Comment left on Modern Matriarch:

“But can an aspiring professor/freelance writer compete in a saturated blogospehre? Can a ’smart’ blog about writing and literature compete with ’sexy’ celeb news and political scandal?”

No and no. I hate to say it, but “smart” and “popular” are almost mutually exclusive.

I applaud your efforts and your intentions, but I don’t think it’s possible to be popular and intelligent at the same time for the simple reason that most people are stupid and enjoy content that is the same.

I applaud your appeal for equality among genders, but I don’t think this is a feminist issue. You see, smart blogs with witty content are less popular than sensationalist garbage whether they were written by a man or a woman. Intelligent and thought provoking content with a literary bend will lose ground to sex and celebrity every time, regardless of the gender of the author. This is a reality that permeates all aspects of society… it’s just a function of the fact that the middle of the road, plain vanilla, mainstream masses will ALWAYS flock to mediocrity and if you’re too smart, they’ll ignore you.

“Remember that either/or question “would you rather be pretty or smart?” The implication, of course, was that pretty girls where popular . . . smart girls where not. ”

To be honest, I see the same dichotomy in the world of men all the time. Hence, the “jock versus nerd” stereotype. Would you rather be a badass or a bookworm? Would you rather be a stud or a geek? The implication there is that if you’re cool and popular, you’re not overly booky, and if you’re too nerdy you’re not attractive.

Again, I don’t see it as a gender issue, because the implication that attractiveness and stupidity go hand in hand is prevalent to both genders. The issue at hand is “is it possible to be smart and popular at the same time EVER?”

I would love to be proven wrong. I wish you nothing but the best, because your heart seems to be in the right place. Good luck and please, make me eat my words.

Best.