Why Are Women Behind Most Parenting Blogs?

I started blogging at about the same time that I started my journey as a mother. And in the past few years, personal interest and sheer necessity has found me at many an odd hour on many a parenting blog – sometimes it is to read about how to handle a situation, sometimes it is to learn and prepare myself (for better or worse), sometimes it is to get an alternate opinion/view-point/perspective, sometimes it is for all the wisdom and “gyaan”, sometimes it is just to know that I’m not alone (and a zillion other mothers have been there and done that!), sometimes it is just to feel that I am fortunate (and could have had it a lot worse!), sometimes it is to dream about how much better it could have been (had I been in someone else’s shoes), sometimes it is just to kill time (though that’s rare, but then it counts as “ME” time for a mother!), sometimes it is just a break from the drudgeries and monotony of everyday life, and sometimes it is just to bring a bit of sunshine to my rather gloomy day!

All literature and theory talks about Parenting as a shared responsibility between the father and the mother. And yet! I find that 95% of the parenting blogs are authored by women – in most cases mothers.

Let me give you a few examples:

(2) Check the list of posts and their contributors at Parentous – which is an Indian parenting community blog, and more than 95% of content and comments are from women/mothers (And I’m one of their regular contributors, and a regular reader here – So I can vouch for this)

(3) Check the parenting blogs listed on the Directory of Top Blogs in India ; which is an ongoing effort to showcase some of the best Indian blogs and bloggers from India . The section itself is titled as “Mommy Bloggers” and includes all women / mothers. There’s not even a section for Daddy Bloggers.

(4) The only multi-platform Parenting show (including blog, video, TV, Twitter, etc. ) in India that I am aware of and follow is the The Tara Sharma Show. Again, it has been conceptualized and is anchored by a woman / mother.

To be honest, the only parenting related blog which I’ve come across that is run by a dad is A Dad’s Point of View by Bruce Sallan.

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I can’t help but wonder why a vast majority of the parenting blogs are mostly authored by women / mothers.

Is it because women/mothers are more involved in parenting?

Is it because women/mothers feel more strongly about parenting?

Is it because women/mothers are the primary care-givers for their children and hence have more to express/share?

Is it because the women/mothers have more time? Come on! In case you didn’t know, being a mother is a 24 X 7 X 365 days of the year job. So a mother has to create/make the time to write (in spite/despite everything!)

And also, I can’t help but wonder why more men / daddies don’t write on parenting blogs.

Is the man/daddy not qualified to write? I don’t buy it!

Is the man/daddy not experienced to write? I thought parenting is an everyday experience?

Is the man/daddy not competent to write? Come on! If he can write those lengthy e-mails, complex software code, complicated balance sheets and management reports, then a note on parenting should be child’s play?

Is the man/daddy not interested in sharing his personal experiences? Huh! From when did men feel shy about sharing their experiences, however personal they may be?

Would like to hear your views.. Leave a comment to let me know…

*Photo credit: Mike Licht (Used under the Creative Commons Attribution License.)

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