Thursday, August 12, 2004

Girl talk

During my brief stint as editor of the Chicago Maroon's "Viewpoints" section, I was one of two female columnists. The other one wrote a dating column. This meant that my column, which was, like this blog, only sometimes about politics, was the closest thing to a political column written by a woman. Reading submissions, it often seemed as if every last male student had written a polemic on the war in Iraq that he wished to share with the rest of the University. Female students I knew who had strong political opinions just didn't seem to have that same drive to make those opinions known.

The front page of the New Republic online currently has 5 articles and the week's movie picks. Only one is written by a woman (unless my google research indicating "Chris Strohm" is male was incorrect). That article is a careful, nuanced analysis of...Jessica Simpson and Paris Hilton.

I do not think that women should be forced to write on political subjects (nor do I think that men should be forced to write on, say, Ashton Kutcher). I'm not really advocating anything here, nor am I prepared to provide any sort of scientific analysis of this. I just wonder why politically-minded women seem less inclined to share their views than do politically-minded men.

4 comments:

Phoebe Maltz Bovy said...

It wasn't THAT brief--maybe 2 months as associate editor and 3 as editor.

Maureen said...

Wait, didn't Emily Alpert have a column on progressive politics last year?

Phoebe Maltz Bovy said...

That she did. This was after I edited the section, though. See my more recent post on this subject--I explain everything!

Anonymous said...

oh, my. harpsichord variations on the "why are there so few high-listed women-bloggers in the politics/law sphere?" conundrum. tsk, tsk.

not to say that there's no "deference" or cultural intimidation or what-not involved, but seriously. isn't it just so much more fun to watch *other people* froth at the mouth? isn't it so much more effective to whisper a few well-chosen words here and there and *nudge* an opinion your way rather than to bellow someone into your camp-- or, worse, just to bellow for the sake of bellowing?

there's all types, i suppose; but my hunch is that the ladies prefer face-to-face discussions about things they're really into than the gentlemen. just to, like, make sure people are listening. gloss this how you will.