BlogHer - What Do You Think of the Term "Mommyblogger"? - Comments

Mommy Bloggers and WAHMs

relocatedyank — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:04:39 -0500

I abhor the term mommy blogger much the same way that I do WAHM (work at home mom) because I feel that it takes away credibility. When someone asks me what I do for a living, I do not respond with the word WAHM. Most people equate that with women who stuff envelopes at home. I am not. I have a corporate job, a professional job, in additiion to running several online businesses.

When someone calls me a mommy blogger or a WAHM, I feel as if the hard work that I've put in for my career are no longer important and that I am devalued. Now, I realize that I am in charge of how I feel, however, when you hear something over and over again, it's easy to think it's the truth.

Being a mother is the most important job that I'll ever have. I'm responsible for two lives. However, my career is important as well. It's the income that provides for them as there is no other.

Mom Blogger doesn't bother me. Family Blogger doesn't bother me, but when people ask me what I blog about, my answer is normally life.

However, I agree with Jennifer Gnidecki. Mommy Blogger is what the PR firms are looking for. It is what it is, whether I like it or not. So, I guess I'm a mommy blogger... even though I've not been called Mommy in years... :)

Heather

Desperately Seeking Sanity

http://www.desperatelyseekingsanity.com

Is it really all that bad?

cupofjesus — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:14:30 -0500

I suppose it depends on the way its used. I mean, if someone came up to me and said "You're such a mommy blogger", I might actually be more shocked that they recognized me more than anything! However, if your main purpose in blogging is your children, then why not? Could this not just be yet ANOTHER one of those things we get offended by that aren't worth our time?

Now if someone said you're JUST a mommy blogger, that would upset me...

Great question, Jenn

rocksinmydryer — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:08:54 -0500

I think one interesting question in all this is how "mommyblogging" will look when the first generation of mommybloggers are emptynesters--when we really HAVE outgrown the name.

Shannon @ Rocks In My Dryer
www.rocksinmydryer.net
BlogHer Contributing Editor, Mommy and Family

Jenn, I think you should do

Meagan_Francis — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:54:10 -0500

Jenn, I think you should do exactly what you want to do. Obviously the words mommy and mommyblogger are a big part of your personal branding; they work for you, and that's great. I don't think less of anyone who embraces the "mommyblogger" title and it doesn't make me less likely to read their stuff--if it's good, I'll read.

What I don't like is that a label seems to have been applied wholesale to all mothers who blog--and I do think it's different from a generic term like "parenting blogger", because that just describes what a person blogs about, while the term "mommyblogger" seems to describe who that person IS. I would rather define who I am on my own terms and it does surprise me that of all the neutral terms that could have been used to define moms who blog, "mommyblogger" was the one that stuck. You have every right to claim it and love it for yourself, but I also have every right not to be thrilled about random people applying it to me.

I'm actually not surprised it's still being discussed--the blog world is always changing. There are new bloggers. Or, people who were blogging but not parenting a few years ago and then had a baby may now be surprised to find themselves labeled as mommybloggers. People may have missed the initial discussion (like myself) or may have been aware of the initial discussion, but were not happy with the outcome.

As a blogger who's not a mommy

kperfetto — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:36:17 -0500

I never realized "mommyblogger" was such a loaded term. Some of the most popular bloggers who happen to be mothers didn't start out that way, but it seems as though the community (and the word) sprang up around them.

Reading this the other day, I was motivated to write this post on my own site. I'm envious of the community you have.

Available Light & Five Dollar Radio

Will you always need coffee?

DeniseRMT — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:33:43 -0500

If not, you could change it to "Mommy Needs Green Tea". Or, maybe stick with the coffee but call it, "Momma Needs Coffee." Then, as you children grow, get married and have their own children, you can call it "Grandma Needs Coffee".

So a question for those chiming in

Jennifer Satterwhite — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:08:05 -0500

The name of my site is Mommy Needs Coffee. It is six years old. Meaning, at the time of the naming my kids were 8, 5 and 1. It fit. Now, people know me as Jenn of Mommy Needs Coffee. I also was one of the founders of Mommybloggers back in 2005. Things have changed, for sure. So, here is the question:

Do I disassociate myself with the name mommyblogger because my children and I have outgrown it or do I stay with what has become my brand and say "to hell with what people think of the term!" Six years ago when I started the blog, there was no controversy over the name. NO ONE CARED.

