The New York Times ran a great piece over the weekend about female bloggers and the hurdles they face in a very male-dominated universe. Short story: online hurdles for women are basically the same as real world hurdles. Less pay, less notoriety and acceptance—less, less, less.
Though the article’s content contained serious analysis and discussion of the plight of female bloggers, it appeared in the sometimes controversial, often ridiculous, but always entertaining, Style section, a fact, not lost on Erin Kotecki Vest, a female blogger, who noted in her Huffingpost screed, “But WOMEN bloggers? Oh, they belong next to “It’s Botox for You, Dear Bridesmaids” and “The BreakUps That Got Under My Skin.”
She continues: “Apparently I can push political agendas, but I’ll always be seen as an Oprah-watching, bon-bon eating, Katie Couric-esque, shoe-shopping, GIRL.”
We sent a query to the Style section editor, Trip Gabriel, asking how they handle stories such as this one that could go in other sections. We also wondered: “Do you feel, as Vest did, that a story about glass ceilings in the blogging universe is undermined by appearing in a section that frequently covers Botox and beauty routines?”
Gabriel wrote back: