Conclusion

Results suggest that the weblog is an important new genre and that it presents a considerable opportunity for a large number of people to have a voice on the Web. As other scholars (Wahlstrom, 1994, Aschauer, 1999, Rickly, 1999, Wolfe, 1999, Takayoshi, 2000, Gurak, 2001, Comstock, 2001) have noted, the Internet, which certainly can be used for feminist purposes, is as prone to gender bias and hierarchy as face-to-face society. Gender bias in the mainstream blogging community has been attributed to the subject matter that men write about (news, politics, technology) and the subject matter women write about (relationships, family, friends, cooking, knitting). Of course there are exceptions to the gender-determined subject matter rule, but, as a student of feminist studies and Internet studies, I find it disturbing that blogging practices are mirroring gender stereotypes so accurately. Maybe we as composition teachers can help future (and current) bloggers move toward a middle ground in our writing classes. Some bloggers say that this “meeting in the middle” is starting to happen already. Perhaps, by using weblogs in our composition pedagogy and encouraging gender-bending in the subject-matter of the posts, we can help subvert arbitrary and confining notions of masculine content and feminine content.