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White male blogger II

25 comments on White male blogger II

White male blogger II

: There are tons of comments on the post below (naturally; isn’t that why Steven Levy chose this topic)? This one really irked me:

And sorry but I don’t agree with Jeff Jarvis’ rant about “so what if I’m a white male blogger.” That’s akin to saying, “So what if Harvard president Larry Summers says something derogatory about women’s innate abilities in math and science… he’s just trying to be provocative.” Summers’ comments do matter. They reveal his prejudices and his point of view. And he’s in a unique policy-making position. And, yes, I’m a Harvard grad of the female persuasion. Eegads, did I really say that on my blog? Well what the heck… it’s true. Now link to me, dammit!

Well, damnit, don’t you see that by lumping me in with Summers you are doing to me exactly what Summers is doing to you: You are making assumptions about me just because of my gender and race. You go after Summers because of what he says. You go after me because of what I am.

If that’s not a case of white female bigotry, it is at least a case of hypocrisy and sloppy thinking.

Harvard, eh?

: Oh, and here’s my report card from Halley.

25 responses to “White male blogger II”

  1. bago Avatar
    bago

    So here’s a conundrum for the senator.
    Does he think Kids watch too much TV? If so, then why is he trying to make more TV kid-friendly?

  2. Jenny Avatar
    Jenny

    Jeff, if you really want to make the point about voices and white male bloggers and diversity, how about you update your blogroll now and then and include some new voices there? When was the last time you checked all your links and considered whether all this blogs ought to be there? Maybe it’s time for some new voices.
    You have the opportunity to direct the Steve Levy’s of the world to the diversity of the internet.

  3. Ruth Avatar
    Ruth

    Actually, Jeff, although I objected to your headlining Rosie (and I’m right of course), you do a good job of sticking to subject and using whatever of value you come across, not predominantly white males.
    And appreciating that blogdom in general has that value, it’s a viewpoint value rather than what a tedious dj of my acquaintance (who referred to himself as a Personality) would consider a natural hierarchy.

  4. John Ballard Avatar
    John Ballard

    You go, guy!

  5. Gregg Avatar
    Gregg

    You go after Summers because of what he says. You go after me because of what I am.
    No, she went after you for what you said: “so what if I’m a white male blogger” She not criticizing the fact that you are a male white blogger, but that you said (think) its unimportant.

  6. Michael Zimmer Avatar
    Michael Zimmer

    jeff – what is “white female bigotry”? What makes you think this person is white, and how is she being a bigot? She’s not making assumptions about you. By comparing your flippant “who cares if I’m a white male” to Summers, she’s suggesting that your comment might also reveal “prejudices and…point of view.” Like Gregg said, she is going after what you said, not what you are.

  7. Todd Fletcher Avatar
    Todd Fletcher

    Jenny, why don’t you just start your own blog – then you can put in whatever links you want!

  8. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    Jenny: Guilty as charged on the blogroll. I actually may take a day off work to do it!
    Gregg & Michael: She’s lumping me in with someone she reviles and she’s not responding to anything of substance that I say but only the fact that I am white and male and I see nothing wrong with that. She is doing to me what Summers did to her and I’m calling her on it. Flippant? Sorry, I’ll try to be dull next time. And Michael, if you go to her site, you’ll see a picture.

  9. richard mcenroe Avatar
    richard mcenroe

    No, Jeff

  10. richard mcenroe Avatar
    richard mcenroe

    Jenny

  11. Michael Zimmer Avatar
    Michael Zimmer

    “Michael, if you go to her site, you’ll see a picture.”
    My bad.

  12. Jeff Jarvis Avatar
    Jeff Jarvis

    Oh, and Jenny…. when I update the blogroll, to be clear, I will not be putting people there because of their race or gender or nationality but because they say something i find worthwhile.

  13. Captain Salty Avatar
    Captain Salty

    I, too, am a white male, but I don’t really think I need to go blaring it to the world. Really, it’s not like white males are such a repressed minority that we need self-empowerment moments where we brazenly declare who we are.

  14. JennyD Avatar
    JennyD

    Jeff, works for me. That’s how I run my blogroll. I added Manolo’s Shoe Blog for that reason. As well as Crooked Timber and Left 2 Right. And you.
    Todd: I do have my own blog. http://www.drcookie.blogspot.com. I have a fairly diverse and quirky links.

  15. rzklkng Avatar
    rzklkng

    Let’s see, why white males? Because early adopters are blogging. And early adopters tend to be male. And the internet population, in the beginning was overwhelmingly male (and subsequently shifted). Go look at the BlogAds survey. Should we feel guilt that certain professions, income brackets, and genders don’t blog well enough to garner attention. Everyone is invited to the party, but first you have to show up.

