3
2004
Welcome, Political Animals.
Kevin Drum is a way much nicer guy than I am or would be if I were a guy. Which I’m not. Here’s what I wrote to him:
Let me add this comment to the ridiculous head-scratching on the part of male bloggers and women:
Dudes, women have been locked out of the political magazine commentary business for years. Back when I was a young thing, I was told -- flatly -- that Charlie Peters didn't hire women. And you know what, he didn't. So, today, there is little in the way of popular mainstream thought being done by women writers (I am not talking about women writing about women's issues). A few years later, TNR under Andrew Sullivan, preferred the "journalism" of Ruth Shalit to anything more substantive. It's only recently -- in the past few years, really the past 5 years -- as you've seen women bureau chiefs at the big papers in Washington -- that you've also started to see women move and shake in political writing.
Walk down the list of WM contributors on your own site; today's listing (6/3/04) carries not a single female name. And when they do -- Katherine Boo, Margaret Talbot -- they're familiar as worn slippers. That's not unusual, gentlemen, not at all. The Monthly and TNR have long been the "feed schools" for political journalism. Today's "contributor's list" offers ample proof of that.
Okay, so now I have quoted myself twice in one day. Yikes! Enough!