more about what's going on with our lives.
No. I won't put that address up here. This is where my insane public ranting goes. I prefer to keep the two separate.
Anyways, I have noticed that most of my sporatic posts as of late have been focusing on the Benevolent Dictator and the big Fisher Price crater she's left in my life. And so, I wonder, am I a mommyblogger now? And if so, why does it feel weird to say that?
Maybe it's because I don't see motherhood as my whole being. It's one facet (albeit a very large facet) of who I am. Maybe it's because of my image of motherhood.
I won't lie -- I still see the image of "Mom" being way more wholesome than what I see myself as (says the woman who lurves Harold and Kumar, South Park, Fight Club and everything most parents recoil against). I also think that the image of motherhood is one of pure sacrifice and selflessness that really, no one can achieve. So for me, the whole word "mommyblogger" rings to me of "OH HAI THERE! I HAVE CHILDRUN. LET ME SHOW YOU!"
Which logically I know is stupid. I know that as a mom, it's a complicated thing. There's still selfish emotions, anger, and frustration at times, but there's also this deep, deep insane level of love that's hard to articulate. It is at times "OH HAI THERE! I HAVE CHILDRUN! LET ME SHOW YOU!"
Maybe it's owning up to that. Honestly, I don't know. I'm still wrestling with the whole thing. I am a mother. Right now BD takes up a lot of my life. She's one of the big things I think about daily. Maybe the only thing sometimes. But I guess I have to pose this question: Is mommyblogger a bad word on teh Internets? Why?
2 comments:
I think as with most media, women tend to be marginalized and ghettoized in the blogging world. "mommyblogging" is a bad word to those who think the only meaningful blog content is non-persona: political wonk or tech news (content that is, by and large written by male bloggers)
Not all "mommyblogs" are all about parenting, but the label has been used to trivialize women in the blogosphere (much in the way that fanfiction is seen as derivative girl stuff, but fanfilms and remixing is seen as contributing to the cultural zeitgeist)
And if a mom wants to start a blog with nothing but pictures and movies of their precious one, they should have every right to, just like a fanboy has every right to use up bandwidth ruminating about Halo 3 or whatever.
Like I said before. Are you a mommyblogger? Yes. Are you a media blogger? Yes? A political blogger? Yes. You are all of those things, and identifying as one does not negate the validity of the others. You are a multifaced blogger. Just like RL!
Do your damn thing, mommyblogger!
I think mommyblogging, like any other blogging subset, is bad only if it inspires tedium.
A few months ago, I had some minor surgery, and I jokingly told a friend I'd put up a dull blog about the aftermath. "Today there was less blood. To pack the wound, I used two pieces of 4-by-4-inch gauze instead of three. I don't need to use sterile gauze. I learned the gauze needs to be lightly moistened beforehand, but not drenched, as that results in leakage." You get the idea.
Anyway, as you're not boring, I don't think a mommyblog would be a problem.
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