Ellee Seymour

Where is our UK Arianna?

Iain asks today why women don’t blog on political issues, why are 90% of them men. I’ve looked at my blogroll and wondered the same, I only have two women bloggers there, including the USA Queen of Blogs, my Greek Goddess of the Huff Post.

The ratio is actually the same as the number of Tory women MPs, of which there are 9%, only 17 in all. The answer could be because:

1. Women are less interested in political affairs
2. Women are better at talking than men and don’t feel the need to communicate this way
3. They are put off by the tekkie side of it
4. They are too busy multi-tasking already
5. They simply don’t have the time or the passion required to blog

I find blogging totally absorbing, very stimulating and enjoy its creativity. I have come across some great like-minded people through blogsphere. I am never stuck for something to write about, on the contrary. So many thanks again to Geoff for giving me my kickstart.

My family might not be so pleased though as I sometimes forget about everything else and it has caused me to burn the dinner, be late for the school run and become a bit of a geek. I’ve even been called a blog bore.

I think in general there are fewer women bloggers, mainly for the above reasons. Can you suggest any others?

Thanks also to Iain for recommending my site as “a good example of an insightful blog”.

I had a call from Will Pavia of The Times yesterday. He wanted a Tory quote about the British film censors’ suggestion that internet sites should have classification similar to films to warn users about porno sites and foul language.

He had seen my name at the top of ConservativeHome site regarding my story about David Miliband’s £40,000 p.a. blog, hence the call.

My response was that we can regulate ourselves, the browser and anti-virus software provide the tools to filter out anything deemed unsuitable, we can be self-regulatory. I didn’t expect my quotes to be used as I don’t represent an organisation, but maybe they would have done if they couldn’t have reached Simon Davies, of Privacy International, who shares my views and said very succinctly:

“It sounds like the most stupid intervention since the registration of fax machines and photocopiers in communist China.�

I think it would be an impossible task and more help should be available advising parents, and anyone concerned about internet content, to set their browers accordingly so they can become their own censors.