Real Kato Blog: I Blog Like a Girl

At least, I hope I do.

First, let me apologize for yesterday's blog entries, because I was tired and buzzed, and I really just half-assed it. Maybe not even that. Maybe I only put a third of an ass into it. The thing is, as tired as I was, I didn't want the evening to go by without writing something. I mean, with blogging, I recognize that not every entry is going to be a winner. Sometimes you just have to go for quantity, and hope that some good stuff falls out every now and then.

Coincidentally, that's also the approach certain engineers seem to take when writing software. Or, when talking. Anytime you start to doubt the engineer stereotype, sit in my office and listen to my co-workers discussing which Star Trek series was the most REALISTIC. After an hour of this, you might start rooting the Borg to obliterate the whole Star Trek universe.

Anywho...

People assume that the reason I'm going to BlogHer is just to pick up women. And while I don't deny that there's an underlying blog-fantasy of starting a blog-relationship with a cute blog-girl, that's not why I'm so interested blog-going. (For those of you who despise the word "blog"... I'm blog-sorry.)

The thing is, 90% of the blogs that I read are written by women. I read mommy blogs and knitting blogs and infertility blogs. I read single-girl blogs and schoolteacher blogs and socialite blogs. It's pretty rare that I find a man's blog that I like.

I think I like women's blogs because people, in general, blog the way they talk. Taking a page from the Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus theor: men talk in order to (a) provide information, or (b) demonstrate superiority. Women talk in order to connect with other people. (Engineers are a third breed; they talk in order to BORE THE LIVING CRAP out of non-engineers.)

So I like how women's blogs tend to be personal and vulnerable. I like when women say they got frustrated over X, how they don't believe they're good enough at Y, or how they're just so in love with Z.

I dislike how men's blogs tend to be cold and smug. There's a lot of "Everyone else is an idiot, and this is how things REALLY are." I'm guilty of that myself. (Of course I'm generalizing here. There are men's blogs that I like, like the ones listed on my link bar over on the left. And I like reading Jason Kottke and Geese Aplenty.)

This difference in style is also the reason, I think, that I have so many more women friends than male friends. I can't talk to men about anything, because there's always this unspoken game of one-upmanship. If you start to talk about relationships or anxieties or shortcomings with a man, then at BEST, you get advice. At WORST, you get laughed at.

With a woman, you get sympathy, support, and a hand on your shoulder. It's so much better.

My desire is to make this blog more like a woman's blog, and less like a man's blog. I mean, I still feel the need to write political commentary and technology analysis, but those entries are more for me than for anyone else. The stuff I want to share with the world is what I'm feeling.

That's kind of what I want to discuss BlogHer. I want to hear how and why women write blogs, and whether they too believe that women's blogs are more accessible than men's blogs. I think that would make for an interesting discussion.

And then, we'll drink our faces off. Hooray!

Permalink 3 Comment

Posted by Ken in: bloggers

Comments

Comment #1 from Lisa V (Guest)
2005 Jun 30 - 10:27 am : #

I think if you could get PMS you would be perfect. You and Geese and the Zero Boss are the only male blogs I read regularly. I don't think you blog like a girl, I think you blog like someone interesting.

Comment #2 from Lisa V (Guest)
2005 Jun 30 - 10:29 am : #

If you want more girl blogs that are excellent, a little pregnant, chez miscarriage and amalah are really good.

I am always surprised to see a man's name in the comments on these blogs, but I think good writing is good writing no matter what the subject matter.

Comment #3 from Sonja (Guest)
2005 Jun 30 - 8:54 pm : #

I second the "a little pregnant" nomination. Love that one.

Comments are closed for this post.

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