Small Strokes Big Oaks

Bio
Name: Amanda ReCupido
Age: 23
Location: New York
Occupation: Public & Media Relations, secret blogger, Twitter-er extraordinaire
Education: BA in Writing from Illinois Wesleyan University, Graduate Certificate in Publishing from NYU
Blog: http://www.undomesticgoddess.com

1. Define the online feminist blogging community.
I feel I came on quietly to the feminist blogging community, and I didn’t really feel a sense of “community” until Twitter exploded; it was then I began to reach out to and connect with feminists from all around the country and around the world – and even made new feminist friends right in my own city. I find the community to be supportive, collaborative, and cross-generational. I’ve heard of instances of animosity between older and younger feminists, but in my experience, I’ve found several feminists in the next generation who have not only encouraged me, but befriended me. A great example of women helping women online is the launch of http://www.shewrites.com, a social network for women writers. This is a great way to connect with and share information with fellow women writers and bloggers, and may even help you make some money off that blogging!

I should also make a note about “mommy bloggers.” Just like housewives were considered an advertiser’s gold mine back in the day (or maybe they still are?), online marketers are realizing the power and savvy these techie moms have. And kudos to them! Women (who both work and don’t) are proving something online, though “mommy blogger” still has a negative connotation. Women use social networks more than men, but there are still biases when it comes to twitter followers (both women and men are more likely to follow men). Women are online, but credibility still needs to be recognized on a grander scale. There are plenty of women in tech, but the number of start-ups run by women is ridiculously low.

Is it beneficial for feminists to have a presence on the internet? YES. Absolutely yes. In this day and age, for any cause, if you’re not on the internet, you’re nowhere. Working for a non-profit by day, I understand the power of an online message and the conversation you are able to create with your audience almost immediately. This is an essential tool for a social cause to raise awareness and create a call to action. We can tweet and blog all we want, but if nothing actually HAPPENS, we’re just making noise.

2. Tell me about how you came to be a blogger.
I started blogging simply because Facebook notes couldn’t contain me anymore. 🙂 It started out as me documenting my attempts at cooking, and slowly evolved into being very feminist-leaning, beginning with humorous notes on feminist-related things I’d see around me, on TV, in advertisements, etc. Soon I realized that these things were EVERYWHERE, and there was almost too much of it to write about (probably my favorite feminist site that covers a whole range of feminist topics well is http://www.feministing.com). Same with my Twitter. I started out just being me and musing on what I had for lunch (okay not really, but more mundane things), but once I realized I was tweeting a lot about feminism anyways, I switched my name to match my blog and suddenly collected an ARMY of feminist followers, and I have become more enlightened about and engaged in feminist issues ever since.

3. Tell me about your blogging experience now.
I brushed on this briefly before that my content did change, and I’m happy for it. While writing about burning dinner can be funny (and I still will blog about food and kitchen mishaps on occasion), I’ve realized that I can make feminism just as accessible by adding a dose of humor to it. Of course, there are some more serious posts, but in both ways I feel I am contributing to something greater than myself. I’ve also started interviewing people about their views on feminism, just to see where the holes in the conversation lie (wait, you mean all feminists don’t burn their bras? Feminists can be MEN??), with the end goal being to find ways to change these misconceptions in society. I’ve been amazed at the response I’ve gotten, and how many people thank ME for giving them the opportunity to think about these issues on a serious level. I hope that type of conversation continues off my blog and into the real world.

4. Tell me about a time you were misread or misunderstood on your blog.
Hmm, I haven’t had anything too controversial happen with my blog or twitter. I’ve had instances where I’ll tweet something ridiculously sexist someone else said, and find that my community will back me up in agreement. Maybe the time we both took on the tweeting anti-feminist, until we both realized he wasn’t worth our time. Oftentimes, you have to determine whether a commenter is commenting to add to the conversation, or just to be an ass. If it’s the former, I find I like to thank them for a different point of view or some new information I haven’t heard about. If they’re crazy, I usually just leave it alone.

5. Describe your process of writing online.
I have so much of an un-process it’s unbelievable, especially having gone through the formal methods of  writing in school – blogging all but abandons that, if only because you already have the mechanics embedded into your brain already. I actually remember when I first started blogging after I graduated college, thinking that blog posts were like mini-papers, with links serving as your works cited. My best blog posts are ones that I write in 10 minutes when I’m really heated about an issue. Bloggers are different than journalists in that you can be as opinionated as you want to be, and you SHOULD incite comments, either for you or against you. Controversy creates not only an active readership, but also the anger/excitement in people to initiate CHANGE.

6. Describe your online reading habits.
I read over 30+ blogs that I manage through Google Reader. I’ll share interesting links on Twitter. I also find Twitter to be a great resource for discovering new information. It’s fun to see what links you post that get re-tweeted and passed on, which shows you what’s getting people riled up. In this you can find people with similar interests, respond to each other, and form a new online relationship. I’ve also shared information from feminist books I’ve read, and sparked interest in that author for some people through those tweets. With Twitter and with blogging, you just never know what will resonate with people, and I’ve found the results to be pleasantly surprising.

You can follow Amanda on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TheUndomestic.  You can also read her interviews about feminism, The Undomestic 10, here.
For more information on the Literacy in the Feminist Blogging Community project, and to see all of the interviews, click here.  Have something to add?  Comment or e-mail me at smallstroke (at) gmail (dot) com.