You know what? In looking into the controversy over the special singling out for an award by Wizbang for Best Blog by a Female Author, I have decided that it truly doesn’t matter all that much.
For one thing, there are nineteen categories. If they’d added Best Blog by a Short Person, they’d have every right to do so—it’s their site and their contest. For another, while I was upset to see the twenty or so nominees as not the greatest representation of blogging compared to what I’ve seen on my travels in the past couple of months, and felt that overall they were geared towards boredom, pussy cats or cute doggies, and spousal knocks, verging on what was being prepared for supper, the fact of the matter is that these were nominated by fellow bloggers. That means that even though public opinion is in most cases a good index, it does make one realize that these blogs are perhaps being read by people in the same situation. And this problem does not exist just within this category—some of the others are just as obviously not great. But some are outstanding—as in the nominees for Best Looking Blogs, or politically based, or humorous. And, there are plenty of female authors represented in these other categories.
I hope I won’t be crucified for my opinions on some of the nominees in the Best/Female Author category, since weblogs are obviously written journalized opinions, and if we grant the right to others to say whatever they want, so shall we be granted the same. In any case, there are so many more important things in life to get upset about or set to rights. Live and let live extends to blogging, and to awards rulings as well. I’m glad I looked into it deeper, and reaped the benefit of seeing some extremely good weblogs in writing, content and design. It was informative and inspirational. I hope to spend the semester break on improving my own.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology