In the gilded ghetto of purpose-driven motherhood, the A-list Mommy Blogger is a glamour job like no other. Mommy Blogging is the ultimate think/work-at-home-while-the-kids-THRIVE endeavor. It glorifies motherhood even as it thrillingly confesses how mindlessly stultifying it can be. And children are the ultimate source of tragic/comic/heart-warming narratives.
While mommy blogging is not dangerous in the same way that crack cocaine dealing is, or even illegal, it is an illogical, unrewarding thing for otherwise-reasonable women to engage in in the hope of making it big. Just like crack cocaine dealing.
Consider:
“The problem with crack dealing is the same as in every other glamour profession: a lot of people are competing for a very few prizes.” (Sure, some women earn a bunch, but a million more would like to).
“When there are a lot of people willing and able to do a job, that job generally doesn’t pay well.” (Mommy Blogging pays roughly .0032 cents an hour, and that’s not including the time spent dealing with those “episodes” that become charming “anecdotes”). (105)
How can Mommy Blogging have so much in common with standing on a corner all day catering to addled codependents who demand something as brain-enhancing as SpongeBog Squarepants crack cocaine?
It turns out that the worlds of crack dealing and Mommy Blogging are both governed by tournament-type rules.
Rules of the Glamour Job Tournament
1- “You must start out at the bottom to have a shot at the top.”
2- “You must be willing to work long and hard at substandard wages.”
3- “In order to advance in the tournament you must prove yourself not merely above average but spectacular.”
4- “And finally, once you come to the sad realization that you will never make it to the top, you will quit the tournament.” (106)
Blogging in general (personal blogging in specific, and Mommy Blogging in more specific) has so little space at the top of the pyramid of success that even those who have enough success or get enough comments feel terribly insecure about it. Where enough equals any more success or comments than Jane gets.
Which is why I am going to stop blogging. Just kidding. Of course I’m not in blogging for the fame or the fortune. Like you, I do it for the friendships and the writing.
And because I don’t know any crack cocaine gangs that are hiring.
What, you don’t think that blogging is anything like dealing crack? Maybe Jane was smoking a bit too much of her own product? Or maybe she should just stop reading Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything.
Okay, I’ll stop. Since I finished this spectacular book yesterday, anyway. I’m going to keep reading the Freakonomics blog, though, because I LOVE it.
The authors (of both book and blog) are curious, smart, creative, and they apply their curiosity and reasoning powers to a dizzying array of topics. From the link between legalized abortion and reduced crime to the incentives of cheating, daycare pickup fines, and real estate commissions, to exploring the (non)benefits of obsessive parenting, Steve D. Levitt (the economist) and Stephen J. Dubner (the journalist) are, basically, wonderfully thought-provoking.
Even if they did convince me that blogging (standing on a virtual corner shouting LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME) is about as smart as selling crack.
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Tags: blogging, economics, freakonomics, stephen j. dubner, steven d. levitt
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I LOVE Freakonomics. One of my favourite books. It was so entertaining. My favourite chapter for laughs is on baby names.
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If the baby hadn’t kept me up most of the night, I might have the mental stamina to actually follow the logic of this post. As it is, I need to head on over to my own blog and wax poetic about the pitfalls of sleep deprivation.
Stacey @ Happy Are Wes last blog post..Give a Little Bit of Your Love to Me
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Oh, I LOVED this book. Brought out the data-loving nerd in me.
I need to subscribe to the blog so I can keep up with what they’re thinking.
And I love the analogy: mommy bloggers & crack dealers (one of the most interesting chapters in the book). Yeah, I’m in for the writing and friendship, too, but I still suffer enough ego-fits to think one day my blog might just tip and BOOM! Mega-subscribers!
ROFL right now…
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I never expect to make it big in blogging. Wouldn’t even try. But the value for me is of course the friendships and the entertainment, and I can do it on my own schedule. The best side effect is that it helps my literacy and thinking, both of which have been watered down considerably by toddler language. Writing is a skill that can be honed and used out in the world later on, and the only way to get better is practice.
I’d heard of Freakonomics, but now I’m even more curious. Must check in on this.
