A Boy who Blogs
When I have ideas about topics that I would like to blog about, I set up a post in draft mode. Well, what I really mean is that I write a title. The title of this post - A Boy who Blogs - was written a long time ago. Probably back in about 2013. For many years, I have wondered why the online art blogging community - both bloggers and viewers - is primarily made up of women. And when I say primarily, what I really mean is nearly completely.
It always seemed strange to me that while the art world has historically (and with tremendous bias I might add) focused on men, our community, whether online or at workshops and retreats, consists of women and only a handful of men.
I am moved to finally write this post thanks to Danny Gregory - another guy in the neighborhood. As is so often the case, he has touched on the most current of topics and recently wrote a post entitled Why Men Don't Take Art Classes . His post - and the lively discussion that has occurred in the comment section - has inspired mine.
I have had many random thoughts over the years about why this is the case. My first thought is always that our blogging community is just that - a community. It is not only about art but it is about connecting through art. Sometimes it is even more about connecting than about art. Call me sexist, but I have always thought that women are so much more willing and able to express, connect, share and communicate. These are things that happen almost by definition in a community. For me, this issue explains a good deal of the gender disparity. But can it be that simple?
Theories about why men don't take classes don't always apply to why there are not more men in our blogging community. The whole men-don't-read-maps-so-as-not-to-appear-ignorant theory seems to me to be irrelevant to online blogging -- not to mention that we now have GPS, which I do believe men actually take advantage of.
So this boy is curious as to what you readers think on this issue. Commenting on blogs seems to be at an all time low (hmmmm....another title for a future post) but I am hoping that you all can shed some light on this. The floor is yours.....
It always seemed strange to me that while the art world has historically (and with tremendous bias I might add) focused on men, our community, whether online or at workshops and retreats, consists of women and only a handful of men.
I am moved to finally write this post thanks to Danny Gregory - another guy in the neighborhood. As is so often the case, he has touched on the most current of topics and recently wrote a post entitled Why Men Don't Take Art Classes . His post - and the lively discussion that has occurred in the comment section - has inspired mine.
I have had many random thoughts over the years about why this is the case. My first thought is always that our blogging community is just that - a community. It is not only about art but it is about connecting through art. Sometimes it is even more about connecting than about art. Call me sexist, but I have always thought that women are so much more willing and able to express, connect, share and communicate. These are things that happen almost by definition in a community. For me, this issue explains a good deal of the gender disparity. But can it be that simple?
Theories about why men don't take classes don't always apply to why there are not more men in our blogging community. The whole men-don't-read-maps-so-as-not-to-appear-ignorant theory seems to me to be irrelevant to online blogging -- not to mention that we now have GPS, which I do believe men actually take advantage of.
So this boy is curious as to what you readers think on this issue. Commenting on blogs seems to be at an all time low (hmmmm....another title for a future post) but I am hoping that you all can shed some light on this. The floor is yours.....
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