2web and the Digital Gender Divide

ByLaurel Papworth

Oh ok, you guys might be cool, and cute, and clever clogs: 2web is a group of Australian BOY bloggers and GUY entrepreneurs who are passionate about web 2.0. What we MALES all have in common is that through our businesses and blogging we MEN develop, implement and evangelise web 2.0 ideas around web services,…

Rockin’ Girl Blogger

Oh ok, you guys might be cool, and cute, and clever clogs:

2web is a group of Australian BOY bloggers and GUY entrepreneurs who are passionate about web 2.0. What we MALES all have in common is that through our businesses and blogging we MEN develop, implement and evangelise web 2.0 ideas around web services, open standards, new media, blogs and the web as a platform.

(Ummm I added the bits in bold)

But those sexeh Beasts of Blogging – Duncan Riley, Ben Barren, Cameron Reilly, Nik Cubrilovic, Martin Wells, Darren Rowse, James Farmer, Alan Jones, Richard Giles – had better listen up; where are the girls? Hmmm Ladies, Megalicious, Katie, Cat, Emily, Priscilla, Chezza, Bronwen Clune, we gotta get together, get a plan, give some punishment. Whatjareckon? 😛

Hat tip: Meg Tsiamis who had the post Rockin’ Girl Blogger nearly a month ago.

NO BOYS ALLOWED: I created a FaceBook group called Wild Wicked Wanton Women of Web 2.0 Australia). I figured we could y’know meet there and discuss baking cookies and knitting patterns.


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18 Comments

  3. wow- that is so odd! why would there be a need to exclude women from a web2.0 discussion?

  4. Oh I don’t think it’s actively excluding us, it’s just a passive sexism thing. Kinda normal in this industry doncha think? Nothing to get too het up about.

    Still, they can spend some time in the doghouse, thinking about how to include women more in their online beerfests. That’ll learn ’em.

  5. Hey I, for one, am a HUGE supporter of the meme that we need more women in tech/web. Lots and lots. I’m sick to death of going to tech events and being surrounded by blokes. AFAIK, the 2Web group has never turned down an application for membership from a lady. If there is passive sexism involved here, it’s you girls being too passive about getting involved! Hike up your skirts girls! 🙂

  6. My current feeds include Priscilla, Nik and Cameron Reilly.

    Nik is solid (if a little infrequent). Priscilla is good, especially now she has comments switched on!

    Cam Reilly is so diverse and frequent that it is a regular read (even if I have never listened to any of the podcasts).

    Ben Barren – try reading his blog for a month (I did), and see if you can make any sense out of any of it. Brain dump style of writing that doesn’t cut through for me (everyone to their own I guess).

    I’m always up for adding a new feed though, so will def check out Megalicious, Katie, Cat, Emily, Chezza and Bronwen Clune.

    RSS has taken over email as my new form of procrastination… 🙂

  7. I don’t think you qualify. See your probably more driven and are able to follow through a project to the end. These guys can’t even keep one page updated. Lets not even talk about the podcast they started (http://2webcrew.thepodcastnetwork.com/ (just celebrating a year of doing nothing in the last month! Maybe the girls could get this puppy off the ground again and show the guys how to do it!!!!).
    Your better off staying away from them.
    Molly
    PS. Good link baiting effort though.

  8. @cameron – hon, there is no membership thingie. Just a contact us at the bottom. BTW the page looks broken in FFX – codey bits showing. And oh we’ll join, after we finish our passiveaggressive griping 😛

    @scott – I asked in a comment on Ben Barren’s blog why he has pictures of lindsay lohan and girlies with boobies, but I figured it out. It’s cos he’s so bloody hard to follow, at least you have something to look at …

    @molly – i remember you from the SmartyHost awards thing a few years ago *laughs* and thanks for the backhanded compliment. Grrrrr.

  9. @Cameron:

    “If there is passive sexism involved here, it’s you girls being too passive about getting involved!”

    … Interesting. Passive is not a word that people usually use to describe us (well, me and Laurel at the very least). “Feisty” is probably closer to the mark 😛
    If people don’t know *at least* one Web20 Aussie woman blogger by now, then they must be living in some little clique bubble, because there’s lots of us out there!

    “Hike up your skirts girls!”

