Last week July 18th through the 20th was this years BlogHer Conference. According to the Blogher website their mission is:
To create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community, and economic empowerment.
To those organizers I challenge them to look in the mirror and realize that you’ve now become the same evil and sexist pigs you started out with the goal of overcoming.
So whats my gripe, that Blogher limits their conference speakers to only women. Don’t believe me go to any of the past speaker lists (link, link, link, link) and try to find a speaker who is a man, do an on page search for “his”, “him”, or ” he”, now try searching for “her” her’s” or “she”, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s not that I don’t think that women aren’t qualified to speak, nothing could be farther from the truth, but I do ask the following question, if you want to provide the best conference are only women qualified to speak.
Now Blogher doesn’t completely discourage against men attending, here’s a flickr set of the BlogHer men attendees, including people like Robert Scoble. However if you are a man and you want to attend BlogHer, you’re treated like second class citizen, only to be seen and not heard.
Do you think Blogher should only have women speakers, what if I told you I was organizing a conference and only men were speaking? The only way women can get in was to pay the full admission price, and go sit quietly in the audience. Have a few choice names you’d like to call me after reading that, then why is it OK for blog her to do the exact same thing, and you’re OK with that, or somehow find that empoering?
The most common argument I’ll get is what about the “mommy bloggers” or “work at home moms (WHAM)” and how Blogher has speakers that can speak on those topics better than men. To that I counter Mommy bloggers and work at home moms face the same issues as Daddy bloggers and work at home dads. We all struggle to find the work-life balance. We struggle to run a professional business and to be available to take client calls and go to meetings, but to also be home by 3:30 to pickup the kids after school, bring them to dance class, ballet class, religious instruction, swim class, birthday parties, play dates, do the food shopping and cook a dinner that’s healthy and everybody will eat, without going crazy. And yes I do the food shopping, and I cook dinner, even on the holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving. So those aren’t “mommy” issues those are parent issues.
The next common argument I hear is that women weren’t/aren’t taken seriously, or accepted as part of mainstream media/publishing. This is a common argument from groups that are minorities or perceive themselves as minorities. They feel that by creating a group of only their members they can “swing the pendulum in the other direction” and create some sense of balance. Nothing could be farther from the truth. What it really does is underline and accentuate the differences between the two groups, strengthening the divisive wall between them. For example do you want to be known as the “best woman tech blogger”? I wouldn’t … what that really says is I may be the best woman tech blogger but when you compare me to all the male tech bloggers I don’t make the cut. You should never strive to be the best woman lawyer, best woman doctor, or best woman blogger, you should striver to be the best doctor, lawyer, or blogger, regardless of your gender.
Still not convinced Blogher hasn’t become their own worst enemy? Have you ever been to conference where a panel was made up of all men? How about an entire conference where all of the speakers where only men? Awkward aren’t they? I’m not advocating putting a “token woman” on the panel, because that’s wrong on so many levels. What I am saying is there are just as many smart women as there are men, and both are equally qualified to speak, and conference organizers should strive for balanced representation among speakers, not a lopsided selection to make up for past injustices.
So how bout it Blogher conference organizers can you rise to the challenge and create something more than a modern “old boys network”? If the organizers of “Take Our Daughters to Work Day” can change to “Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day” you can too. Being a visionary leader takes the courage to admit when you make a mistake and take the steps to fix it …
Update
see more dicussion from the blogher blog Mars & Venus in the Boardroom
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{ 73 comments }
Agreed 100%.
However, dare I go back and mention that exclusive groups will always be there. I guess it only really becomes a problem when it’s a totally white male group.
Racism, sexism and any other kind of discrimination is usually created by those wishing to overcome it. Like so many other cases these groups eventually become what they set out to overcome.
Once again you made a very good pint, Michael! And its not just in conferences I see this issue. Its like these days its acceptable for Women to do and say all the things men are “not allowed” to.
Why is it acceptable for women to emphasize what women do better than men, when the oposite is not?
In fact, I think that hole men/women debate its quite stupid. I think it should be about people. Women are not the only ones that have been discriminated! Black people, disabled, asians, fat people, ugly people, old people all have the same issue. The issue is people! All groups of people have qualities and all should have equal rights to explore them.
