I’m a writer, don’t take my picture!

THIS is someone whose picture you want to see! Not mine. (Photo by Kelly O'Connor)

Many of you have been asking to read the initial entry I submitted to WEEI that got me into the top ten contention.  So, since the contest is over and I haven’t been told NOT to share it, why not?

Incidentally, I had to take photos of myself and send them to Rob Bradford last night.  I hate photos of myself.  The camera, shall we say, doesn’t love me.  Hell, I write because it’s a good way to stay anonymous.  Not anymore, baby.  I have no idea what I was thinking entering this thing and opening myself up this way.  Getting through this next year should be interesting.  I’m thankful I have all of you coming along for the ride!

Okay, so, here it is, my entry (Keep in mind, I had to limit it to 500 words – you all know how difficult that is for me to do!):

When I started blogging I did so as a release.  I enjoy baseball, which means I enjoy talking about baseball.   Posting on a message board and, inevitably, getting into arguments with trolls and muckrakers started losing its appeal.  The allure of blogging was that I was, essentially, just talking to myself.  So I started a blog and I was surprised to find out that there were actually other people listening.

I’d write about the Yankees and Yankees fans would send me nasty emails.  I’d make fun of Ozzie Guillen and suddenly my email box was full of hate mail from White Sox fans.  It was an eye-opener.  I’m not a naive woman and I know the reach of the internet but I never imagined anyone short of people I know would want to read what I wrote.  What did I know?

There are very few mainstream, popular, sports blogs written by women.  Often I get an email from a woman who tells me how much she appreciates a woman’s voice being heard in the sports blogging world.  And women make up a good portion of my readership (although I have quite a few male readers as well).   I take it as a compliment, but wonder what the reasoning is behind there being so few women?

If you read sports blogs written by men, they get to mix their sports knowledge with the inevitable photos of half-naked women or jabs at female sports reporters.  Unfortunately, most women bloggers aren’t given the same freedom.  If a woman writes about an athlete she finds attractive,  she’s a bandwagon fan who only watches sports for the cute guys.  If she dares criticize a woman sports reporter, she’s a bitter shrew.  Seemingly, women can’t win.

I’m different because I don’t care what people think.  I still blog as if I’m only talking to myself.  I find many athletes attractive and don’t mind mentioning it.  I’m also passionate about sports and can talk baseball and other sports without embarrassing myself.  The people who read my blog and enjoy it seem to do so because of who I am and how that comes through in the blog.  I still get critics who think I spend too much time following Kyle Snyder’s career or complaining about fans who boo their own team, but let them complain.  I’m not going to change who I am just because small-minded people still equate being a woman as being something bad (or, at least, lesser to a man).

More women writers need to be heard in the sports world.  Not as “women sports bloggers” but just as bloggers.  Sure the voice will be a little different than that of a man’s, but diversity isn’t so bad is it?

(end)

I like what I wrote.  (Hell, if I didn’t I wouldn’t have submitted it!)  But I am, still, a little surprised that the likes of John Dennis and Gerry Callahan* chose it.  Go figure.

*(My understanding is that Callahan, Dennis, Glenn Ordway, Michael Felger, Michael Holley, Dale Arnold and Rob Bradford chose the final ten.)