Business4Moms

I don’t know if the whole Obama/Clinton and then Obama/Palin thing brought it up fresh, but it seems that there has been a new round started in the ever ongoing gender wars.  This time, the arena is online – which surprises me even more because if there is one place where gender shouldn’t matter (and can easily be masked) it is on the World Wide Web. 

But then, after reading the ever insightful Lynn Terry (one of my online favorites), I realized that I am smack dab in the middle of the whole debate?  Why? I market not one, but THREE websites that are geared to an audience with an obvious gender bias (Business4Moms, Momprovement, Healthsmartmom).   And while I have seen a few “men” related sites (such as Christian Work At Home Dads) I admit, that overwhelmingly, I shop from “mom” sites.

Now, do I go to a mom site with the intention of buying only from a mom?  I don’t really think so, I guess as i was raised a bit of a feminist (a title that I have since backed off of), I believe that if there is a service or prodct that I want, a female can provide it just as well as a  male could, and so I go shopping first with females (and now with moms – as I believe in supporting other working moms).  Now if I don’t find what I need or want, I will continue my search out in the “open” field.  But my preference is toward moms.

And I have to admit, I used to get a little “disturbed” when I would see males advertising to a female network (such as WAHM) and wondered why they were in “our” group instead of “their own” group.  But I suppose that’s just my own skepticism and former “militant feminist” self acting out.

If you were to ask me today if I was a feminist, I would say no, I believe I am a “modern mom with old fashioned values.”  As in I believe that a woman can do anything she sets her mind to just as well as a man. However for myself, and hopefully for my daughter, I believe that being a mom is the most rewarding and most important job a woman can have (if she is so inclined and blessed), however, I also believe that women should have the opportunity for any position that she is qualified (and that includes being given the opportunity to qualify).

So while I’m not going to change much in the way I act, (I’ll still continue to run and support business that are run by moms), I will change the way I REACT, and stop being so skeptical of everyone on the internet.  I regularly visit and participate in training by several men on the internet, and find their information just as invaluable as the mom sites, and I’ve never been made to feel like I didn’t belong there.  So from now on I will try to return the favor.