Michael, you say that a conference where women was told not to say a word would not be accepted. I agree – if we did such an event we would be labeled “sexist pigs”. Now imagine something even worse – a conference where black people was not allowed to speak up … No, that just wouldn’t fly, right. And it shouldn’t, I must say! It is stupid to keep some people out just because they are black, women, men, asians or fat!
That is simply wrong. Any kind of discrimination is wrong.
It reminds me of the wonder woman and her amazon civilization … they had a similar attitude toward men.
Nice post. Speaking as a woman (and a blogger), I don’t see how there’s any benefit to not getting male speakers on the panel if they can offer the best information – surely the goal is educating and you want the best you can get, not the best women you can get. I also don’t understand how, unless you’re running a convention about blogs aimed at women (e.g. mommy blogs, women’s health blogs, etc.) a women’s-only convention is helpful to women. It does perpetuate the idea that we aren’t taken seriously in the industry – and if we aren’t (and we are under-represented in technical fields across the board) – then surely planning a conference to discuss this and INVITING MEN AND ASKING THEIR OPINIONS is a far better way of addressing this issue than keeping men out.
Having said that, I wasn’t at BlogHer so maybe this got done in some form or other?
This post…I don’t want to get into a flame war over this, but my experience at BlogHer this year was utterly, 180 degrees, different from the way you’ve represented it here.
BlogHer isn’t discriminatory along gender lines; but it is discriminatory along community lines. If you don’t participate in the community online then you probably aren’t going to have a good experience at the conference.
And Doug French, aka Laid Off Dad, did speak at BlogHer during the highlighted Community Keynote on Friday. There was also a speicall session/meetup for men to talk about their experience at BlogHer (I didn’t see you there, did you miss it on the program?)
They absolutely love seeing men at BlogHer and no one, except the men, acted as though they ought to be seen and not heard.
You need to jump in with both feet in any community you want to be a part of, and if you don’t then you need to bear a huge load of responsibility for the outcome.
Mike, glad to see the facts didn’t get in the way of your rant. Actually, Karl Erikson did lead a session at Blogher08:
http://www.blogher.com/guides/blogher08/agendacontent.php?t=iphone&id=50
You stated:
“However if you are a man and you want to attend BlogHer, you’re treated like second class citizen, only to be seen and not heard.”
Bzzt, also wrong. I attended a session in every time slot of the conference, and since the sessions are conversations with the folks in the room, I plenty of chance to engage in the dialogue. The Entrepreneurship panel, in particular, was a great conversation. And the politics panel took the time to go around to EVERY person in the room and get their perspective.
Facts. They’re what’s for dinner.
Michael,
I think your post is unnecessarily inflammatory, and assumes facts not in evidence. While I certainly agree that everyone should aspire to be the “best” irrespective of gender, I can imagine that there may be some gender based variations in tactics and other areas. Women and men are different, may behave differently in some cases, and may be perceived differently.
Taking a step back, is “To create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community, and economic empowerment” a reasonable mission, or a sexist mission? It seems reasonable enough to me on the surface. Are there fewer women bloggers? Are the challenges to building a blog audience different for women?
I wouldn’t presume to know, but I don’t think it is inherently sexist to discuss the topic. Similarly, I don’t think it would be inherently sexist if there was a conference on expanding opportunities for men in nursing or some other women dominated profession.
The second point is on the tactics. Were men treated as second class citizens and barred from speaking? Again, it doesn’t appear definitively that that was the case. But if that were true, then it’s just plain dumb. If there were an ideological bent in place that was in conflict with the stated goals of the conference, then to me it would be self defeating, and marginalizes whatever value the event might have.
@christopher carfi: running a “meet up” is not the same as being a speaker on a panel
I want to re-iterate @backpackingdad:
“Doug French, aka Laid Off Dad, did speak at BlogHer during the highlighted Community Keynote on Friday.”
Indeed. He was one of the speakers at the best.damn.session. that I have EVER seen at a conference. The Community Keynote was game-changing. 200+ submissions, and the 21 best submissions were chosen to read their work, open-mic-stylee, in front of the 1,000+ attendees.
