Watch out mommy-bloggers those daddy-bloggers are catching up

Typically when we talk about men and blogging the first thing that comes to mind are tech or politics. When we talk about women and blogging we generally think of politics and their stronghold – mommy-blogging. As a growing force in the blogosphere mommy-bloggers are a group to be reckoned with, as more than a few companies have discovered much to their dismay. I would dare to say that more than one marketing firm team has had nightmares at the launch of some new product that for whatever reason raises the ire of the mommy-bloggers.

It isn’t all bad though as the whole mommy-blogger movement has been one of empowerment for a group of women who felt under appreciated or just ignored. Where at one time a single woman’s voice might never have been heard past her corner store or closest friends the blogosphere has given them a worldwide voice that is hard to ignore.

Then along comes the recession and many men, formerly the breadwinner of the family, found themselves unemployed and with dismal prospects. then came the time for many of these families where the wife was lucky enough to land a job to see them through the difficult times and the men were suddenly thrust full force into unfamiliar territory. They became part of a growing number of stay-at-home dads, responsible for the care of the children and the upkeep of the home.

For a growing number of these men the change was hard to take, or understand. Suddenly we started to see a growing popularity of daddy-blogs, both as a valuable resource and as an outlet for those new stay-at-home dads who started writing them.

That’s when Clark Kent’s Lunchbox, the blog he started in June, 2007, evolved into a chronicle of his new life as a stay-at-home dad.

“You’re used to networking within your profession and now you’re isolated at home. There’s nobody there except for two kids and you’re breaking up fights, you’re doing laundry and you’re finding Barbie doll heads clogging up the toilet,” he says. “It’s completely unglamorous, but you can’t sit there and pout about it. … There are a lot of guys out there trying to understand that and trying to reconcile that new role.”

Source: The Globe and Mail

For many men finding themselves in this new world these daddy-blogs hare a much needed resource that helps them come to grips with their new lifestyle, a common meeting ground. For others who start their own daddy-blogs it is a way to help other men by providing advice or just a way to say “I understand what you are going through”.

The rise of daddy blogs, especially as a resource for men trying to cope with the way the economy has affected their families, is a step in the right direction for giving stay-at-home fathers more confidence and community, says Andrea Doucet, author of the book Do Men Mother? Fatherhood, Care and Domestic Responsibility and a professor of sociology at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Though there are more stay-at-home dads now, men are not as likely to join neighbourhood parenting groups, still dominated by moms. Cyberspace makes it easier to reach out to other men, she says.

“[Dads] are less likely to go to the infant groups and the toddler groups and the playgroups. That is changing. … But technology is something men feel very comfortable using and being part of, so it makes sense that they would feel comfortable connecting with other men that way.”

The Web offers distance and anonymity to fathers who may want to keep their anxieties separate from their day-to-day lives, thus transforming other daddy bloggers into advice gurus by proxy.

Source: The Globe and Mail

Whether or not the growing number of daddy-bloggers will ever reach the same type of social media power that mommy-bloggers seem to have built up remains to be seen. In the end it may not matter as these two different types of “family blogging” server different purposes. Where mommy-bloggers are comfortable with what they are achieving both as mothers and as social changers the men seem to look on it as a temporary way station between jobs. As Ron Mattocks said in the Globe and Mail article written by Sara Boesveld

And like many laid-off dads, Mr. Mattocks doesn’t plan to be housebound for long. He recently received accreditation for becoming a high-school English teacher and is looking for jobs in the Chicago area to be near his three biological sons.

“[I’m] hoping to turn it around to where I’m back being the primary breadwinner.”