November 15, 2007

Purple Women Get Bloggy on November 15

Host unlimited photos at slide.com for FREE!
Purple WomenTM Count, and they blog about it. Thanks to the following childfree women who put up leading posts and helped me get the word out about our staged online event:

BritGirl Childfree and Invisible

Philadelphia Bunnyface Not as Purple as I Should Be

M Are the Childfree Invisible in our Society?

Shelley End of Tunnel: Purple Women Count

The articles above are great commentary. They are long and well thought out, so get your cup of tea or coffee and pull up a chair.

  • M points out that in the end, we really have more in common than not, and perhaps that's what we should focus on.
  • Philly Bunny talks about the pain of family pressure and why she does not like to reveal that she is childless by choice.
  • BritGirl puts a fine point on just how excluded we are, and explores whether or not we represent a true social movement. (She also does a follow-up post, see links below.)
  • Shelley, a Regular Contributor at PW&F, explains why she would prefer to read childfree women bloggers...and where are they anyway?
Your comments would be most appreciated on their posts. That's the beauty of the blogosphere. It's all about the dialogue!

Big news, we have their attention my fellow Purple Women:
I contacted the organizers of BlogHer's 2008 Convention to be held in Chicago and suggested they consider having a panel of childfree women bloggers. They replied favorably and asked me to get back to them with names of potential panelists and a list of questions. Who's in?
I am also working in the background to develop our very own PW blogroll. Yes, I think we should point out why, and asked to be included as Women Without Children in other supposedly inclusive women-centric sites, and we can also get organized and do it for ourselves. We will probably never be mainstream, but we are getting harder to ignore.

Also check out these Purple WomenTM to see what they write about on our day...

Dani Purple Melange

Neda A Childfree Choice: A Purple Letter Day

Escape Brooklyn Top Ten Reasons I Don't Want Kids

Beany Being Purple

Angry Grrrl Childfree Women: Blog and Be Counted on 11/15!

CalliGrafiti Childfree Blogger

Ravan Another Ravan Perch

Addy CF Unscripted

BritGirl Childfree ... Do We Count?

Amanda Jayne Purple Women Count

LunarKitty Purple Women Count Today

My thanks to all those who have contacted me, who have inserted a button, and posted notice of our staged online event on childfree forums and groups lists. If you'd like the HTML code for the PW button that links to this blog, please email me directly (I love to hear from readers).


Wear it with pride
ladies!

Technorati Tag:

22 comments:

Laura said...

Actually, my Childfree and Invisible blog post is here:

http://angrygrrlrants.blogspot.com/2007/11/female-liberal-pagan-and-childfree-four.html

Jennifer K said...

I have a pop culture/media blog here at Blogspot, and I’ve been taking a look at other blogs at this blog service. Being a childfree woman, I decided to look for childfree blogs. Lo and behold, I found Purple Woman. I do wish I would have known about writing a piece on being childfree for this particular occasion, but I’m really glad I found this place. I am strongly considering writing a piece on how childfree/childless women are portrayed in pop culture and the media. And let’s face it; the portrayals are usually not flattering. This really bothers me. But I don’t want to be too negative and I’m thinking of writing a piece about positive and fully three-dimensional movies and more that feature childfree/childless women. If any of you have any ideas please drop me an e-mail at popcornreviews@yahoo.com. I look forward to reading your ideas and reading all of your blogs. It’s nice to know that there are fellow childfree bloggers out in cyber land.

Anonymous said...

I've got a post up too!

Anonymous said...

My post is here:
http://caligatia.livejournal.com/888390.html

Laura said...

There's another excellent, and long post up here, by Naamah Darling:

http://naamah-darling.livejournal.com/292295.html

Anonymous said...

My post is up now too! It's not nearly as good as some others I've read, but it's what I want to say. :)

http://laliatk.livejournal.com/273444.html

M said...

What a great response from so many, Teri! I think we should consider doing this more often. Choosing a topic or even not a specific topic just anything relevant to the issue and having anyone who wants post on it. I think it will help get the word out, start discussions, and grow the number of bloggers who become aware and part of this group of childfree bloggers. Then like you said, some of the other sites will not be able to help but take notice. Great work!

Laiane said...

My post is up at www.itsfuriousbalancing.com (or you can follow the link via Blogger).

queenb said...

We've got a couple of posts up.

http://cfinfo.wordpress.com/

M said...

I want to clarify if I may, because I have gotten the feeling there is some confusion (based on at least one or two posts I read) about this.

Did the "invisible" issue arise at least partly from BlogHer being approached about adding a category for childfree women and they did not agree to? Am I right?

And thus the question we posed to ourselves was do places designated for women to go online ignore the fact that childfree women even exist? Are we invisible online and elsewhere?

Was this one of the main points of this exercise, or did I just make a strange and off assumption? I feel like I got this idea from somewhere, but I've been so busy I can't remember if it was from an email, a post, or something else. Anyone?

And by the way I love the posts I've read so far. So many different perspectives and voices. Love it! Def. need to do something like this again with a related topic, in my opinion.

M said...

p.s I thought the next BlogHer was going to be in SF? Am I wrong?

Sunfell said...

Here's my contribution:

http://sunfell.livejournal.com/1049087.html

Anonymous said...

I'm late but I'm in too (www.thefictive.com). Thanks for putting this together Teri!

KnittingBlueContent said...

Thank you for putting the call out to the Childfree bloggers to stand up and be counted.

My post is up.

AJ

KnittingBlueContent said...

Here is the direct link to my 11/15/07 post:

http://knittingbluecontent.blogspot.com/2007/11/child-free-whos-out-there.html

Shannon said...

I am a day late (sorry- life got in the way) but I am hoping that it's better late than never.

Escape Brooklyn said...

Thanks for all the great posts! I've enjoyed reading everything.

The Coach's Wife said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Coach's Wife said...

I just want to tell those who've responded to my post how touched I am. While I've yet to hear anything from my "real life" friends, my fellow CFers have provided such support and validation...something I hadn't expected (probably because I really thought I was doing this to open a dialogue with the people in my life). What a pleasant surprise! My heart smiles. You've given me an incredible gift. And I've very much enjoyed reading what everyone else posted - your perspectives are inspiring, motivating, and thought-provoking.

Anonymous said...

Thank you my fellow Purple Sistahs. This is a record number of comments on a post for this blog!

I am very pleased with the response and the generosity. No -- we are not as big as Blogging Chicks, or Women Who Blog, or BlogHer (the largest women-centric collective of women bloggers), but this is a start.

The button link graphic was a last minute idea, and I really think it was the best one. It will help other PW find us and bind us together. (Now, why did it take me two years to figure that out?!)

We will do this again, and I will find an easier way to share the button link graphic code, or I will not be able to keep up with the activity, our PW movement.

I almost could not keep up with all the posts and links and requests for button pins as it was. I am working full time now and I had to skip my breakfast and morning shower to get the compilation post together (all together now, "eeeeeyooooouw!")

Please plan on attending BlogHer's next conference. As M points out, I really need to figure out exactly where it will be held in summer 2008. I have been asked to coordinate a panel on childfree women bloggers. We need to carve our own niche.

I am open to doing an online blogging event again, with a different topic as M further suggests. Once a year isn't enough. We count every day, not just on November 15. Let us no longer be invisible, whether online or in our communities, families and social circles.

This is a good beginning.

Anonymous said...

Hello All,
I am a child-free 49 year old woman living in Vermont...I have been making Purple Women of the World Mobiles since 1986!

I finally have a web-site up for those of you looking for a visual affirmation of this aspect of your identity... purplewomenmobiles.com

Please excuse the shameless self promotion, but how else will you find them??

I think I need to start reading these blogs, too...the stuff that comes up at my age around not having kids is, of course, huge.

Best,
San Gordon

Jenn said...

I know I'm out of date on this but just wanted to express appreciation for all the great links. Found one more in case anyone is interested: babyoffboard.com