    … err, no thank you.

  10. Laurel, Cameron’s comments suggest he doesn’t quite get where you’re coming from – they even sound more than a little misogynist (which bothers me).

    2web have always looked a bit like a boys’ club to me but I’ve never thought it was intentional, rather just missing bits. It’s also very static – as other commenters have noted.

    Go for it, as you’ve all got more than enough smart things to say!

    Can boys like me be in your club too? 😉

  11. “oh please let us come and play with you boys, please. We promise we won’t whine or be so passive in future, in fact I’ll ensure that I’ll hike up my skirt and act like “one of the boys”.

    Bah.

    Seen this argument go round for years and years. It used to really piss me off and make me outraged, now I think fuck em, let them have their boys club and always wonder why there are no girls around.

  12. three cheers & a swig of champagne to Laurel!
    I’ve been far too busy today dealing with hacked in ebay accounts & tech support who ASSUME I don’t know anything cos I’m a chick..well..do I need to recite my resume?
    enough of that.. the web needs women like a man needs? a bra?
    The semantics of this situation are interesting..men are evangelists & women share.

    There is no need to gang up..there’s plenty to share…just watch out, ‘cos according to new reports there are more women on-line than men..

  13. Hi Laurel.

    Great that you’ve opened the conversation.

    There is definitely no sexism involved that I’m aware of. In fact we’ve discussed adding some females recently. The only reason that I’m aware of there has not been anyone added or announced is that we’re all flat out busy. As has been pointed out, the blog is a little out of date, and even the mailing list is broken.

    But, again, great that you’ve inspired the conversation.

    Rich

  14. Hi Laurel,
    This is a hard one. I’ve wondered like you about the exclusion of females in this group, but having met a few of the MEN I consider some of them good friends and I’d say their exclusion comes from lack of time as well as organisation.
    I still don’t think that’s entirely good enough though! We’re all in the same boat, making the same personal sacrifices and it doesn’t take a great deal of effort to include some females among the 2web crew..
    I know my name was put forward a few months ago, and I’ve not yet been invited. When I’ve asked I’m told the invitation is coming.
    Perhaps there are other reasons for my exclusion – I’d like to think not sexist – but I’d really love to know what they are.
    Launching a start-up is no walk in the park so I think a bit of solidarity here would go a long way.
    On that note Cam I think you’re out of line and I’d love to know what you mean by “passive”? Are we not playing as hard as you? Happy to take it up with you and Rich on G’day world – if I’m worthy 😉
    Thanks Laurel for bringing this up – I think it’s about time we had a good discussion about this – obviously more than a few of us have wondered about it quietly.

  15. I remember this discussion from when it started (well over a year ago) and it’s just beating a dead horse.

    Knowing five of the eight members of 2web, they’re not excluding kind of guys.

    Don’t wait to be invited to a group, get involved.

    The landscape has changed a lot since 2web was formed, as you can see by the missing blogs on the 2web page.

    2web is not a secret men-only organisation, it’s just a web page created by a group of friends.

  16. *hurriedly pulls back down her skirts* yeah yeah we’re ummm feisty. 😛

    @Richard, I don’t know you hon, but you are saying the right things. You can come out of the doghouse now. 🙂

    @Bronwen Cait’s right don’t hold your breath.

    @Cait, asshat pigs are actively sexist, nice guys do it passively, by accident. They ARE nice guys – albeit of the burpin’ fartin’ ball scratchin’ variety – and yep, nothing is intentional.

    I would like to point out that glass ceilings (and walls) are glass for the very reason that people don’t see them. Not even the guys who are building ’em. Me, I’m clumsy, normally I just crash right through. 🙂

    Hmmm, our lads have been tortured enough (for one day). Out ya come, from the doghouse. Except Ben, he seems quite at home there, I think he’s ordered in pizza. 🙂

    So. over it, nothing to see here folks, time to move on – Meg’s put up the Top100 blogs for this week. Emily’s got a great post on a charity -book by bloggers, Priscilla is talking up widgets in the not for profit sector, and the list goes on. I’m sure the guys have done something important too. Heh.

  17. Well I can’t even get on to the 2web site tonight. Keeps timing out. For that fact, I’ve never seen it, heard of it….

    Go figure.

Comments are closed.