Marketing Roadmaps

Women are more than mommies: More Women

by

crossposted to Snapshot Chronicles

I’m sure it will be a surprise to the mainstream media, but women are more than mommies.

Many women aren’t mommies at all, for a variety of reasons that are their business, not ours. Those of us that are parents don’t define ourselves solely by that role, even if we write a mom blog. And definitely when we do not write a blog about our parenting experiences.  When our blogs are about other things important to us — our jobs, our hobbies, our causes, our politics, our opinions, our rants and our raves.

Our lives. Ourselves.

We find our identity beyond our motherhood. It may encompass it, but women are not simply wombs who walk.

But in the minds of the media  and many marketers, women bloggers are mom bloggers. The consumer products companies reach out to moms. The media companies create opportunities for moms. Moms moms moms.

It’s a perennial frustration for women’s blogging community BlogHer, which works overtime to focus attention on the full spectrum of women’s blogging, but regularly sees the media hone in on the one segment. Mom.

Some — myself included — see this repeated reduction of women to our reproductive status as a form of sexism. Moms are about kids. Men are about the world. Moms aren’t serious.

It’s part of a cultural mentality in which a company can argue that lactation is not a condition of pregnancy, and dismiss an employee for taking unauthorized breaks to pump while allowing smoke and pee breaks. Isotoner/Totes, if you are wondering. That Danielle has a nice summary with links to other posts.

Bullshit.

But, you know, we are more than our reproductive organs. Media, marketers should pay attention. We’ve got disposable income. Even if we are moms, we do not spend every cent on floor wax, juice boxes and school supplies. If we aren’t supporting the Disney and LEGO franchises, we’ve got even more money to spend on stuff.

So, why aren’t companies reaching out to us in greater numbers? Why isn’t the media telling the stories about women entrepreneurs, women bloggers, women philanthropists? Grandmas and grad students. Women doing all sorts of things to make a difference in the world beyond just the genetic material we created or might create.

It’s been a refrain for years at the BlogHer conference. This year, the indomitable Grace Davis decided to do something about it. Something to call attention to More Women (than just moms.)

She’s created an online community called More Women.

Why is this important?

If you are a woman blogger, with or without offspring, check it out. We need to make our voices heard as women, not just as mothers.

If you are a marketer, pay attention. We will be heard, and you might want to be among the first to catch our ear.

Laugh if you will. I know the song is a bit hokey and outdated. But for many of us in Generation Jones, it was large part of our development as women and feminists. More than 30 years later,  I  Am Woman still says we won’t give up.

I am woman, hear me roar. In numbers too big to ignore…

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Thank you thank you thank you. Sometimes I feel weird that I run my own business and some people have known me professionally for years and don’t realize I’m married with a child. They’re surprised because I don’t talk about it much. We’re doing business here! I talk about it at appropriate times but there are so many parts of me, being a mom is only a small part. Thanks for saying it because I haven’t heard this from anyone but me and it makes me feel better.
    .-= Kerry Rego´s last blog ..Clutter = Cash? =-.

  4. Um, I meant, “as a blogger, who’s been effectively ignoring the laundry since 2003” but, I’ve been a mom since 1993.

    Obviously, must go a read more blogs to get, you know, even smarter 🙂

  7. Grace Davis got the conversation rolling by creating More Women. I am just doing what I can to make sure it rolls on over into the marketing and PR communities 🙂

  8. Very interesting blog. Your comment about Generation Jones (between Boomers & Xers) is particularly on the mark. Despite the influential impact of a few prominent Boomer feminists, Boomer women generally were not feminist. The real footsoldiers of second wave feminism were GenJones women, who entered the work force en masse when they got out of school. Then GenJones women like Susan Faludi and Naomi Wolfe became the leaders of third wave feminism. GenJones women have had a fascinating yet widely unknown story; someone should write a book about GenJones women and their impact on feminism.

  9. OMG! Thank you SO MUCH! This is something I have been trying to pound into the heads of the PR folks and brands I work with!! All female bloggers are not classified as mommy-bloggers, dammit! I am a blogger who happens to also have bore children…mere coincidence! Not to insult my mommy-bloggers…love you all a lot! But I am with you on this one…I am woman! Market to me because of that, m’kay? I actually was planning to rant about this on my personal blog this week (http://www.christiecrowder.com). Now I have your post to reference as a must read! I am a frequent reader of your blog and love it (sorry I don’t comment as much as I should – insert hand smack here). You help me to remember why I love doing what I do!

  10. More Women is so exciting to me – as apparently it is to so many other wonderful women as well – because I’m not a mommy but I am a blogger. We are a voice! We are a community! PR needs to recognize that, and I am committed to helping that cause.
    .-= Elizabeth´s last blog ..Because I’m a cheese ass =-.