Cherchez la Femme

Award winning Irish bloggers are gathering mainstream media attention at last.

This article in today's "Irish Times" re-introduces
some very well-known faces to fans.

I Must Get My Categories Sorted Out Before I Write This Post

If you do a web search for "Grannymar" and "Fury" you will be
as surprised as I was to find that an ageist slur has been made
against her and, by association, against Grandad.

Here is where I must start to tread very gingerly indeed.
Not only has the Great Spam Buster in the Virtual Sky
stopped any possibility of my posting any response to
Grannymar's distress, I have started THINKING.

This activity, attempted on a cold March afternoon in Northern Europe,
is probably not a good idea. I should be uploading some of the increasing
body of photographic work which is the result of leaving the house far too often
in the past few weeks. I should be making a rhubarb, orange and almond pie
for my nearest and dearest. I should be learning yet another foreign language...

But instead, I'm sitting here wondering how Grannymar might best get an
apology for strange refences to "silver" bloggers and "weird web" and other
catchy phrases that sub editors seem to produce like the proverbial rabbits out
of proverbial hats.

Should my solidarity include "Coming Out" as a practising Granny.
Probably a bit extreme, as I continue to feel as lively as a Spring Chicken
and could never make much sense of ageism. A true grandmother is a wise
and venerable person, in my mind, It somehow seems to be a status earned over
years rather than a glib label.

Grannymar, through her fine contribution to the Irish Blogging
Community has earned this status and well deserves her
Award.

Perhaps she can take some comfort in the fact that journalism deals very often in labels and is meant to be superficial and entertaining.

The problem lies in linguistics, I'm afraid, and until somebody wakes up to the fact
that words can be hurtful when printed and directed at well-meaning people, the world
of print journalism will continue to be the mixed feast that it is.


Here, for what it is worth, is the reply I typed in an effort to get my thoughts
round this complex subject:
"You are right to protest, Grannymar.
Captions are not necessarily written by the
journalist who writes the piece, however.
Often even hacks are puzzled by the unusual
slant a catchy headline can put on their work.

If any editors should ever read this,
it's worth recording that I tend to go
to the Internet rather than to the mainstream
media for news and ideas and I don't tend
to think much about age when I read a piece
that is well presented.

Ageism has always been a feature of European
society. And it's not correct, I agree.

Well done on writing such a clear analysis of your experience,
and an apology would be in order."

The title bar here leads to a well written and respectful article
in the Daily Herald
about
older women and how they contribute to the lively
tapestry of everyday life.



It seems that I'm in the process of developing a hybrid new
sub-genre in the Blogosphere, that of the Outsider Poster,
who, unable to access other Blogs, comments in the Exosphere,
hoping to be heard.

What shall this genre be called?

Exospheration?

Irish Blog Award Preparation Has Reached Fever Pitch

I'm a great fan of Bock the Robber's extravagant
literary style. Heaven knows why, as his outbursts often scare
the bejaysis out of me.

Today, courage firmly in hands, I posted to his blog.
The result was suitably surrealistic.
Trigger happy, as usual, I managed to link my name to
a very entertaining piece about how to control your waiter
when eating out. I had meant to place a neat link to
ModernTwist2 there, but it was not to be.

Several attempts to rectify the situation left me with
messages that did not make sense, or that made me look
like a poisonous
SPAMMER.

Success, however had been partly achieved.
The comment worked, even if it was not the full comment I would have desired.