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Honey, Don’t Bother The Gray Lady. She’s Busy Angering Mommybloggers.
The New York Times set off a firestorm of criticism in the blogosphere this weekend with a snarky little piece titled, “Honey, Don’t Bother Mommy. I’m Too Busy Building My Brand“.
The article, written by Jennifer Mendehlson (herself a mommyblogger), skewers moms who blog for being too focused on the professional potential of blogging and not focused enough on…something else. Maybe the social aspects? Maybe their kids?
Likening mommyblogs to the Tupperware parties of our mothers’ day, Jennifer breezily mocks the women who gather at conferences like Mom 2.0 and Bloggy Boot Camp to learn “the latest must-have skill set for the minivan crowd.”
Mommybloggers didn’t hold back on letting The Times know what they really think of this assessment.
Mom 101 offers a brilliant summation of the Times piece, followed by a list of the useful, creative, powerful things mommybloggers are doing. Kelby Carr argues that the Times has had it in for moms who blog for a long time. She also breaks down the gender politics behind the bias pretty persuasively.
On Twitter, Finslippy encouraged everyone to follow her example and send angry letters to the Times editors. Her Bad Mother pointed out that while the article made passing mention of her recent road trip to Disney in a GM Canada sponsored van, the Times saw fit to link only to the major advertisers it mentioned, not to the charitable work she’s doing to raise awareness and research funds for a disease that is slowly killing her nephew.
Ultimately, as Mom 101 acknowledges in her excellent post, there’s some good stuff deeper in the Times article about the relationships between bloggers and advertisers. Like this gem from Ciaran Blumenfeld of Momfluential.net:
It’s like we’re playing seven minutes in heaven. The brands know they need a blogger. The bloggers know they need a brand. When everyone gets in the closet, nobody knows what to do with each other. It’s like we’re all 13 again.
I’d love to see the Times do a story on how bloggers are figuring out who their markets are and where their income can come from without resorting to a lot of unnecessary snark.
I would also love to see less emphasis on the professional aspects of blogging and more on the social and creative aspects, within the blogosphere and in the media that reports on it. The truth is that for the vast majority of moms who blog, blogging is a hobby and a creative way to let off steam, express themselves and record the mundane and magical moments they encounter raising their kids.
The fact that most of them won’t make a living at it doesn’t mean their hard work should be diminshed or mocked, or that the few who do it professionally deserve anything less than respect.
For a look at some of the great work being done by blogging moms, check out Babble’s List of Top 50 Mommyblogs.
What do you think? Are you a mom who blogs? I’m betting you read parenting blogs, since you’re reading this.What do you look for in a blog?
Photo: Giovanni Gallucci
More by Sierra Black:
Sleep Training Success Depends on Parents’ Attitudes
What Did Kids Do Before Therapy?
Go Back To Strollerderby
10 Comments
[...] snapped off a retort on Strollerderby yesterday, but now that I’ve had a chance to think (and read) more about it, I have something [...]
Women blog their lives for fun, profit and power — ChildWild commented on Mar 16 10 at 9:02 am[...] Blog of One’s Own (Child Wild): Sierra, who also responded to the article in a post on Babble’s Stroller Derby, writes about the hard work mom bloggers do and the difference they are making in the [...]
Does the world see moms the same way the New York Times does? | PhD in Parenting commented on Mar 16 10 at 9:09 am[...] could have been worse, I suppose. It could have been like the now-infamous-in-the-very-small-circle-of-hundreds-of-thousands-of-mom-bloggers-and-friends New York Times [...]
She Is Vast, And She Contains Multitudes | Her Bad Mother commented on Mar 16 10 at 2:31 pm[...] Honey, Don’t Bother the Gray Lady. She’s Busy Angering Mommy Bloggers [...]
Can Kids Be Taught To Read? | Strollerderby commented on Mar 17 10 at 8:32 pm[...] Here’s the links. I’ve been down with a stomach bug most of the week, and didn’t write as much as I normally do, but I had fun with what I did write. The news item of the week, of course, is the NYT snarking on moms who blog. [...]
Sleep Wars, Mean Mamas and Other Drama in My Weekly Links — ChildWild commented on Mar 20 10 at 12:15 pm[...] First, the New York Times dismissed the entire genre and the thousands of moms who do it with the snarky and now-infamous, “Honey, Don’t Bother Mommy. I’m Too Busy Building My Brand.” I already had my say about that here, and on Strollerderby. [...]
Moms Who Blog in the News — ChildWild commented on Mar 21 10 at 10:42 pm[...] week brought us the now-infamous New York Times article snarking on mommybloggers. Dozens of mom bloggers weighed in with their own opinions, voices, and research, which PhD in [...]
Have You “Gone Wired”? | Strollerderby commented on Mar 22 10 at 11:00 ammom101 commented on Mar 15 10 at 6:04 pmThanks for including me here Sierra.
Aren’t we lucky that we now have forums to share our ideas on all of this? Back in our mothers’ day, they’d have to sit around bitching over coffee, and not even having ad revenue to pay for that coffee! Not even lattes. Just regular coffee. We have it pretty good!
adhocmom commented on Mar 16 10 at 2:14 pmI can’t help but feel this is yet another example of mothers being forced to apologize without reason. I have a blog. I also take care of my kid. Why should I have to apologize for doing both? If moms can manage to to provide entertaining content, make money, and also be moms, why exactly should they have to apologize? The title of the Times piece was INCREDIBLY ANNOYING!!!
Paula
http://www.adhocmom.com
Joanne Bamberger aka PunditMom commented on Mar 17 10 at 10:01 amHere’s my take on it, as well (even though I’m not on Babble’s Top 50 list, I think I do pretty well) — though Liz’s was brilliant
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