Steven and I have been looking for a female front-pager for Booman Tribune for over a year. We haven’t been able to find anyone that meets all of the requirements and, at the same time, will agree to post here. And the requirements are not that easy to meet…you have to be prolific, you have to be outstanding, and you have to have some kind of political affinity with this community. Today is a day when I really feel the consequences of our failure. Part of the problem lays with me. I judge everyone too harshly…and very few can come close to SusanHu. She set a standard that is very hard to meet. And for a very long time I hoped that Susan would return and I didn’t want to replace her. Actually, I still am debilitated by that hope. Susan remains one of my very favorite bloggers and her work at No Quarter is amazing.
Regardless, today, a day in which the Supreme Court really did damage to women’s rights, I feel the lack of a strong woman’s voice on the front-page here much more strongly.
SusanHu did indeed set a high standard. I,too, wish she would return.
Since that doesn’t appear likely, I’d encourage you to keep looking for a female front pager.
The men here are generally supportive of women’s issues, but it would be a good thing to have the feminine perspective on the front page now and then.
The Supreme Court did truly damage women’s rights today and I am in grief and shock, but the ground work was layed months ago when women’s concerns in the liberal blogosphere and in the halls of congress were dismissed and demeaned.
Heh. On this very topic, do you recall the suggestion I made last summer? Pretty funny in hindsight.
Psst. (whispering) Hay BooMan. How about Kahli?
psst (whispering loudly) boran2, I think you’re right on…
LOL…I thought the same thing!
Thank you BooMan for trying. SusanHu is a hard shoe to fill.
I would love to have a woman on the FP, but I realize that is easier said than done. ClammyC was a good choice and I am absolutely thrilled with Terrance. With him, the picture is rounding out. A woman would really be outstanding. Steven is just too awesome for words. He really offers consistently good writing and opines on a multitude of topics. While I would love a woman FP’er, he is not afraid to take on issues that effect women.
The news today was so horrific that I have been left speechless. I knew it was coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.
Thanks so much Boran2 and northcountry. You made my day. I think I only meet one of Booman’s three criteria, though.
Thanks again.
Oops. Thanks to kahmakaya, too.
I wish Somegirl from All Spin Zone wrote more. Her voice is wonderful.
i’ve been meaning to tell you guys–i’m a woman. please call me loretta from now on
Snuzy? Loretta? Snuzy? I’m so confused.
I know, I know…don’t call you “Shirley”…..
and pretend to be a woman.
…what would your female name be?
(Please please please pick “Salma Hayek”…I need that mental imagery….)
Keira Knightley, of course. How could you think otherwise? 🙂
I think the front-pagers we have here are totally awesome. (and I miss Susan too, though I’m glad she’s at least blogging again, even if not here).
But yes, a woman poster would be a nice addition.
Today was rough. This WEEK has been rough. So much outrage. I’m very glad to have the pond to come to. And glad to know there are men out there who do understand and support women’s lives and rights. We really appreciate you guys, believe me!
I wish Susan were posting here too. She’s a great writer and a tireless researcher and she is a committed activist for the good.
But I have to disagree with your overall premise. As a woman, I have never felt un- or under-represented here. Steven D., Booman and others have represented so-called “women’s issues” admirably here.
I think it’s in fact a little, er, sexist to suggest you need a woman to cover woman’s issues. To me, issues aren’t “male” or “female” – they’re just issues. I can’t stand to watch certain cable channels that cater to what they think women want to watch because I’m a woman and I never find ANYTHING I want to watch on those channels!
This is not Kos. There’s no misogynism going on here. All I ask from a front pager is that the posts be about something important, that they be factually accurate, and ideally, well-written, although getting the first two anywhere these days is so hard that getting the latter is just frosting.
So anyway – if you want a woman’s point of view, there’s one.
I have to agree with Lisa here. I’ve long since stopped worrying about the lack of a woman on the FP, though I would like it. Steven has said much of what I would ever say, and you BooMan have made your own voice clear. It is obvious that this is a place where we can talk about sexism and abuse. We may not always agree, like with Skippy’s “Dear Markos” diary, but I do not feel silenced by your disagreement.
I don’t think that BooMan is saying that he, Steven D or anyone else on the front page couldn’t bring “women’s issues” to the forefront, but that quite simply, none of them, and myself included, can write from a woman’s perspective and that is important. I couldn’t write from a female’s point of view and experience and BooMan can’t write from a Korean male’s perspective [which is precisely why i was brought to the FP :)].
Sure comments can be made and diaries posted, but a more diverse group at the top would change the tone of things ever so slightly, I think for the better – not to say I think things are bad, I love this pond, but it is a defined gap. But like others have said and as it has been demonstrated by this search: easier said than done.
I don’t think we lack for womens voices on this site though. Truly – there have been plenty of recommended diaries by women. The front page isn’t all anybody reads, you know! ;D
Indeedy the front page isn’t all anybody reads, but when people follow links to the front page from elsewhere and they don’t see a nice diversity on the front page, I think it says something.
what about renee in ohio?
♥
Sweet of you, skippy. I think this is why not:
you have to be prolific
Not going to be able to manage “prolific” any time in the near future.
And, geez, what am I still doing awake? I have to be up for work tomorrow morning. And Friday. And (this week, anyway) Saturday.
But thanks for the compliment. 🙂
And to make matters worse, let me once again bring to the conversation my fuckwad of a senator Bob Casey [a disgusting person whom I campaigned against and didn’t vote for at any point]. I can see him chomping at the bit to get into the middle of things once Roe v Wade is brought to the table.
I fucking hate him.
But I hate Schumer, Reid and Rendell even more.
but I must. When politics and especially religion is/are the guiding rule over medical decision making, the people supporting such actions are against freedom of others, pure and simple! That old pro-choice phrase that being pro-choice is not being pro-abortion applies as good as ever today. If you don’t want an abortion for you and your family, then don’t have one. BUT LEAVE OTHERS WHO FEEL AND NEED DIFFERENTLY THE F__K ALONE!
This pro-choice mantra should be the American slogan, but is increasingly become not that slogan!! Is that conservatism?? (Maybe we should have a contest to represent what the new conservative American slogan actually is!)
The principle involved in any abortion case is the same:
The fundamental right of a human being to control her (or his) own body.
If the principle is that you cannot control your own body, then you are property. You belong to the government.
Since you are chattel, the government can do as it wishes with you.
In the United States, that means if you are a woman, you cannot abort an unwanted fetus.
In China, that means if you are a woman, the government can FORCE you to abort an unwanted fetus.
How long before Dick Cheney decides he wants the very healthy heart I’ve got beating inside my chest and has it taken away? In principle, he has that right: I belong to the government, control of my body subject to its whim.
It is the essence of fascism: you are nothing but a cog in a machine.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights…
Just a quaint document, now, like the Geneva Conventions. File it away in a dusty drawer somewhere; the Declaration of Independence is not wanted now.
The first blog I check in the morning and the one I check most frequently is ‘libertystreetusa’ by Kathy Kattenburg.
Incisive and able to connect seemingly disparate facts.