Despite stereotypes, Salon article was compliment to Mormon bloggers

Last Sunday, I checked my Facebook wall.

Hannah, a reader of my blog, had written me a note. My blog, she said, was “name checked on Salon (salon.com) today!” And for my convenience, she posted the link.

I went on to read the article by Emily Matchar, a self-proclaimed “childless overeducated atheist feminist” who confessed to an obsession with reading Mormon Mommy Blogs. She admitted to finding the blogs addicting and reluctantly used the word “uplifiting” to describe their effect. In short, it was actually a sincere tribute to the Mormon Mommy Blogging genre.

I was honored to have my blog mentioned in the article. In a quick tweet to @emilymatchar I thanked her for the mention. I also linked it on several of my personal social media outlets as well as my own blog.

I was not prepared, however, for the onslaught of e-mails, phone calls and texts (including one from my own bishop) in response.

To be honest, I’ve received many e-mails in the course of blogging from a colorful sampling of women confessing a similar addiction. The e-mails start something like this:

“I am a single mother, Methodist in Texas.”

“I am a Jewish, Liberal Long Islander.”

“I am a mother of two in the adult entertainment industry."

It's as if they're saying, “I am not like you, but I like you.”

I am sure many Mormon bloggers out there have received similar correspondences. Articles like Emily’s tipped the media to something we’ve known for a long time — people are interested in Mormon bloggers.

Of course, the article didn’t quite get all the details right. The term "Bloggernacle" was defined too widely. The reasons for the huge presence of Latter-day Saints in the Bloggersphere were dimly proposed.

But maybe, most importantly, the stereotypes were a bit too generalized. Mormon bloggers were generally defined as traditional homemakers, with magazine-style blogs with youth and fertility to boot. (For starters, a couple of us mentioned in the article are older, and at least two of us started our blogs to work through infertility struggles. Some of us don’t use the term "Mommy Blogger" at all.)