THE WILD NEW WOMEN OF SALON BLOGS!

fistI thought that title would get your attention.

After revealing that only 30% of Salon Blogs are authored by women, and the drop-out rate of new bloggers is astronomical, I wanted to give the nod to 22 of the newer (joined in the last 6 months) female Salon bloggers who are hanging in there and providing IMO a disproportionately large percentage of the wit, insight and entertainment in the ‘Slogosphere’. Salon blog number and inbound blogs (number of people blogrolling them) is shown after each blog:

And Baby Makes Seven [#2504, 6 inbound blogs]: Anita Blanchard’s personal story about the wisdom and struggle of trying to have a first (the other ‘six’ are the parents and pets) child later in life, and juggle it with everything else.

Doublethink [#2551, 28 inbound blogs]: Heavyweight political blog with long, well-researched, important articles, a great sidebar of all things left of centre, and a neat technique of using colour to ‘highlight’ important passages in media quotes.

Chronicles of an Anti-Apathetic [#2556, 8 inbound blogs]: Cat. M.’s progressive political blog. A Wesley Clark fanatic, Cat writes in flurries with long gaps in between, but the writing is excellent and the rants are funny and inspiring.

Doubly Gifted [#2569, 2 inbound blogs]: Artist/poet Susan Hales presents personal anecdotes (her Garden of Memories is wonderful), and articles about the arts and politics.

Life in L.A. [#2608, 16 inbound blogs]: I’ve mentioned Claire Smith’s personal public diary before. Absolutely amazing writing. If her latest post doesn’t move you to tears, check your pulse.

Thistle & Hemlock [#2614, 5 inbound blogs]: Sam Mills’ extraordinary personal diary of transformation, survival, self-sacrifice and the search for inner peace on a 26 acre farm. Inspiring, impossible to stop reading, laced with awesome photos and even better poetry. She’s a published writer, and it shows.

Glutter [#2681, 12 inbound blogs]: World traveler Yan hops between Hong Kong, Australia and California, and teaches us that everything we thought we knew about culture is wrong. Fascinating photos, anecdotes, and stories of courage and keen political insight. Older site is here.

Marya Morevna’s Battleground [#2687, 11 inbound blogs]: Marya is the fictional alter-ego of the mysterious writer, who is herself the heroine and villain of her own huge and wonderful anthology of stories. Exquisite photos and poetry. Strange and cryptic tales. Sheer magic.

Mambrino’s Helmet [#2737, 9 inbound blogs]: This blog extracts and analyzes stories mostly from the British and Canadian press that seem strangely to have received little attention in the US. The blog reads like a foreign correspondent’s diary, with some personal asides and first-person narratives. Acute analysis and tight writing. Read the article about Canadian Maher Arar’s ordeal in a Syrian prison that suggests the US is using Syria to torture terrorism suspects that are citizens of countries ‘friendly’ to the US. Also read the author’s ‘about this blog’ post.

It’s Not Me It’s You [#2747, 13 inbound blogs]: Leslie Talbot’s hilarious personal escapades and observations about the single life. Writing comedy is very hard, and Leslie makes it look easy and carries it off brilliantly. Read this priceless skewering of wine snobs as an example.

Alien in My Buddha [#2846, 5 inbound blogs]: Liz Humphreys McCarthy writes good-humouredly about being in her forties, pregnant, and helping out her ailing parents. Very imaginative wordplay (the medicine is “traffic-cone orange”) and the future baby is a “space invader”) and clever story-telling. Would make a great sitcom.

World O’Crap [#2874, 30 inbound blogs]: The woman known only as “SZ” writes scathing political satire, so biting she has reached the 30-inbound-blog level faster than almost anyone in Salon history, and caught the attention of several A-listers who have sent her a huge volume of traffic. Her celebrity is completely deserved.

Impulse Control Problems [#2880, 1 inbound blog]: Raucous, raunchy and addictive free-flow of consciousness from Gwen. Wonderful conversational style — you feel like you’re sitting opposite her in your favourite coffee bar hearing all the intimate details of her life. And you are.

Don’t Die Wondering [#2888, 1 inbound blog]: Dixie Darr, novelist and writer looking for a publisher, describes life in Denver, and gives us comfort by showing us that the strange things that go on inside our heads also go on in hers.

What Happens When You Tell a Lie [#2889, 9 inbound blogs]: Marijo Cook relates profound moral and philosophical questions to her busy life as a social worker. Read this article if you want to see just how valuable people in ‘public service’ can be when systems break down and people become numbers. Profound, moving, different.

WiseBabe [#2959, 1 inbound blog]: Sudi gives us rich insight into what it all really means — by providing brief, strange, creative, engaging connections. Here’s what a dog’s squeaky toy tells you about the labour movement, for example.

Broken Windows [#2967, 3 inbound blogs]: New Orleans blogger Kate talks about jazz, dance, arts, ritual, politics, archeology and more, with a decided New Orleans flavour. This is evolving into a true ‘blog of place‘. Charming, full of offbeat information, great photos and anecdotes with smart observations.

Death & Eros [#3044, 1 inbound blog]: Nora Sawyer’s ‘engagement with ideas’. In its infancy, and already thoughts about the nature of work, Freud, inevitability, and science. Novel thinking, enormous possibility.

Poet Girl [#3053, 2 inbound blogs]: Head straight to the poetry page, and allow yourself lots of time. A heart-rending and smart collection. Some of the phrases will stay with you a long time. Then go back to the home page and start to discover the author.

Kidding Isn’t [#3063, 2 inbound blogs]: Alas, this promising whimsical blog by Alice Wan has come unglued. Keep checking back. If she gets the broken links fixed, this one will be a hit.

