Many thanks to both Liz Strauss and Drew McLellan for adding my name to The W List, a celebration of women bloggers. I found it especially interesting that the announcement of this list coincided with my partner Mike Chapman’s post about the dear…

I have been interacting with both men and women since I started blogging several months ago. These interactions have been in email, through blogs, and on the phone in several cases!

I am just happy to highlight bloggers with great content, be they male or female.

Thanks for adding to the discussion, Anne.

I’m having an interesting reaction to the questions of men vs. women bloggers. I spend a lot of time around men in my day job and volunteer work, and enjoy this time and interactions.

Until being included on this list, I didn’t realize that,since I started blogging, the citizens of the blogosphere who have reached out to me have been 100% women…from commenters on my blog (at least those who have left their names) to Valeria, who added me to the list.

And until the past week or so, I haven’t given a thought to gender in the world of blogging. This is a thought provoking discussion; thanks for hosting it, and for linking to my blog!

Be well,

Rosa, your blog is full of aloha spirit; thank you so much for your compliment! It has been great fun to dig into some of these blogs which I was not familiar with as well.

Valeria, I felt it was important to play historian as this list is not any different from the many lists that spun out of the Z-list. They included the original W-list, the B-list (which was for cyclists), an indie-list for blogs from India, a D-list for dog lovers, and an M-list for the military) – all documented in this post from Mack Collier last January: http://moblogsmoproblems.blogspot.com/2007/01/z-list-continues-to-spread.html. Thanks for starting it up again so we can acquaint ourselves with new (to us) bloggers).

CB, thanks for commenting; you are always quick to give an encouraging word!

Roger, thank you very much for your comment. I debated whether to carry this list forward, and I decided to do so because, as stated in the post, “Regardless of gender, these are blogs which have quality content and provide new ideas.” I was happy to do something similar with the Z-list when it started, working with Gavin Heaton and Sharon Sarmiento to visit each blog, describe it with a one-line description, determine location and author, and share the news about it. As I was just heading out for travels, I didn’t have time to do that with this version of the W-list (but it would be a great idea!). I do believe these are worthy blogs, many of which have not yet received their due. I wouldn’t have any problem at all with an all-male list. Thanks again, Roger, for the discussion. It is a healthy one to have!

Tammy, glad to see you here again. Yes, I find lists helpful as well, as they give us a place to start looking for new blogs.

Anita, thanks for visiting my blog; nice to see you! I appreciate your support.

Maria, your positive energy is felt in every post you write. Thanks for keeping it energized!

Lewis, I didn’t add to this list in order to create a special class or to be disrespectful to you or others that I consider friends. I have met many people in the blogging community since I started my blog, and I have had the pleasure of talking with many of them (including you) by phone. Gender has not mattered to me at all in these conversations. I would have chosen these ladies to add to other lists of good, quality bloggers if asked.

As long as I am about to venture into territory where no man with any sense should go, I might as well start with a provocative headline. The truth is that I would never throw a bomb at women or me or any group of people. Doing so is against everything…

I am a marketer and believe the way to get noticed (and rankings) is to market your products and services, in this case blogs. But, like Roger, I am troubled when we separate people by gender or race.

The message being sent to me is that in order for women bloggers to be noticed, they must create a special class of people. And that just isn’t true. In fact, I believe it is hurtful and demeaning to women, especially those who are getting noticed. It is certainly disrespectful to us male readers and demeaning of our efforts to write about women bloggers as often as we wrtie about men. I don’t write about women because I think they need my help. I write about them because they said or have something important to say.

I read as many women writers as men, and women have always done as well if not better than men as novelists, poets, and free-lance writers. Why not as bloggers? Again, I urge women bloggers to market their sites; don’t depend upon a gimmick. It is beneath you. Talent, not gender, should be the focus of marketing bloggers.

Thanks so much for including me on this very prestigious list! This is why I love blogging so much – all the great positive energy from all these women

Anita Bruzzese
http://www.45things.com

Is it that as a percentage of the overall population women represent a small fraction of bloggers and they need more encouragement?

If there was a list of only male bloggers would that be a problem?

I’m just wondering why you focus solely on women bloggers.