and your chicks for free

I was just over at The Mother of All Blogs today and found an interesting post about the newest campaign to appeal to take advantage of mothers. If you haven’t heard, there’s a new online “mom–focused web series”. It’s called In the Motherhood. And at first glance, it seems really cool. I mean there are these communities and games and such. In fact, if you were to submit a piece about your life, this “community” could vote on whether or not it gets written into a future script. Sounds great, right? Well, actually, not so much. Not really at all, once you think about it. Ann Douglass and her commenters focused quite a bit on copy write laws, the inherent value of one’s contribution, and the ilk. Most of them appear to be writers, so they immediately went in that direction with their feedback. It’s a thought provoking post/discussion. I thoroughly encourage you to go check it out. And while I enjoyed reading all of their thoughts, I still had this niggling concern that just kept buzzing around the back of my brain. After washing a few dishes and making up Kajsa’s meds, I finally pinned it down. It was this: We as moms have finally been recognized as a rather desperate population. And once that acknowledgment was made, did corporations stop to find a way to truly try to unite and uplift us? Of course not. Why would they? What they did do, though, was find a fairly effective way to exploit our isolation, our feelings of invisibility, and, yes, our “I haven’t slept well in five years. It’s a good thing I don’t have to think about how to make a peanut butter sandwich” boredom. “Come on down!” they say. “We’ll give you an outlet. We’ll let you talk to other grown ups. Just give us (give us!) all your original ides and stories. Then you can watch us make over your life with prettier people who are bound to have more sex appeal than you. But that’s OK, ‘cause you, and you alone, can bask in the knowledge that it was your life to which you’ve now given away the rights. You are the funny, inspirational, touching lady beneath Leah Remini’s skin.” I just don’t buy it. I won’t contribute. I don’t really want you to either. If you want to have online friends and recognition, start a blog. Write posts. Visit other moms’ blogs and tell them how great you really think they are. That’s where the real empowerment lies. Not in some artificial environment brought to you by people who will never see your brilliance as anything but another faceless dollar sign.

Comments

[Lynda]

I read about this on another blog, but since I am not a mom, it doesn't really apply to me.

[Rowan]

But it does.

One of the main points made on Ann's Blog was that of not selling yourself short by giving away your life's stories. To own them and be proud of them...to value your own worth.

I think that is a universal concept that very much applies to all of us.

[Lynda]

I read about this on another blog, but since I am not a mom, it doesn't really apply to me.

My husband would say the same thing you did, though.

[Lynda]

hahaha! I thought my comment didn't post because the anti-spam came up. Plus, I added something.

I do agree with you. I just meant I saw it and since I am not a mom, I didn't really check it out. :)

Sorry, I goofed.

[Rowan]

Oh. That's cool. Don't worry about it.

[Jen]

Well written! I completely agree. There are a lot better ways to support mothers than stealing their life stories to further an entertainment agenda.

RYC: I'm in Denver, so we're just about exactly a mile high :-)

[Rowan]

Hey, Jen.

It's good to see you here.

It sounds like we're about the same elevation.

Oh, and I'm glad you liked my post. I feel pretty strongly about people valuing themselves and their own work. So many of us walk around with our insecurities keeping us from enjoying our potential. I'd love to wipe that all away, and watch the beauty blossom.

Gads, am I sappy or what?

[Marla]

Hi Rowan!

I'd moved on, but hadn't forgotten about the subject. When Ann pointed me back to the comments and then to your very, very good post, I was thrilled to see that it had gone a little further.

I went away from Ann's post further fuming about the types of stories they asked for, but still haven't quite been able to articulate why. As Mama Moon wrote "Why do they always have to be cutesie/funny dilemnas?", I think that addressed it in part.

I'm just foreseeing a shift in the way Mothers will be portrayed in the media. While it's been no more real to have the wise, all-knowing kindly perfectly imperfect mom we've seen in fifty years of sitcoms (or dramedies) - it's that she's usually been partnered with the bumbling dad or various kid characters as the comedic foils. So, should a show with a mom mired in one humorous situation after another, all at her own expense, become even moderately successful? More will follow, of course, each inclined even more dramatically in the money-making direction.

It further diminishes the value of the most underpaid (um - not even paid) job in the world.

We can, and should, laugh at ourselves. We should not be laughed at. The marketers, and the powers that be would most certainly not be laughing with us. I mean, are we laughing WITH Homer Simpson?

Anyway, thanks so much for taking the discussion a little further. I like edgy, smart and aware people. They make the world a better place to live.