More on women and blogging: or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the blawg

Though I have never actually turned down an offer to guest blog, I have often accepted with some measure of trepidation. Being asked to blog feels, to me, a bit like having someone run up to you and yell in your face, "Say something interesting! Now! Hurry! I'm waiting!" It's hard to generate blog-worthy thoughts on command. Well, at least for some of us.

Moreover, there has been a fair amount of discussion about the fact that blogging - or at least blawging - seems to be primarily a male enterprise. Some of the standard explanations for this phenomenon seem to be that only men have enough a) free time, without family and other responsibilities and/or b) nerve, self-confidence, or lack of self-critical capacity (depending on your perspective) to put themselves out there, in a semi-professional setting, with often half-baked ideas, on a regular basis.

These statements may or may not be true. Regardless, I would like to end my guest stint at the Faculty Lounge by highlighting a couple of the virtues of blogging for women, even for those of us that often view such non-mandatory, non-career-advancing forums as luxuries.

I have two preschool-age children, a spouse with a demanding career, and for approximately 13 more days I am still officially untentured. I don't have much time to blog. But then, I REALLY don't have much time to go to conferences either. I have found that I've had to limit my travel time to conferences and workshops that I view as nearly essential for my career (if there is such a thing). Though I don't really miss the travel and I frankly often don't miss anything of substance by missing out on conferences, I do miss the feeling of community. I regret not having the opportunity to meet and form collegial relationships with others in my field, and more importantly (perhaps), to exchange ideas in a direct, interactive way. 

Blogging can't replace that experience, but for someone who is going to miss out on that experience anyway, blogging is a nice way to make some connections with folks out there who are thinking about the same questions I'm thinking about -- and it is often the case that I didn't realize they were also thinking about those issues. I have been pleasantly surprised and gratified by the number of colleagues who reach out to me via the comments section, but also directly via email to make contact, share some reactions, and/or (sigh!) correct errors I have made in my posts.

One might even argue that blogging is a slightly more efficient way of making such contacts than, say, going to AALS and showing up to the panels in your field in the hopes of doing some shmoozing during the brief hiatus before or after the speakers. And unlike attending AALS, you can blog from the comfort of your home, in your PJs, after your kids are asleep!

So, as I get ready to sign off, and as I also get ready to make the transition from untenured to tenured, I suppose I'd like to put in a plug for blogging, particularly to other women in a similar position to mine. Though there could certainly be institutional downsides (and others have blogged a bit about that), especially if you are untenured, you may not have completely realized the substantial upside.

Comments

[Jacqueline Lipton]

Jessie - thank you for your thoughtful comments and for blogging with us this month. We hope you'll come back again to visit sometime. And congrats again on tenure!

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