It rocked, as did Doug.
@michaelgray: right here:
http://www.blogher.com/announcing-blogher-community-keynote-selections
@christopher carfi: speaking open mic is not the same as being on a panel
no, it was actually significantly better.
…since actually it appears his submission was chosen from 200+ submissions for that spot.
@Michael Gray: Doug spoke in front of every attendee at BlogHer, and not just in front of a small panel audience. You’re right that it’s not the same as being on a panel. I’d say that was a little bit more valuable from a “get BlogHer to appreciate and respect male involvement” than anything else they could have done. The panels weren’t the most important part of BlogHer at all. Plenty of people skipped panels; they didn’t skip the keynote.
You’ve resisted enough in these comments here despite the participation of guys who were there, on the ground, that I think you were just interested in the rant. That’s okay. Your blog.
@michaelgray : it’s a community that can’t really be examined under glass from outside. i’d suggest going to the conference and/or participating in the online conversations to understand what’s really going on.
anyway, not here to get into a semantic pissing contest. just wanted to correct a couple of factual errors. if you go to #blogher09, would be happy to buy you a beer.
@Backpacking Dad: as a consultant being on a panel is very powerful lead generation tool, it confers authority, and expertise. being selected for an open mic session does not carry the same weight.
This was my second BlogHer and I didn’t feel discriminated against in the least. I’ve said more than once, “it takes balls to go to BlogHer as a dude” but only because people look at you a little funny when you tell them you’re going to a conference for women bloggers. If I hadn’t been welcomed so warmly last year, I wouldn’t have returned.
So, just curious Michael, what do you have to offer to BlogHer and in what way is your experience valuable to the community? How would you like to contribute and why is it important for a community of women who blog to hear you? Why would you like to be involved? Or are you speaking for other men who you think would be great allies for the women of BlogHer and would like to share their knowledge as panelists?
Mike? (note: you spelt “empowering” wrong in your 4th paragraph)
As a person who deals with large business deals, you should know better than to write something before checking to make sure you’re right.
You are way off base, and out of touch here. Had you actually been to the conference you would have seen men participating in all areas of the conference. In fact the only way you could have missed it would have been if you were wearing blinders, and ear plugs.
BlogHer as a company even has several men on staff, (obviously that’s gender discrimination!!) whom you could also have met had you possibly taken a better look at the conference. I don’t really know what sparked your misguided rant, this post of yours is highly insulting to the community and really unnecessary. But mostly, its just plain out of touch.
Nothing is more embarrassing than someone who stands on a soapbox and has no actual facts Mike, your statement
“However if you are a man and you want to attend BlogHer, you’re treated like second class citizen, only to be seen and not heard”
Couldn’t be more wrong, men were all over the conference and having a great time, which again….you probably should of gone to the conference before getting on your soapbox, I really am shocked that you would write this having not even gone to the BlogHer conference. You need to do a MAJOR fact check. My only way to rationalize this post is that you want to get people fired up over a non-issue.
Thanks for writing, next time, double check your facts please.
@Liz Henry: I speak at many search industry related conferences such as SMX, SES, Pubcon here are some reviews
http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/archives/2007/07/the_top_seos_gi_1.html
http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/archives/2007/08/are_paid_links.html
http://www.toprankblog.com/2007/08/session-are-paid-links-evil/
http://www.seowife.com/ses-san-jose-2007/
http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/014573.html
What I’d feel would be most helpful to your attendees would be a instructions on how set up a blog that is search engine friendly. What are common mistakes that bloggers make when setting up a blog. How to spot and diagnose common technical blog problems and fix them. What are tools that bloggers should be using to make sure they are getting the most traffic from search engines and not shooting themselves in the foot.
Find a man who’s an expert on being a woman who blogs, and I’m sure they’d be welcomed on a panel.
@Zach: yeah bad spelling it’s my trademark
again not talking about ppl on staff or attendees, I’m talking about men being offered speaking slots on panels, which I have yet to find.
