Message From Kathe

I have been reading again about the "shortage" of "qualified" female voices in, oh, let's see, anywhere? And it occurred to me to wonder if guys who say The Ladies aren't up to it even know when they are reading blogging by a woman. I mean, it is easy enough to find out, but mightn't they simply assume that if it's not about things that interest women (let's see, that would be, babies. laundry, remodeling the house, cats, etc) then it must be by a man? I have to admit that I make some possibly sexist assumptions when I'm cruising the blogs and other opinion sites. I assume that if it's about laundry it's by a woman. But more to the point, I assume that if it's about laundry I'm not gonna be interested. I don't record or remember such sites though, so I may happen across them again,when the subject has changed, and never know it. But what I mean to be saying is that the same thing may be happening to men. Obviously, this doesn't apply to newpaper columns. Probably. (Have women stopped using their initials in order to avoid having their opinions dismissed without consideration?) By the way . . . . It is amazing (at least to me) how many blogs do seem to be about doing the wash. Some people need to get out more. And what's with the cutesy little icons and "what my mood is today"?? Like I care. For godssake. Boy am I getting cranky or what in my old age. Maybe I was always this cranky though. I can't remember ever being so interested in laundry that I'd take up precious communication time with it. Love, Kathe

Oh wait, I forgot!! I found Suzette Haden Elgin's blog; she's at livejournal and the name is "ozarque." I totally love it. I'm engaged in reading all of her archives. As you will know, if you've ever heard of her, she is a linguist who writes sf (sometimes; she also wrote the Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense). Online, she writes about getting published, about linguistic analysis, and about society from the linguistic point of view. Oh, and about non-verbal communication. Bye-bye, this time for sure.