"Mommyblogger" - Love the term or hate it?

No, that wasn't me on the show (you're probably thinking of Heather Armstrong...and I'm honored to be mistaken for her!  ;)

You said this well: "I'm not sure my mommydom would be any more relevant than my sisterdom or wifedom or ex-girlfriend-to-the-psycho-psycho-bf-dom"

Shannon @ Rocks In My Dryer
www.rocksinmydryer.net ( http://www.rocksinmydryer.net/ )
BlogHer Contributing Editor, Mommy and Family

But I usually use "lifestyle blogger". Not everything I write is about parenting or family, so I fall back on more general terms even if they capture more interests than I actually write about.

http://backpackingdad.blogspot.com ( http://backpackingdad.blogspot.com/ )

Hey, the term is sticky. The first time I heard it was at the first BlogHer conference and I remember thinking that if blogging had been around 20 years ago, I probably would have been an active participant in that genre. Whether its right or wrong, I have an image of a mommyblogger as someone with young kids who is dealing with life, work and family while trying to navigate being a new mom. 

 For me mommyblogging regfers to a very specific period in a woman's life when their kids are the absolute central part of their existance regardless of their work status.  Although I sometimes blog about my kids,that facet of my life is not the central part of my blogging focus. 

Again, this is my own personal definition. I think when mommy bloggers transition to discussing other life topics more often than posts about the kids or being a mom, they may not want to be known as a mommy blogger--but then again there is all that advertising to consider.

elana
Blogher Contributing Editor,Business&CareersFunnyBusiness ( http://funnybusiness.typepad.com/funnybusiness )

However- being back in the world as both a "mommy" and a business woman I realize that to almost every business out there...we are the new "power consumer" ( good thing?) making the world go around, and making or breaking the economics of their product and it's longevity. Companies are sitting up and taking notice now that we have the power of social networking at the tips of our little domestic fingers.

The word mommy now serves a new meaning to me...HOPE.

Hope that it's the voice of mothers, and women who know the power of word of mouth and use it well (and always have) who will start to dictate how business gets run, and what kinds of products we support, and what we will and will not tolerate in our schools, our legal systems, and our government. My largest hope is that our new found unified voice even alters the larger issue of climate change and war. Women are unbelievablely powerful...the ultimate multi-taskers...creative and determined beyond measure, and share the common bond of love for our children.  I don't really care what they call me...as long as they are finally responding, and taking action as a result of what I say. I say it's women that will change the world, and mommies that will inspire world peace and cease fire, and ultimately figure out how to preserve the future for the next generation.

Monica Rodgers www.littlebits.com ( http://www.littlebits.com/ )  (www.earthsavers.typepad.com ( http://www.earthsavers.typepad.com/ ))

At first I was afraid this long comment got lost but I see Lisa is taking up this excellent topic started by rocksinmydryer.

 Some thoughts from a non-mommy:

Not sure I even have anything to say here given all everyone already
has posted, except to add that as a NON-mommy and therefore
NONmommyblogger, I'm offended by the term for a few reasons...

 1) is the one everyone is citing... if and when I become a mom, I
want to still be me - published journalist including time as a business
(whaaa? girls can write about MONEY?? ;) ) reporter, novel writer,
poet, blogger, educated  woman, sister, friend, wife etc. I'd be proud
to be a mom, but in work I'm not sure my mommydom would be any more
relevant than my sisterdom or wifedom or
ex-girlfriend-to-the-psycho-psycho-bf-dom. 

 but... 2) I'm not a mommy. "Am I not a woman?" Do I not count? Is
my personal life and its frustrations, successes , joys, tears not
worthy? not as important as mommies' concern, even among my fellow
women bloggers? It hurts a little to be excluded. Recently here on
blogher I cam across a slew of women who AREN'T mommies who are among
my faves and we're forming our own little community (or rather I'm
subscribing to their blogs, friending them more because their blogs
speak to me more). I see that as a good thing, as I would mommies
befriending mommies but to define ALL female bloggers as mommybloggers,
well that's just a double-whammy of hurt and offense. I am (for now)
not a mom by choice, but others CAN"T be mommies or are struggling with
becoming mommies - I worry about the slap in the face everytime I see a
headline or post or hear a media piece referring to any woman writer as
mommy. 

 Shannon , was it you who went on the infamous Kathy Lee show
talking about being a mommyblogger? That was one of the first posts I
read on blogher. I loved it and it sparked the next few months of
digging through your most wonderful site. These are good questions and
like the post-modernist-esque response I saw from many of you on
"hottest female bloggers", this kind of talking about mommyblogging is
the best way to decide how WE feel and then proceed from there.  proud
to be among you.

washy || http://washwords.wordpress.com ( http://washwords.wordpress.com/ ) || washwords.dc@gmail.com

washy || http://washwords.com/words || washwords.dc@gmail.com

I have kids and I write about 'em... does that make me a "mommy blogger"? I guess so, and I don't mind.  I love being a mom, so if people want to call me that, then that's fine. But I also write about my flashing my boobies at the dentists office in hopes of scoring some vicadin... does that make me a "boobie blogger"?

