"Margaret Wente Is An Idiot" or "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret Wente. And I'm Kind of a Dumbass."

Theremina pointed us to this article yesterday, WHY ARE BLOGGERS MALE? by one, Margaret Wente. Some bits:

On why she doesn't blog (apparently guys love snowmobiling, incidentally): "It's more of a guy thing."

"That's also why guys like blogging – instant opinions, and lots of them. Men clearly have an urge to blog that women lack."

And the winner for me: "Women never held peeing contests. Perhaps that helps explain why women tend to be more restrained and less concerned with public displays of prowess. We are just as interested in listening as in talking, and more interested in relationships than scoring points. We also tend to lack the public confidence that comes so easily to many men."

(Ms Yayanos writes over at Coilhouse.)

It's an interesting bit of writing in that Ms Wente is clearly an insane person. I'm of the mind that someone like her would have done her research as Ms Yayanos points out in her own piece, but I'm pretty astounded that this was deemed fit-to-print because of the sheer lunacy of it. It presupposes, to me, that women don't have any sort of interest in this particular bit of the 21st Century. Women don't have the inclination toward it, have no desire in partaking, and would just be bad at it. Is any of that true? Of course it isn't. It doesn't take but a moment through dig through any of our bookmark folders to see it's nowhere near truth. But nevermind, that: ask your circle of friends. But I'm getting off topic.

The assumption that blogging is some sort of men's competition (which I'm not naive to believe isn't partly true) and is best left for them is absolutely ridiculous. It's like saying that writing period -- say, journalism, for one -- is merely a man's thing because it is only men who have the predisposition for it. Is THIS true? Certainly not.

Personally, I just find it curious how Ms Wente just painted a weird caricature of women the same way Tyler Perry does of black people with his movies and she believes it (I'm also of the mind that when you say something, you only say it because you believe it). It's one of the things I dislike most about a person, this sort of self-hate in a way. Marginalizing your gender group, in this case, from the inside and being certain and resolute about it.

(It also makes me think of American-born Mexican folk I've come to meet in this country who target those who're only recently arrived through any means: ready to tear them down because immigrants are not at all like them. But, I'm digressing.)

The idea posited by her writing is a very bleak one if you are a woman who blogs. Hell, if you're a woman who writes. And of course, I find it hypocritical that this is how this woman earns a living.

I wonder what makes people of any type to seemingly be set again others from their group (coincidentally, last night, Corey and I were talking similarly about those of us who aren't straight and what there is to be proud of there; my take wasn't as positive (this too is a different post).). I really want to understand because if logic falls in place and reveals some truth, then I'd be more inclined to believe the argument...

...or it could be just like Ms Yayanos says: "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret Wente. And I'm Kind of a Dumbass."