Some thoughts on the "babe" kerfluffle...

Angie posted a lot of good links below about the controversy over Todd Epp's 'babes' and the controversy they've caused in the local blogosphere.

The discussion gives those of us who care about the objectification of women a lot to think about - as for me, I'm considering the place that DakotaWomen occupies in the local blogosphere. (As a way of getting at what I'm trying to say, here, I'm having a difficult time putting these thoughts together because I don't want to be accused by the guys in the blogosphere of being a whiner, or - god forbid - "shrill.") To be quite honest, I think it's rare that we get the respect we deserve - and I think more than a little of that has to do with the fact that this is a group blog whose contributors are all women under the age of 30.

I'll be the first to admit that the four of us tend to approach blogging from a more lighthearted perspective than many - though we're all fairly young, we've logged a lot of years of activist work on women's/LGBT issues in South Dakota and elsewhere. I think I'm the only one who has never been paid for my work, but, being the oldest, I suspect I top the other contributors in years of service. :) When you do the type of work that we do, you have to be able to laugh or you'll go insane. Our snarkier, more sarcastic posts, though, are labeled as "shrill," our lovely commenters refer to us as "rabid...man hating she-wolves," we're reprimanded for our tone and snidely told to be nicer, our responses to other bloggers are labeled "scoldings"...I'm sorry, but this simply doesn't happen elsewhere on the blogosphere. The experience we've gained through our activist work and through our educations (seriously, folks...more degrees than a thermometer among the DW crew) seems not to be taken too seriously. If, when I began blogging, you'd have told me that Ken Blanchard at South Dakota Politics would be the only person willing to engage what I had to say in any substantive fashion, I'd have told you that you were crazy. But there you have it.

Now that I've had the chance to look at Todd's posts, I finally understand why this happens. It's not enough that I'm headed toward a Ph.D. in my chosen field, or that another contributor just received a law degree. It's not important that we're lobbyists, strategists, educators, canvassers, envelope stuffers, ticket sellers, or board members. What's really important to liberal guys is that we look like Esquire models while we're doing it.

If only I was a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model working on a Ph.D. - THEN I'd be taken seriously.

Thanks for the heads up, Todd.