@zchamu: well I once ran a blog under a woman pseudonym and was asked to be on radio show interview … obviously I had to decline
http://www.wolf-howl.com/blogs/when-a-pen-name-backfires/
I think Blogher has done a handsome job of garnering attention, such as in posts like this one, and for that I tip my hat. However I won’t be attending any events given that Blogher has crippled their potential by effectively eliminating at least one half of the population from their message. Although I am pro equality I and just not interested in gender based events. If you want to eliminate one half of the population from your program so be it, eliminate me too regardless of your gender bias.
My two cents, not worth much after tax of course.
I disagree that BlogHer is their own worst enemy. BlogHer was created to isolate a demographic and get to know their wants and needs as bloggers and as an audience (aka the “mommybloggers” from which so many companies desire attention). It was women talking to women about women’s issues. If a man is interested in that, more power to him. This isn’t about being the “best woman” anything or neglecting men. I saw quite a few men there because they were interested in the female point of view on the issues you described: parenting issues, work/life balance issues, and sexism issues. There are dozens of conferences that incorporate both sides of the coin, but more often than not they are heavily weighed towards men. This is an opportunity for women to not worry about competing with attention-whore A-list men but instead can speak their piece on the issues. No where in BlogHer’s website does it say “Men can’t come” or “Men can’t speak.” In fact, their materials *encourage* men to come and the fact you post otherwise is perpetuating a myth. See co-founder Jory Des Jardin’s post on men attending the conference: http://www.blogher.com/survival-guide-blogher-non-blogger-or-corporate-attendee. I spent quite a bit of time with BlogHer male attendees like JD Lasica, Jeremy Pepper, and Paull Young. I also saw Chris Carfi there. Were you there?
There is also something to be said for women connecting with other women without interuptions from alpha-male, ego-driven men which populate the web 2.0 bubble. While you might think being the best “female” whatever is a bad thing, as a young woman, I think it’s a good thing because I know that just because someone is the best “female” doesn’t mean they are less than a man. It means that I have someone to look up to and say, Yes, I can be like her and be as good as a man in this field – if not better.
Oh, and as far as the panel vs. keynote debate: the keynotes had far more influence than the panels. They keynotes were far more competitive and in turn, were far more inspiring and uplifting – which was the point of BlogHer. Your style of judging is not law, as you can see.
@Allison Blass: as i understand it the “keynote speakers” you are all pointing to were voted on by the community not selected thru the normal process. So my argument still stands Are the blogher conference organizers guilty of discrimination by not choosing men for panelists.
@Michael Gray
actually, the keynote speakers were nominated by the community, and then selected by a committee appointed by BlogHer.
@Backpacking Dad: so why is he not listed on the speakers page with all the other speakers? Because his speaking was not equivalent to panelist speaking position.
See Backpacking Dad’s explanation. They were nominated, then selected by panel of BlogHer community members.
Why is the keynote vs. panel debate so important to you? You apparently are the only one who cares about this. From my experiences, the keynote speakers at conferences were always the most important speaker because it was the person who spoke in front of EVERYONE. And if you don’t think keynotes are important, well, I’m pretty sure nobody else cares.
I see your point, Michael, but I also remember at SMX Advanced in Seattle listening to all-male panel after all-male panel because they couldn’t “find” women to participate. Since I know of some truly kick-ass women in SEO and SEM, surely they could have found a someone for the the “Give it Up” session.
It’s not discrimination if it’s a “women’s” conference. Deal with the fact you are not going to be invited to everything just because you are a man.
> Deal with the fact you are not going to be invited to everything just because you are a man.
So are you saying that it would be acceptable with a conference where Jews where not allowed, or blacks, or assians, or disabled people? Try and advertise that: No jews or blacks allowed! Good luck with that one! LOL
“So how bout it Blogher conference organizers can you rise to the challenge” … it will never happen. And no, I’m not a misogynist, I just see way too many women who simply aren’t prepared to face the challenges of mixing it in the real world.
It’s more comfortable and ’safe’ to hide away and be precious in their own little enclaves.
And like you Michael – I work from home and do much of the housework.
I spent time with both Chris & Shawn @BlogHer08 this year – as well as many other BlogHims including folks like Andrew Hyde and Rick Calvert – and I’m fairly sure you’ll find that being there changes your perspective of it.
