[This is a translated version of a blog entry by Say Na Something that talks about Nepali female bloggers. Thanks to her for allowing me to put it up here. The original Nepali version is here.]
I will start from myself. How is the lifestyle of a married woman? How they begin the day? What food they can cook? How they reach the office in hurry after finishing off morning duties? And, why bargain on vegetable price? What on Saturday? Normally, a married woman’s life is weaved into such things. But my life is different. This could be because, well, I and my husband have been separated physically and psychologically.
I want to give importance to small things although mostly I like to discuss on political issues. I also want to write all those which may not interest readers but are important for me when I write. My internet diary or blog where I write everything, sometime things too private, without any hesitation. Readers can read my analysis of political issues and personal trash. I immediately get response – sometime praising high or denouncing. I believe for a woman like me who once slept during cooking to find out the pressure cooker would not be reusable, there is no better way to express that carefree and forgetfulness than the blog.
Zade Xpress, the name looks like a name of the bus leaving to east or west Nepal from Kathmandu, but this is a blog of a 21-year-old girl. She has declared herself a lone driver but you can comment on her blog and travel with her as a passenger. For that, you don’t have to buy ticket from any counter, but rather have to visit zade.wordpress.com through internet. Then begins your and her blog travel where you can read experience ranging from serious political issues to love, either irritating or confusing, to interesting experiecne of social issues. The travel with Haude Keti even in the cyber café paying for internet is interesting experience.
Writing own’s feeling without any hesistation and publishing them without visiting an editor or publisher is a intereting and satisfying thing itself and probably a reason why Avinashi has titled her blog – Blogdom for Freedom. This other contemporary young blogger turned to blogging after occassional comments on United We Blog!. The girl with the courage of posting the last email by her boyfriend before the break up says – ‘that’s why I blog’.
Those who called themselves Maichyang and Roma are school girls who began collobaratively blogging recently. They have written posts ranging from experience of losing out competition in the school to why they don’t like someone. Maichyang don’t believe she could be regular blogger. It’s not easy to get time from the day-long school and then homework but the feeling of blogging in a busy schedule gives different satisfaction.
Neelam Ghimire, who has written a few posts in MeroSansar won’t call her a blogger but her blogs were popular among the MeroSansar readers. The story of another girl is different – she has got a lot response despite not having written a blog. How can we call her blogger? But she has registered an account and her blog name suggest she would write personal blogs. (Rosha has started bloging at the time I wrote this article).
In Nepal, most of the blogs by woman are based on personal gossip. Either she be web designer Archana or student Sadhana, everyone has their own gossips – either something they loved or something that irritated them. To say, the concept of blog began with personal issues posted on web. There are only few bloggers writing on political issues. Not only in Nepal, most bloggers in the world do not blog on politics. I am not saying there is none, but they are comparatively less.
In Nepal, I can safely say, journalists have dominated blogging – possibly because of their reach to internet and sources to learn about happening immediately. For readers too, reading about interesting events during the news preparation and lifestyle of the writers whose articles they have been reading is surely a joy. Probably because of these reasons, journalists have established well as bloggers. But here too very less woman journalists are into blogging. Nepal’s Yasodha Timilsina wrote a few but she has stopped for long time.
“For blogging, you need a lot of time, you have to invest a lot of your time,†Ann Widdecombe of UK, probably the first woman political to have a blog, said on why women blog less especially on political issues.
Then, do women blog less because they lack time? Yes, lots of time is needed for blogging, but for those active woman with time blogging can be an interesting class of creative writing where you can receive immediate response on how are you writing. But lack of time is not only for women.
Then, what’s different from male and female bloggers? Yes, my and Zade’s view on this is the same – female bloggers are more expressive compared with male bloggers. Men focus on political issues thus keeping themselves on ‘safe line’ while blogging. Avi has an interesting answer – women are interesting and glamourous for reading.
That’s what bloggers say but what the readers say about woman bloggers. My regular reader Java Coffee House (her nickname to comment) agrees with Avi – ‘women’s blog are interesting.’ Other reader Jeevan Lama says he reads all blogs that interests him without gender-bias but says he comments more on women’s blog for encouragement.
Subin Sharma, yet another reader, says – ‘blogger is blogger. It doesn’t matter if a blogger is man or woman but the posts should be readable.’
What difference it makes to readers? Avi says – ‘a lot of. I believe most of readers have read my writing because I am a woman.’ Archana doesn’t see much difference and male bloggers share similar thoughts. Blogger KP says – ‘woman uses soft language, their blogs are interesting.’
The gender of bloggers also affect the comments. Zade says – ‘in woman’s blog, comments are polite.’ Blogger Deepak says woman are emotional adding the example of Avi’s publication of the last email from her boyfriend. ‘Besides, there are also more comments on women’s blogs,’ he adds indicating to Rosha’s blog.
Why so? KP says – ‘most of the interner users are male and naturally they are attracted towards female.’
To start a blog is nothing new, but to continue a blog is a big thing. We women have a different world in the Nepali blogosphere where we write what we experience – either they are meaningless gossips or love letters.
A lot of more bloggers has entered and it isn’t necessary to blog on political issues. A survey in US showed majority of blogges, 37 per cent, blog on ‘life and experience’. Surely, political and public interest issue blogs gets more readers but there is also a question – for whom the blog is?
(Now a little speech on blogging) Blog is an internet diary. You can start a blog immediately registering to free blog hosting sites. Not much technical knowledge required – for those accutomized with emails its much easier. This is nothing different than opening a Hotmail or Yahoo account – the only difference being those who open blog are generally with enthusiam to write and share.
In Nepal, blogs are not much popular. If I say more than 90 per cent readers of Nepali bloggers are Nepali residing abroad, no one would counter me. In Kathmandu, internet is not new rather it has grown an integral part of the life of new generation. Newspaper gave much importance to the news of internet service resumption a week after King Gyanendra’s coup but now too much of internet use is restricted to email and chatting.
Isn’t it interesting? Though internet, people who are very far of you read your blog and comment.