Now, after all these years because I no longer write very much about my children, should I change the name or just thumb my nose at those who hate the term and embrace it as my own.

I am not being snarky or insincere. I am serious. I am so very surprised that all these years after the first conversation began it is still debated.

Would you know me as Jenn the writer of [insert unknown blog name here]?

If you hate the term or love it, what do you do when your blog outgrows its name?

Things to ponder.

(And for the record, even though I have teens, I could care less that you call me a mommyblogger. I know who I am and what I do.( Author, mom, freelance writer, wife, friend, etc.)

~Jennifer Satterwhite~

Personal blog: Mommy Needs Coffee

Founder group blog: Mommybloggers

Not for me

jaycee — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:57:03 -0500

One of the reasons I don't like the term mommy blogger is that in Australia we don't spell it like that. It would be mummy blogger. Also because I don't solely write about my son I also don't categorise myself fully as a 'mummy blogger'. The category I put the mum posts in is called parenting.

Jen at Semantically driven and Safari suit

It's hit and miss

mommalittle.com — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:48:43 -0500

I think mommyblogger is just fine if the blog is soley about raising kids. Now, if it includes mutterings on life, politics, etc., then it's more than that.

We wouldn't label each blog that happened to be written by a man who has also reproduced "daddybloggers." As most of you know, there are hundreds of family blogs from the father's perspective.

Come share a laugh!

http://mommalittle.com

I'm Fine With It, Too

Sammanthia — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:39:47 -0500

I don't mind mind if someone labels me as a "mommy blogger"... I'm a mom, and I do write about my kids, so it's inevitable I'm labeled that at some point. I've also written about my boobs and my love of "The Two Coreys" . Is there a label for that?

The Edge Of Insanity

I am okay with Mom Blogger...

Janice - 5 Minutes for Mom — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 23:56:10 -0500

I can live with Mom Blogger just fine considering I do write in the parenting genre - and I am a mom, who writes spefically about being a mom and for moms.

One reason we are being classified as Mommy Bloggers I think is because we represent the demographic of consumers that companies are trying to reach. Moms are the in market. And we are this new phenomena of women sharing openly online about motherhood, among other things.

While we are blogging about a ton of other topics, the Mommy label is the phenomena. Oh well. At least they are taking notice of the powerful force that we are, even if they might be getting it a bit wrong.

Janice (5 Minutes for Mom)

http://www.5minutesformom.com

Not crazy about it, not sure what else to call myself

norarachel — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:23:50 -0500

I end up writing a lot about being a parent but can't really say I am a "mommyblogger" without that dismissive tone creeping in. (not saying "just" but maybe thinking it)

I also say "I have a personal blog" but maybe there should be another term for that. I'm a navel gazing blogger?

Nora

http://nonlineargirl.blogspot.com

Personally, I hate the term.

poppy — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:18:19 -0500

Hate. HATE. HATE.

I'm a mommyblogger only insofar as I'm the mother of two children and I blog.

However, I don't tend to talk a lot about my kids because:

1. I find myself far more interesting. OK, that sounds egomaniacal, but I have insights, memories, stories, and wit that I've been developing for years. I simply don't see into them as well as I see into myself.

2. I'm telling MY story, not theirs. (Hey kid--want to find fame on the internet? Start your own blog!);

3. Their needs and concerns don't shape all that much of my day. I mean, sure I go back-to-school shopping, attend IEP meetings, and cudgel what's left of my brains to come up with a dinner they'll actually eat--but I'm just as likely to be talking about losing weight, training for a triathlon, chairing a fundraiser, crushing on Hugh Laurie (yes, still) or vanquishing the Japanese beetles in my back yard.

I don't see myself as a dooce or a finslippy nearly so much as I see myself as cross between Erma Bombeck , Peg Bracken, and Katharine S. White.

And frankly, I don't care whether marketers are finally noticing that a lot of
stay-at-home mothers are blogging. If I want a Wii or a GM car or a
trip to New Jersey, I'll buy it for myself, thankyouverymuch.

poppy

BlogHer BeautyHacks Contributing Editor

also blogging at The Opiate of the Masses www.poppisima.blogspot.com

and Mamarazzi www.mamarazzi.org

Here's the Thing About the MommyBlogger Label

Pam — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:34:45 -0500

Like Zoe, I'm outside that genre. Don't have kids, don't want 'em,
love yours, don't want to read about them. So if you're pigeonholed as
a mommyblogger, odds are good I'm never going to read you. If you're selling yourself as a mommyblogger, or someone else is, I'm not going to click.

That is, potentially, a shame. You could be a terrific writer, a stellar photographer, someone who writes truly amazing blog posts. But you've been packaged in way that holds zero appeal for me.

I'm SO not dissing the genre, it's just not for me - just like you may never be interested in getting outside the perimiter of your property. There's room for your POV,but if you don't want to be branded that way and/or you are that plus so many other interesting things, you may be missing out on connecting with people who might really enjoy knowing you.

And that's a shame.

Nerd's Eye View

What's in a name?

HeatherB — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:22:31 -0500

I think some confusion comes from the way several parent bloggers choose to name their blogs. So many pick the name "mom" or some variation thereof for their sites and pseudonyms. Beside the fact that it's redundant it probably adds to advertisers and the general public to categorize those writers based on their name alone. Heather B.Personal Blog: No Pasa NadaBlogHer CE: Business, Career & Personal Finance

What Do You Think of the Term "Mommyblogger"?

rocksinmydryer — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:18:37 -0500

The term "mommyblogger" has been deconstructed at length in the parenting blogosphere and beyond. Some think the term fits, and others don't. Either way, it seems to be a loaded word likely to generate more discussion.

Author, speaker and blogger Meagan Francis has written a compelling article on the subject. She recounts a recent press trip she took, in which the title on her press pass read "mommyblogger".

I cringed, then felt indignant. Mommy blogger? That’s what I am? Not a published writer, not a blogger who happens to cover motherhood in addition to other topics. Just…mommy blogger. For one thing, I don’t even LIKE the word “mommy”…it’s always felt kind of smarmy and whiny to me, and it’s more of an affectionate title used by young children than a descriptive term. Used in conjunction with “blogger”–and written on the line that would usually indicate my credentials–it felt almost like an insult.

Many women bloggers share Meagan's frustration. Speaking personally, I don't mind being aligned with a certain genre of blogging (if I were writing about celebrities, I'd expect to be classified as an entertainment blogger). Most of what I write, after all, centers around parenting and home management. But I prefer "parenting blogger" or "family blogger" or even "mom blogger" as the title. I wonder if "mommy" blogger, in addition to a tone that some interpret as dismissive, simply leaves out moms of children too old to use the term "mommy". (And I should point out, in the interest of full disclosure, that I make that statement writing as a BlogHer contributing editor in the Mommy/Family category).

But what about the women bloggers who aren't blogging mostly about parenting? JoAnne of PunditMom (who writes primarily about politics) wrote:

So many women who write blogs get labeled in a dismissive way as "mommy bloggers." And while it sure would be nice for some more of us to make a few dollars from this writing, as the major sites do, that's not why we're out here.

Sunshine at The Pursuit of Happiness shared a similar frustration:

I've never thought of myself as a "mommyblogger" since the kids comprise a smaller rather than larger percentage of my post topics. I'm more a "mom who blogs" and I deplore the term mommyblogger anyway because I think it is largely used in a condescending and judgmental way by mainstream media. Yeah, I have kids and I have a blog. So what? You got a problem with that, you can click your little self right on outta here.

Karoli of Odd Time Signatures took a different perspective:

The value of a term like mommyblogger is this: It identifies a very powerful and vocal demographic — a group of thinking, tech-savvy, engaged women. Women committed today to raising their kids, but also raising their kids in the context of what it means to live in today’s world. Working moms, stay at home moms, self-employed moms, writer moms, political moms, religious moms, moms coping with autism, moms knitting, military moms, moms coping with their own illness while raising their kids — the gamut. Moms committed to community, both virtual and ‘real-life’, to others, and to service. That’s who you are, that’s who mommybloggers are.

I suspect that some might dismiss this discussion as an over-analysis of semantics, though it would be fair to remember that bloggers--whose very business is, after all, the written word--are geared toward examining semantics. Consider, in closing, this thought by Meagan Francis:

I’m not generally one to get my knickers in a knot over terminology. Though I can see why it might bother some, I really don’t care if somebody calls me “hon” or “girl”. But “mommyblogger” gets me fired up, maybe partly because it just seems to be used so unquestioningly. I wonder why we accept this term so readily and why there doesn’t seem to be more debate over it (maybe there already was and I missed it?)

Shannon Lowe is a BlogHer contributing editor (Mommy/Family), and she blogs at Rocks In My Dryer and The Parenting Post.