genesis domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home3/beginsat/public_html/journal/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131daily-dish domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home3/beginsat/public_html/journal/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131A week or so ago Pinko-Feminist Hell Cat<\/a> ( I love that name! <\/i><\/b>) made reference to the \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cwhere are the women bloggers debate”<\/a>. Black Looks<\/a> followed up on this by asking Where are the African Women Bloggers?<\/a> In her second post<\/a> on this subject, Black Looks commented that ,<\/p>\n “it is not always clear whether the blogger is male or female”.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n As I read all this, I found myself thinking back the days of the Bronte’s, when writing was a deemed to be a man\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s thing and the only way for a woman writer to succeed was by assuming a male pseudonym. To be honest I didn’t even have to think that far; two fairly recent events have led me to wonder that that perhaps some of our African women bloggers have deliberately assumed androgynous blog identities.<\/p>\n The first event takes me back to the days of ‘Wakili’. Wakili <\/i><\/b>, which is Kiswahili for lawyer, was a handle I created for the purposes of interacting on a Kenyan discussion forum. Most of the time other members mistook me for a man especially since I engaged in discussions that were perceived to be topics for the men i.e anything that fell outside of shopping and pregnancy. <\/p>\n Over the years the forum became increasingly anti-female. Women contributors were (still are) subjected to abuse especially when they \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00cb\u0153trespassed\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 into the male arena of politics, law and other seemingly intellectual debates. If a woman raised an objection to an issue that was considered male only, some of the members chose to attack her womanhood as opposed to dealing with the issues she raised.<\/p>\n It was not uncommon for a member to respond with comments such \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00cb\u0153she must be PMS-ing\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2<\/i><\/b>. Insults like \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00cb\u0153bitch\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2<\/i><\/b> and \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00cb\u0153malaya\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2<\/i><\/b> (Kiswahili for prostitute) were constantly hurled at women who were deemed to have stepped outside their place. If these insults did not silence us were instructed to \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00cb\u0153find a man\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 <\/i><\/b>and \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00cb\u0153get laid\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2<\/i><\/b>. Some women were clearly considered beyond the cure of a penis and they were referred to as lesbians. At present, quite a few contributors have taken to starting whole topics whose sole purpose is to abuse and degrade women.<\/p>\n Needless to say a lot of women, including myself, got fed up of the verbal violence and opted to leave the forums or remain as lurkers. Thankfully blogs arrived in time to meet my internet addiction. <\/p>\n Unfortunately, while blogs have provided countless of women with our own space to speak as we wish on issues that we consider important; it has done little to change the sexist attitudes of some our men. This is evident in some of the blogs maintained by African men and sadly in some of the comments left behind by men on the blogs maintained by women. This leads me to the second event which comes in the form of a blog entry by a Kenyan male blogger. <\/p>\n The blogger wanted to know why the Kenyan Blog Webring had more female bloggers<\/a>. According to him, <\/p>\n “I know that women do talk more but if we look at journalism they sure do not write more.” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n