You know that if you were writing this about a racial minority not having white speakers on their panels that you’d be crucified for it – but we’re just women after all, right? Keynote speakers and room-of-your-own panels aren’t good enough for you – because what? Speaking to hundreds of people rather than merely dozens is somehow less valid?
I apologize for the sarcasm – but if you had gone and participated as both Chris & Shawn who are commenting to tell you how much your post missed the mark from those who have been there, your ‘outrage’ might come across as more reflective rather than just inflammatory.
Well, if your aim at a conference is to generate leads, confer authority on yourself, and give the impression of expertise, I can see why you’d be upset and why you’d be so confused as to how BlogHer chooses their speakers…
I never quite understood the logic behind these reverse discrimination events. It somehow adds to the evolution of society by discriminating against the group that once discriminated against you?
@SEO Diva: Danny noted there no women on the SMX panel before it even started and apologized on the spot. If I understand it correctly they had a hard time finding ppl for the give up session as nobody wanted to give it up.
@Allison Blass: so you are OK with men’s only social clubs excluding women then?
@GeekMommy: going to a conference where you are just as qualified to be a panel speaker but not considered because you are male is like being invited to thanksgiving dinner but not being allowed to sit at the grown ups table
@MichaelGray: I realized after I posted that I didn’t really explain myself very well in that last comment. Having a conference where one certain type of person is the only one allowed to speak as an authority is radical. The topics that BlogHer chooses for their sessions are not necessarily topics that a man cannot speak on. The point though, in my opinion, is that this is an opportunity to highlight the work women do. Not to say that they are better or worse than men, but just to say that BlogHer is going to give women during this single conference the opportunity to control things, no matter the topic. Yes, this may seem discriminatory to some people, and it’s within your right to think that of course, but I think that it would serve men well to stop talking for once and actually listen to what women have to say. If there were a conference that was only led by a minority, perhaps African-Americans in business or Christians in business, I would be fine with that because the goal of the conference is to serve those people.
I challenge you to interview one of the founders of BlogHer on your blog in order to get some of your questions answered. Have you spoken with them? Shared your concerns? It’s one thing to sit in your corner of the universe and lambast these women without their knowledge, it’s another thing entirely to actually bring forth your criticisms and request answers. Something you can do as a future post perhaps?
There are actually lots of men’s-only clubs. And the Thanksgiving example is totally irrelevant. Are you offended because you weren’t invited? Did you ask to be a speaker?
The thing about feminism that seems to escape many (men and women) is that women are actually treated as inferiors — the common example is salary disparity. A few readers have also brought up discrimination against Jews and blacks. Was anyone turned away based on race or gender? It doesn’t seem that’s the case. Are we to say that because there’s racism, we should ignore sexism? Minorities (in the case of women who are marginalized in many industries) sometimes find that building a community is empowering.
The truth is that some discrimination is self-selecting — would you really want to go hang out somewhere you felt completely out of place? Probably not.
I find it interesting that someone who didn’t attend (or attempt to attend) the event in question is so critical of it.
So, a question: Would you expect white people to sit on panels at a conference about bloggers of colour? Would you expect Christians to be on panels at a Jewish conference? It’s the same argument. If you’re having a conference targeted at a niche audience, you want speakers who have the same viewpoint, the same perspective in common with that audience. It isn’t discrimination: it’s simply catering to the wishes of your market. At BlogHer, the women attendees are interested in seeing women speak, in getting information from other women bloggers. This is one of the reasons why BlogHer is successful: the audience desires and prefers to talk to women experts, people who have faced the same challenges and struggles they have as women. BlogHer delivers on this.
And I guess that’s the point that you’re missing. BlogHer doesn’t exist just to help people build out their resumes. It isn’t “just” a technology conference. It’s a community, an entity unto itself.
Ultimately, it seems like you want the opportunity to speak to the BlogHer audience because you see it as a great way to build your resume. And I don’t think any speaker with those motivations would be welcomed at BlogHer, or anywhere else.
