Is Mommy Blogger the New Soccer Mom?
Stereotypes are Bad for Moms and Bad for Business
Holly Buchanan
All over the internet and the blogosphere there are references to the mommy bloggers. Some moms can identify as a mommy blogger while others vehemently deny association with anything that looks like the term. Some moms have found a compromise somewhere in the middle. Why is there such a negative connotation with the term and why do many moms who blog distance themselves from the word?
Holly Buchanan specializes in marketing to women online and co-authored The Soccer Mom Myth. During research for their book, Buchanan says she and her co-author, Michelle Miller found that a lot of moms had a bad reaction to the label of Soccer Mom and found it too limiting.
Buchanan says the number one mistake marketers make is to think that all women think alike. Just because women may be in the same demographic group, it does not necessarily mean the similarities continue. She says just because a wife or daughter may like the idea, it does not mean all women will. Marketers “really have to do research to find out how groups are different and how they are similar.”
Though many moms who blog can’t stand the term “mommy blogger,” some find the term mom blogger is more acceptable. Using the term mommy blogger can be a way of diminishing the role of a mom who blogs. It can be a way of talking down to a whole group of women while mom blogger is more respectful.
Buchanan says that many are making the same mistake that was made with the label soccer mom. Soccer moms are a varied group who do not always fit the stereotype… just like moms who blog. By using the term they, “make assumptions that may or may not be true.”
Though moms who blog as a group may be a strong force and very influential, they have “very divergent voices and nothing stereotypical about them.”
Post by Dawn Miller
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Graduated Cum Laude from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in spring of 2008. While there, as nonfiction editor of The Sheepshead Review, she was able to secure an interview with nationally-acclaimed author, Aimee Bender. She's been honored with the "Rising Phoenix Award" for her nonfiction piece, "Heel Story" and the opportunity to read at the 32nd Annual UW-System Women's Conference. As a new mom, she's excited to explore topics considering moms active in social media. Dawn.Miller@momswhoblog.com |