  16. JABBER Avatar
    JABBER

    rzklkng is right on. The more interesting question that people should be pondering (in a “hmmm…that’s interesting” sort of way) is: Why do males – white or otherwise – tend to be the early adopters? Might there be an – egad! – genetic difference that predisposes males to jump first? And isn’t that what Larry Summers was asking at Harvard? Jeff, it’s off this topic, but I think you acquiesce too easily to the “Summers is a misogynistic bastard” camp.
    Also, one point in time doesn’t a story make. The more interesting and relevant question is: How has blog diversity changed over time? I would bet a case of beer that it’s rapidly diversifying…you’ll see the “white male domination” gradually recede as more women and people of color get acclimated to New Media.

  17. paul_lukasiak Avatar
    paul_lukasiak

    (Jeff, the Halley link you posted doesn’t work…at least at this specific point in time)
    Why do males – white or otherwise – tend to be the early adopters?
    I don’t see any specific evidence that “males tend to be early adopters” (or, to put it in the way I presume you actually meant, that “early adopters tend to be males”.)
    The real distinction (as least as far as blogging is concerned) is that the American IT community tended to be (white) males, and thus the early adopters tended to be (white) males.
    Which brings the issue back into “Larry Summers” territory….
    BTW, “early adopters” are not always “right”. Remember quadrophonic sound? Laser video discs?

  18. Jason Rolsen Avatar
    Jason Rolsen

    I am really not sure why Mr. Jarvis felt he had to go on a rant about diversity of blogs. I read what was being written and as a white man I did not feel I was being attacked.
    What it made me think about was are we getting a true diversity of ideas in the blogs we read.
    The blogs are a growing phenomenon, and as we have seen has power to affect the debates being had in our country. We should know if this is coming from a wide community with a diverse background or are we really only hearing from small slices of the country.
    Knowing the landscape is not a bad thing

  19. Shinobi Avatar
    Shinobi

    I Second Paul’s post above. Also one should consider that white males are probably more likely to have means and freetime to posting things on the internet. Others might not have computers, internet or freetime.
    And Jabber, the reason that Summers was so immediately jumped on IMO is because he jumped directly to the idea of a genetic difference (Much like you did) instead of fully investigating all of the socioeconomic factors as well. An Early Adopter Gene? How about a SocioEconomic Avantage Gene too while we’re at it?

  20. rzklkng Avatar
    rzklkng

    Much ado about nothing. This time next year we’ll be arguing about the lack of minorities blogging, and then the lack of handicapped albino eskimos blogging, ad infinitum…

  21. JABBER Avatar
    JABBER

    Whoa, Shinobi, talk about making assumptions! On what do you base your generalizations about men in your first paragraph? Preconceived ideas about what ostensible “white men” are like. You’re guilty of the illogic you accuse me of, except yours is more politically correct, and mine is backed by science, as uncomfortable as it may be for people who believe that all people are born without particular skills which MAY be related to their sex. And if you read Summers’ speech, he specifically notes that there is STILL a gender gap in the sciences DESPITE decades of “affirmative action” towards women. He then asked his fateful question about potential genetic differences. Just read Steven Pinker’s “The Blank Slate” and his own reaction to Summers over at TNR (subscription only)… Science is increasingly teaching us that men TEND to be more analytical and women TEND to be better at verbal skills. And I say “Vive la difference” (and probably spelled it wrong, well, because I’m a man)!

  22. EverKarl Avatar
    EverKarl

    Jeff,
    In considering whether to take Debbie Weil’s criticism seriously, I decided to look through her blog. So far as I can tell (and she’s free to point me to a contrary link), the post you quoted is the sum of her consideration of the Larry Summers flap. There’s no indication that she actually read the transcript of Summers’ remarks, which are chock full of qualifications. Nor does there appear to be any recognition that experts in the field did not find his remarks scientifically controversial when discussing the very ends of the distribution (as Summers was).
    Ms. Weil’s criticism of you was about as accurate as her understanding of the Summers story (which has as much to do with his campaign against grade inflation and his reallocation of funds away from the Faculty of Arts & Sciences for expansion of the Harvard campus as anything he said at that conference).

  23. Shinobi Avatar
    Shinobi

    Jabber,
    This isn’t really the right place for this conversation. Sorry if I offended you by pointing out that white men on average have high incomes. The important thing is there is plenty of room in the blogosphere for everyone.

  24. Brad Avatar
    Brad

    This whole thing is crazy. I don’t care if you’re male, female, or both. Blogging is personal publishing. Just because you publish something doesn’t mean the world is going to beat a path to your door. You have to show the world you’re worth reading, and quite frankly, I don’t know too many people who think crying about not getting links is worth reading.

  25. nobody important Avatar
    nobody important

    Not to pile it on Shinobi, but Japanese-Americans have a higher average income than whites. Why aren’t they dominating the bogoshpere?
    As it goes, “white male” is a totally imprecise description. It can refer to anything from beluga whales, mice, siberian tigers to electrical components. I am a man who happens to have had white parents – nothing to be proud nor ashamed off.