I would suggest you start speaking *with* the BlogHer Audience. Start listening to them. If you really want to break in to BlogHer, then a great way to start would be participating in the community. You may be pleasantly surprised about what happens.
@zchamu: One could also argue that being insular and only allowing ideas from within your own community you will eventually stagnate. I believe that you can learn from anyone regardless of age, sex, or skin color, and thats the point.
If you’re going to tell me the attendees only want to hear from women, I’ll tell you thats an even worse position to be in, as it shows the whole community isn’t open to new ideas, opinions or ways of thinking.
They absolutely love seeing men at BlogHer and no one, except the men, acted as though they ought to be seen and not heard.
Frankly, I think blogher would have been better off putting on a dog and pony show. They should have pretended to be looking at male candidates as speakers and then “coincidentally” only chosen women to speak. Would have been a lot less fireworks.
Now I wish I’d had the money to pony up and attend the conference so I could contribute more to this conversation. (And I understand your tweet from last week about shaking things up on your blog.)
I had a REALLY long comment types up here, but I really don’t want to hijack your whole comment section. I thought it worked rather well as a blog post of my own.
http://www.jimboykin.com/if-id-been-at-blogher-it-wouldnt-have-been-to-hear-graywolf-speak/
The short version is that I was a face in the crowd of mommmybloggers a few weeks ago, and I had an invite to BlogHer. I couldn’t go because I couldn’t afford it, but if I had, I wouldn’t have been there to hear GrayWolf (or any other respected male speaker from the blogosphere) at the conference. I would’ve been there to hear from other women who could relate to me.
It’s important that you raise the point about male speakers. After attending BlogHer 08 I concluded that we blogging women would benefit greatly from the expertise and knowledge of many male bloggers and SEOers. Also, I was comparing the content of BlogHer to many male dominated blogging events and felt we need to aim much higher like the male bloggers who are making 6 figure incomes online!
I think BlogHer09 should include male speakers, but I do think the other events being women only, is a nice way for us to bond, which we don’t get to do often.
@Michael Gray – Unfortunately, I think that you would have stronger ground to stand on (albeit little) if you had actually been to the conference(s) and experienced it for yourself. Without first-hand experience, your post comes across as unsubstantiated and bitter.
I’m a man who has been to 3 of the BlogHer conferences. I can tell you from first-hand experience that there is no sense of discrimination. While I can understand, to a certain degree, your questioning of why there have been no men (yet) on panels, I think that your rant is off-base and honestly, doesn’t put men in a good light. It is narcissistic men like you that led the BlogHer community to conduct a women-led conference to begin with.
Every man I have talked to at BlogHer has had a similar feeling of really enjoying being a minority amongst 1000 women – who can blame them? I do think, however, that there is a future for men speakers at BlogHer, but that time has not arrived yet. The BlogHer community is still evolving and will no doubt expand its horizons (in many directions) as the community grows and evolves itself.
Rather than lambasting the BlogHer conference and the company, why don’t you provide some constructive feedback or suggestions (after having attended) as to how/why a panel with men would be helpful to the community? I would highly recommend that you attend next year – I’m sure many of the men there (including myself) would be happy to generate a discussion about being a Mr. Mom. In fact, maybe this could be a the way to involve men next year: A panel on being a stay-at-home parent and how men and women approach and blog about their experiences differently…
“I can tell you from first-hand experience that there is no sense of discrimination.”
Seems to me the entire conference is themed around discrimination. A conference for women where men aren’t allowed to speak. What’s next? Why don’t you make a conference that hearkens back to segregation. It doesn’t matter if there was a “sense of discrimination” at the actual event. I imagine there wasn’t necessarily a “sense of discrimination” at every single water fountain that only white people could drink out of either. I’m sure some water fountains were rather pleasant on the surface, despite the cruel reality of the reason they existed.
What I would like to know is why so many people have gone ballistic over a Loren Feldman video that they didn’t even understand the point of (video here: http://www.1938media.com/where-are-the-black-tech-bloggers/ ) yet don’t seem to mind the existence of this conference. Where’s their moral outrage?
Hey Michael,
Great Linkbait article.
And these young ‘uns think they know all about social media….
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