"Through observation and research findings, women are more likely to post their
personal issues, so to say, while men tend to talk about politics or technology
in their blog which sometimes, if I have to say, catches attention from the
mainstream media," said a Cambodian commentator, named Lyda whose thesis is
related to gender and blogging, commenting on a post entitled "Digital
Democracy Emerging in Cambodia."
Yet, her remark is not surprisingly new as this has been raised by other
writers who tackled the gender question on blogging:
"[...] Why men are more likely than women to write about news and politics is a
question that existed long before the dawn of the Web [...]," reported by Lisa
Guernsey, journalist of the New York Times who maintains a blog herself as
well.
There are some who highlight the cultural link of the gender issue while
others blame mainstream media which puts too much attention on the male group
of bloggers.
21 year-old female blogger, Kounila Keo, now a senior student of Media and
Communication at the Royal University of Phnom Penh and who began blogging in
late 2006 with emphasis on Cambodian lifestyle and social politics, posits
that the above view is witnessed in a male dominated world.
"Usually, men are seen as strong and superior and their words usually touch on
politics or technology while women are seen as soft and inferior so to talk
about politics or technology will put them in a weird "tomboy' situation," said
Kounila.
Kounila also shares a similar observation that the gender gap in blogging is
due to the traditional gender roles. However, she adds the blame to the lack of
political and institutional role of women in Cambodian society:
"I think traditional gender roles have been a force that keeps men doing the
same thing: writ(ing) about political matters and women, their personal life. Of
course, a lot of women I have known like posting their personal issues because
it is much easier. I see this as a lack of encouragement in political
involvement from educational institutions."
Recently, Kounila observes that there is an increasing number of women who blog
about social issues and politics.
"Cambodia might not now be a place where the majority of women blog about
politics or technology as yet; however, I strongly hope that in the years to
come, more women are educated and there, we will see political content on blog
mushrooming."
While Kounila firmly believes that women can be empowered by blogging and using
technologies, Sidaroth Kong, 27 year-old female blogger who have actively
worked for more than 7 years with NGO sectors mainly promoting ICT projects for
social development and gender mainstream, believes that women themselves are
the agents of change.
"Empowerment doesn't come automatically, you need a good plan and a good
strategy to do so. If women keep conservative ideas and surrounded by strict
culture and mindset, blogging will still be hard to...use as a tool to
empower them. Empowerment and impact of empowerment rely on willingness to
change, shift of mindset and appropriate use of technology with specific
strategy and goal," said Sidaroth.
These two active female bloggers share a similar belief that the high internet cost plays a role in limiting people ability to blog. They also note that a favorable environment that will benefit bloggers is lacking in the country.Â
Kounila
asserts that gender roles still play a critical role in obstructing women
participation in blogging:
"In Cambodia,
we still have a higher internet cost, and voicing concerns over politics or
anything in general is just considered as a funny or deceitful act by men who
take women for granted. Traditional gender roles are still quite prevalent in
Cambodian society while women, I believe, have to be strong and vocal to break
all the barriers.
Sidaroth, on the other hand, emphasizes the need to adopt a favorable political
environment for bloggers in general:
"I think there is one main challenge that worries others and myself for
blogging: how safe is the protection of the social environment for our
blogging. We do not dare to blog any critical issues against government because
of our concern about our safety or lawsuits that allow individuals to charge
bloggers with defamation suits. Therefore, the social sphere of a country does
pose less or more challenges for one to really blog freely or not"
Asked about what they want to see more on the net and if blogging can change
Cambodian society, Sidaroth insists to have more people blogging with higher standard
of reliable and objective information. Also she hopes that more hidden stories
will be revealed through blogs.
Notably, these two vocal bloggers have written a post appealing for more blog
discussions on politics and active public participation in elections. Konila
posted an interesting article on "Politics You View in this World" which is a
must-read. Solidaroth urges her readers to use their right to vote in last
year's National Election, in her post on My 1st time to Vote-27 July 2008. This
apparently indicates that blogging has been used as an advocacy tool for
political discussion, especially from the view of female bloggers.
*The two female bloggers were interviewed via email.
You may view the latest post at
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/12/23/cambodia-female-voices-in-the-blogosphere/