Why I Will (Probably) Never Have a Popular Lifestyle Blog; And Why I Wouldn't Want To

As per usual, Jes from The Militant Baker wrote a post that got me thinking about authentic blogging.  Jes' post addressed the backlash she received after commenting on another blogger's inauthentic blog; an opinion with which I agreed.  I found this post just after I read a great article from Bitch Magazine about women lifestyle bloggers.  The crux of the article was, the more popular the lifestyle blog was, the more the blog lacked authenticity.

The article looked at several popular lifestyle blogs and noted some of the trends that allowed a blog to become popular; they are watered down and overly consumerist in their publication.  In order to understand what I'm talking about, you should read this thoughtful and insightful article first.

Welcome back! According to current trends on the internet in the blogosphere of lifestyle blogging, here is why this blog, will probably never be popular (and why I probably don't want it to be):

1.  Bassability is a not for profit blog.  I don't blog because I want to make money or net an income from this page.  So, why do I blog then?  the purpose of my blog originally was to explore and record my hobbies and interests in a public way.  I'm kind of a show off, really.  But this blog has become so much more to me now that I have "moved in." Now, I see my blog as a place to document things I make, and ideas I have.  I write about my thoughts and feelings.  sometimes my thoughts and feelings are quite serious and controvertial, and may offend some of my readers.

I don't write anything to purposefully offend anyone; what I write is about who I am, and about that I won't compromise.  I happen to be a bi-racial, atheist, feminist who believes in some of the tenets of socialism and works for equity.  As I learn more about these things, I write them down because through writing I understand these ideas better.  Writing helps me learn, and sometime my learning is verbose.  There is sometimes a lot of writing.

2.  This blog is sometimes a political space.  I have written about my tenuous relationship with religion and Christianity; about feminism; about fat oppression; about racial identity and racism.  These topics will always be part of this blog, because these are part of my life and lifestyle.  My life with never not deal with these topics.

Race and racism is a topic that is especially important to me; it is a part of everything I write.  I cannot separate myself from my racial identity.  For honesty and authenticity's sake, it is important for me to recognize the other aspects of my social location, that I am middle-class, and have an amount of privilege awarded to me by way of my financial security.  I am highly educated; and even though I use this to help bring about equity in the world, it is still something from which I profit.  These privileges are also something that is part of this blog.  I recognize that.

3. I am not superwoman.  I don't live in a cute or quaint house.  We live in a one bedroom apartment, out of economic necessity.  I do not have full time employment, I work contract-to-contract, so sometimes I'm broke.  I live with depression.  I probably can't have children.  I was sexually assaulted.  I want my blog to show the good and the bad of my life.  So sometimes Bassability is a downer.  But I think this is important- that's life.   I don't try to focus on things that bring me down, but sometimes they are in the front of my mind.  So they end up being something I write about.  I like that realness, life is not perfect; why should my blog be?

4.  I really hate cats.  I don't have pets (anymore).  It seems that the recipe for a popular blog is to have cats or kids.  I don't have either.  For this reason, my blog is probably doomed to fail.

Do I want to be a popular blog?  It depends on what I mean by popular.  Do I want a community of women to read my blog and gain something from it?  Absolutely!  It brings me joy.  I love the support that the blogging community can have.  I would love to build that community.  So here are some authentic blogs that I love to read:

 http://www.themilitantbaker.com/





http://curvyladiesrule.blogspot.com/

http://gritsandmoxie.blogspot.com/

http://lollylikesfatshion.blogspot.com/




http://lifethegoodandthebad.blogspot.com/

     http://www.milesfromordinary.com/

  http://cmonfatso.com/




http://www.simplyymayra.com/

http://stephaniealena.blogspot.com

http://vocalauthenticity.blogspot.com/




And these are just a few.  Please feel free to add your favorite "authentic blog" links in the comments.  I'll collect them and make a new page.  Let's support those authentic blogs!