What are women's issues?

Update: Shakespeare's Sister has the final word.
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OK, I don't have enough time this morning to post with the thoughtfulness this topic deserves, BUT: remember last month, when I posted this rant about Kevin Drum's apparent willful ignorance of women bloggers? Those of you who were keeping up will also remember that he (deservedly) got blasted with a shitstorm of comments and trackback posts calling him to task. I thought that was going to be the end of it (until the next clueless male posted on the question; it's usually a three-month cycle), but no: yesterday, Kevin bravely dove back into the fray, accepting some responsibility for his lack of attention:

When we turn to the men, however, we mostly get either silence or stubborn denial. Manan Ahmed: "Huh?! There never should be a reason to link to anyone besides your appreciation for their content." Jeff Jarvis: " I'm white. I'm male. I blog. You got a problem with that? Tough." The Deacon over at Power Line: "The notion that [successful] bloggers are making decisions about linking based on gender, or race for that matter, seems quite far-fetched." Dave Winer mocks the whole idea that there's any kind of problem in the first place.

Right. No problem at all. No wonder so many women got pissed off at what I thought was a fairly unexceptional post last month. If this is the crowd I'm part of, I don't blame them.

He also, however, posted some comments from women bloggers and columnists, including Maureen Dowd's column on the topic, where she admits to wanting to be liked, not attacked, and Deborah Tannen's work on the socialization of men to be combative and women to be nurturing. Now, I have a real problem with essentialism (e.g. 'men are essentially aggressive, women are essentially caring'). First, because there are SO many counter-examples as to make the premise highly questionable; second, because it ignores the very real and very complex social forces that are at work when it comes to gender dynamics. Having said that, though, I had to give Kevin credit for tussling with this and not just letting himself off the hook. Shakespeare's Sister, however, was less willing:

We’re not going to get anywhere as long as the male bloggers who post about this issue continue to do so with such appalling intellectual dishonesty. In private emails, male bloggers who publicly wring their hands about how to solve the problem of the dearth of women bloggers in the upper echelon, will admit that the reality is the difficulty of finding women worth linking to.

Women don’t give me much linkable material.

Women write on subjects that don’t interest me.

Women don’t know how to compromise on abortion rights.

Why don’t women post about Social Security? It affects them, too.

Women don’t write commentary, don’t come up with new ideas.

Gender politics is all secondary issues.

The day I see any one of those notions let loose for open debate on one of the blogs authored by a man who holds those opinions is the day we might actually get somewhere with this discussion.

This, of course, puts a whole new spin on things. If Kevin's been saying one thing on the blog, and another thing in private emails, it becomes difficult to have an honest conversation about the issue. Which is what I'm really interested in doing! But again, credit where credit is due: Kevin 'fessed up this morning to his inconsistencies, and asks a critical question: What are women's issues?

What, indeed? This, of course, has been a central point of debate in women's studies and feminist circles practically since the dawn of time. Trish Wilson usefully points out that labelling something a "women's issue" has typically actually meant something more like "not a man's issue," i.e., "not important." And I certainly think that this is what makes it so easy for many liberal male bloggers to be so cavalier about "compromising" on abortion rights, for example. Considering how incredibly diverse the category of "women" is, I find it difficult to make ANY statements about them as a group. I mean: women's issues? WHICH women? If we're going to divide up the issues, it makes a lot more sense to do it along the lines of race or class or even geography than along gender. But at the same time, given the gender-stratified society we live in, there are going to be issues that are more (generally) to (many) women than they (typically) are to (most) men. So what do you think? ARE there women's issues? If so, what are they? And who should be writing about them?