MereCats last blog post..Escape
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I SO WANT TO DEAL CRACK.
By which I mean, OF COURSE I want to be blog rich and famous. Will it happen? Probably not. But it’s a low cost dream to chase, and comes with a lot of great side benefits – the writing practice, the blog friends, the entertainment, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, all of the ADORATION. :>
Thanks muchly for the link, Jane.
Sues last blog post..Traitors
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Didn’t you love the chapter about baby names? I got such a kick out of that one. And then I got pregnant and found that chapter even more amusing.
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Wow, it really took me a minute to figure out where this was going, LOL. I initially was scrolling down, thinking, “Where is the book post?”
Great post!
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Natasha & Carolina — the whole time I was reading the baby names part, I kept thinking of weird made-up Mormon names, and wishing that they’d analyzed those.
Stacey — If you can come up with anything poetical about sleep deprivation, more power to you!
Marianne — I don’t know why it has to be an ego-fit to wish that one could make, say, 5? bucks an hour doing blogging work. I mean, is that so much to ask?
MereCat — Why not?
I have to say that I honestly think if it were not for blogging, I would have gone quietly (or not so quietly) completely FREAKIN INSANE the past couple years. I know mothers who are always lamenting how guilty they feel about the time blogging takes away from their kids/house/canning. But honestly? Blogging is what separates me from Andrea Yates. That and (slightly) better hair.
Sue — You do get all this adoration, so sometimes I wonder if you’re exaggerating the insecurity? I mean HOW could you be so insecure when
millionsthousands love you? I do love how you’re so honest about WANTING it.Lindsey — Thanks for bearing with me ’till I go to the book post.
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Oh, and my two favorite parts of the book were the legalized abortion-crime drop connection and the obsessive parenting (it’s who you ARE, not what you DO that matters) part. I plan to do posts on those in the near future, but if not, you should definitely read it yourself!
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What bothers me is that the ones at the top aren’t spectacular in my opinion. I don’t see where Dooce is better than you, or where Pioneer Woman is better than… okay so Pioneer Woman is pretty spectacular about 50% of the time. I don’t think it’s always about being truly spectacular, rather luck and smart marketing.
Memarie Lanes last blog post..In Only 8 More Days…
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In reply to your comment – this is my second time reading Jane Eyre and I don’t feel that way! I was afraid of that, too. I am, however, trying to figure out as I read just what it was that made Jane love Mr. Rochester. I’ve been keeping notes so I can write about it. It’s kind of interesting getting into their characters – something you can’t always do with some of the modern fiction because sometimes the characters are too shallow.
Lindsey@A Kindred Spirits Thoughtss last blog post..Currently Reading Jane Eyre (Chapters 10-14)
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I’ve been thinking of this book recently — that it was time to jump on the bandwagon. This review definitely makes me think about it again.
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I read Freakanomics last year and found it quite interesting. A good excuse to never take my kids to a museum. Just kidding. Whenever I’m subbing in a classroom I take a mental note of all the names and then judge the kids based on them. Just kidding again, but not really.
Sheas last blog post..Can you relate?
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Memarie Lane — Well, duh. Naturally I agree. But there again it’s similar to crack dealing — because how much variation can there be in how you deal crack? It’s all about timing and marketing, and luck. And how good you are at bribing the po-lice.
Shea — You kill me. Really. LOVE it. “then judge the kids based on them. Just kidding again, but not really.”
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Jane, there’s a similarly themed book out (haven’t read it) here in Aus, called Parentonomics. It looks like it’ll be out in the US next year. An economist and father wrote it. Your post about Freakonomics and your Mummy blogging made me think of it.
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What a great post! But personally, I must disagree as I am in it entirely for the fame and fortune.
Kates last blog post..Some Days I Am My Own Worst Enemy
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[...] one day I read in Freakonomics that the legalization of abortion was significantly correlated with a drop in crime. I researched [...]
I’ll have to check out that book. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not blogging for fame and fortune. Although I think if I had zero readers I’d be tempted to quit. What does that say about me?
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Fame and fortune for me. LOL! Very good post. Gotta get my mommy bloggin fix everyday.
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