I was practically screaming YES! when I read this WSJ article “Time for a War on ‘Mommy’” in which Taffy Brodesser-Akner poses a question I really want to know the answer to: “Why are we grown women calling each other Mommy?”
Why are we?
Why are we (mainstream media, PR agencies—and, of course, the bloggers themselves) referring to a collective of smart women as “mommy bloggers” to begin with? Why are the women being called mommy bloggers not upset about it? There’s plenty of talk about compensating mommy bloggers; how about talking about why women are marganalizing themselves by accepting the moniker “mommy blogger” to begin with?
When I read about the courageous stuff Katie Allison Granju is doing to bring to light the issues surrounding the tragic death of her son, it made me sad and, frankly, a bit sick, to have the title of the article be “A Mommy Blogger Seeks Justice for Her Son.” Really? This woman is a best-selling author, successful blogger and who knows what else, blogging about the death of her teenaged son–and the best way to describe her is still “mommy blogger”?
My kids call me Mommy. Hell, my husband calls me Cupcake. Doesn’t mean the rest of the world is allowed to call me either of those things. And would I really expect to be taken seriously, especially in a business context, if the world knew me as Cupcake?
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