Inflatable Sheep

Excited about attending Blogher tomorrow. Even though there's nothing on Web Design, I'm sure I'll get lots of inspiration and motivation from just being around all these web women.

My Sheep ‘blog’ is now five years old and is not about any one topic—although web design dominates—and none of the topics listed (making money from your blog, politics, journalism, legal issues) in the schedule, but some of the women there are women I read on a regular basis, so it will be nice putting a face to the name.

I won't be typing up notes as the conference progresses, I like to pay attention to what people are saying and typing interferes. But I will be writing little notes by hand (which doesn't interfere with me paying attention) which I'll organize and post afterwards.

I understand some men will be attending, and that's okay as long as the women don't start sucking up to them. But everything blog-oriented (and almost every other thing that ‘counts’) seems to be dominated by standards set by the men. Women's voices don't seem to count as much even when they're every bit as viable as the men.

At 52, I'm tired of competing with men. I want my voice heard, but don't want to have to wear a pseudo set of nuts for you to hear it.

I'm not all tech. I am nurturing, funny, and care about a whole host of apparently under-valued topics, but I just plug along, saying my stuff the way I say it. I don't have to compete with the boys. I just am me.

Good luck to all the women who are angry about not being heard. Years earlier I fought the system (can you say ERA), the system rejected me and others like me. I look at the inequality that is in my face every single day (can you say SALARY) in a sad way. After all, you can only control the things you can control. I can't win against the system, but I can live by example in my own space. I can treat everyone fairly in my own space.

It's just when that space gets invaded, it's just when they say my voice doesn't really matter, it just when they say I can't have control of my own body, it just when I'm judged by my gender, it's just when they attempt to put me in my place…after all this time, it still pisses me off. Guess I'm still one of those angry women.

Here's another although she won't be attending the conference: Shelley's When we are Needed.