I can only hope.

The Edge Of Insanity ( http://www.browerfamilyof5.wordpress.com )

Partly because I associate the word "mommy" with little children. My teen son and adult daughter haven't called me "Mommy" since they were little. I don't count the times my son calls me that for a laugh. So to me, "mommy" blogger conjures the image of a woman chasing a child in diapers. As a result, I feel left out of the that group. I'm a parent with older offspring. I prefer the term parenting blogger or family blogger because neither excludes men from the mix. I especially prefer "family" blogger of late because I'm a sandwich generation parent ( http://www.blogher.com/life-sandwich-generation-mo... ). Both my children and my elderly parents live with me.

Nordette ( http://blogher.org/blog/nordette ) is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ) is hosted on another site at this link ( http://bigsole.blogspot.com ).  Her most recent blog post at BlogHer when she posted this comment?  SAHM to WAHM Takes More Than Moxie ( http://www.blogher.com/sahm-wahm-takes-more-moxie ).

Plain and simple. Although most of my posts have to do with my family, I don't consider myself only a "mommy blogger" even though I feel that is an appropriate category if I have to register my blog at a site.

I don't think it's insulting to be called a mommy blogger, but I do think it might be a bit limiting. I'm a mommy blogger but I can just as easily be a political blogger or an entertainment blogger, or whatever, depending on what I choose to write about on any particular day.

Andrea

The Creative Junkie

http://www.thecreativejunkie.com

Who ever reads me will be interested in me as a full grown woman with a
lot of shit but who is holding it down.  I can't concern myself with
why someone  wouldn't read me because I called myself a Mommy
Blogger...WTF!

And I the opposite with anyone who wouldn't read me because I'm not.

Your comment struck straight to the truth of the matter as usual, and made me think of Audre Lorde, immediately..."What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What
are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own,
until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence?"....“If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other peoples' fantasies for me and eaten alive." 

Labels can only limit and I'm glad we're all out here doing our best to speak up in spite of them. I think they can work as much as you want them to sometimes - to feel a part of something, to identify with something - but when they limit your reach it can be problematic. 

Glad I got to meet you at the conference. Rock on. 

 Laurie 

LaurieWrites ( http://lauriewrites.typepad.com )

As a woman who never thought she have kids...let alone 4! I jump at all opportunities to be called MOMMY anything!  Mommy Blogger is fine because I know who I am.  I know that I am also a Sista Blogger, an Ex-politician blogger, a soon-to-be divorced blogger, a Broke-ass-as-in-I have-no fucking-money blogger!   Fat blogger, tall blogger, felon blogger.

Who ever reads me will be intrigued about my mommy perspective.  Who ever reads me will be interested in me as a full grown woman with a lot of shit but who is holding it down.  I can't concern myself with why someone  wouldn't read me because I called myself a Mommy Blogger...WTF!

Love,

Babz ( http://www.lovebabz.blogspot.com )

I really REALLY hate when people get mixed up in words, terms, and titles.  And I think getting upset over something as trivial as the term mommy blogger just isn't worth getting your panties in a wad over.  I think that if you are someone like me who really IS a mommyblogger then you shouldn't have a problem with the title.  I also thing the fact that there are enough moms out there to actually spawn the titile is a VERY good thing, and I most definitely say as long as people keep blogging and making the internet their own, then they should be allowed to call themselves whatever they want.  :)

Mommybloggers live on!

Totallythebomb.com ( http://www.totallythebomb.com ) 

Follow me on Twitter! ( http://twitter.com/jamieharrington ) 

I have always loathed the term, so I was thrilled when Elisa said "parenting blogger" during this year's closing keynote. Here is a censored version of my most recent take:

 Mommyblogging" is as loaded -- though not equivalent to -- the word
"c**t," and I avoid it. "Mommy" is what my kids call me, and in my
opinion is a term used by children, not by adults who take each other's
work seriously.

Anyone who wants to self-identify as a mommyblogger is welcome to do so. But I would never choose that label for myself.

Always have. To me, the diminutive is margnializing and has the potential to alienate readers before they've actually taken a look to determine whether you've got something worthwhile to say. I always refer to myself as a parent blogger, or a personal blogger. Even so, I do understand the other side of the coin.

I tried to get into it on Mom-101 here ( http://www.blogher.com/mom-101.blogspot.com/2006/0... ), way back when, and my commenters had a lot of excellent points on both sides of the coin.  

Mom-101 ( http://mom-101.blogspot.com )
( http://coolmompicks.com )

Cool Mom Picks.com ( http://coolmompicks.com )