Gripes from the Grumpy Girl [#3115, 3 inbound blogs]: Alyssa Ettinger is a pro-choice activist talking out loud to us on her new blog. She’s not sure what she should do, and tells us in a quirky conversational style all about it, and she makes a lot of sense. Expect some great rants from Alyssa — she’s got style.

Jef Klein [#3118, 2 inbound blogs]: An awesome and prolific debut from Jef (yes, that’s a girl’s name) describing with startling candour her past and present — relationships, beliefs, fears, crises. When she writes it’s as if she’s looking you right in the eye, and her writing is tight, relentless, almost brutal.

Whew! This was a more ambitious undertaking than I thought. Twenty-two great new blogs by women in six months. Please check out as many of these wonderful writers as you can, and blogroll the ones you like. They all deserve enormous recognition for helping to keep Salon Blogs the most interesting and provocative corner of the blogosphere. Brava, ladies!


Postscript:
This is not to take anything away from the twenty active (posted in the last 30 days) veteran (around more than 6 months) female Salon bloggers. My bloglife wouldn’t be complete without checking in with (in longevity order): Kat, Neva, Susan the Human, Maxine, Elsa, Julie, Paula, Kriselda, Rayne, Kristi, Amanda, Fiona, Leah, Catnmus, Penny (come back!), Meg, Michelle, Julia, Marie and Voodoolulu. I’m sure I’m missing some — if you know of any, or if I’ve missed you, please let me know. And I’m convinced that Dr. Omed is female, although two fellow bloggers say I’m dead wrong, and Dana, the name on Dr. Omed’s poetry, is androgynous.

This post could be the start of a Complete Active Salon Blog directory that Ted Ritzer‘s been talking about.

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24 Responses to THE WILD NEW WOMEN OF SALON BLOGS!

  1. O RLY YA RLY says:

    I’m pretty sure Dana Carvey is a guy. And there was a guy called Dana in Morphine.

  2. Dave Pollard says:

    Harald: Yup, but the Dana in Sports Night was a woman, as is my neighbour Dana.

  3. Philip says:

    You left out The Katy of I am Eating My Husband’s Soul…. better watch out or she will come after you.While you are at it you might want to check out The Meatrix” enjoy!

  4. Kate says:

    Thank you so much for including me, Dave! I’m honored.

  5. Marijo says:

    Thanks Dave! I never knew I had nine links. But I suspect the Katy is a man, Phillip (and Morgan is definitely a man). Maybe we should run that gender test on him/her. Of course it didn’t work on Mambrino or me….

  6. Susan says:

    Oooh, taking the work out of my blogroll update. Muchas gracias.

  7. katy says:

    I can’t believe, after everything I attempt to stand for in Modern Femininity, that anyone would accuse ME of being a MAN.I’m sending you some of my precious eggs in a freezer bag, you goon. Include me next time or they’ll hatch.

  8. katy says:

    PS: I mean that affectionately.

  9. O RLY YA RLY says:

    Does this confusion mean the blogosphere is an emancipated place where all are created equal no matter what their gender?

  10. Dave Pollard says:

    The Katy does in fact have one of the most er…intriguing blogs around here (see Philip’s link above). Whether or not rumours of Katy being Reverse Cowgirl are true, we do understand that Katy’s working hard on the Clark campaign in Idaho, so cheers, Katy, and sorry for the omission.

  11. alyssa says:

    hey babe, thanks so much for the mention and the compliments. i promise i’ll do you proud.

  12. Jennifer says:

    I’m pretty sure Dana “Dr. Omed” Patillo is a man too. And I think that SZ on World O’ Crap is Scott, the occasional guest, though I could be wrong…Harald – I certainly like to think so. There are still some knuckle-draggers out there (Filchyboy has a link to one named “Kim du Toit” who seems to have some sort of Freudian issues with his mother), but for the most part, people like what they like and don’t care a whit about the sex of the person writing about it.

  13. Thanks for the plug, Dave! You rock! I guess I’d better put my money where your mouth is…off I go to write something funny.p.s. Plus, I’m not quite used to being referred to as a “wild woman.” I think I like it.

  14. xian says:

    Kim du Toit is some kind of self-parodybot. Dave for president of the slogosphere!

  15. Dave Pollard says:

    Jennifer: SZ of World O’Crap is definitely a woman — I have it first-hand. You may be right about Dr. Omed, but the jury’s still out and s/he isn’t talking.

  16. Philip says:

    Well Dana has written about having a wife and publishes Nun of the Week I suppose Dana could be a bull dyke… But I wouldn’t tell Dana that.

  17. Neva says:

    Thanks for the nod, Dave!

  18. M. L. Foster says:

    Hella list Dave. I will be going through all of them!

  19. Dr. Omed says:

    I could have sworn I posted a comment earlier, but it is nowhere to be found. Loserland strikes again. Dave, I am male. I can scan and post my birth certificate as well as pictures if you are in any doubt. What I would like to know is why you think I’m female. I’m amused, even flattered, and not at all offended, but I am interested in just what causes you to peg me as female.

  20. Dave Pollard says:

    Doctor: Just answered your question back on your blog.

  21. Dr. Omed says:

    Just replied to your answer, Dave.

  22. Fiona says:

    I’m insulted that nobody suspects me of being a man.

  23. Tonie is my family nick name from Jean Antionett Farrand. I sometimes forget that Tonie can be considered male. Nope, I am a 66 year old grandmother etc. I decided to get a blog because: My family is patient but their eyes start rolling back in their headS with my stories. 2.It is there. Your page is really the most informative for a new blogger. THANK YOU!!

  24. Yan says:

    I thought Dr Omend is a woman too. :) and I exchanged emails with him/her?? I just assumed.. Oh my god, thanks for including me on the list Dave. I am about to die of lonelness and bullying over there. I miss you all so much!yan

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