When it comes to lifestyle blogging, is omission of certain “lifestyle elements” untruthful or tactical?
New York Magazine’s The Cut published an article Wednesday, “No Sex Please — We’re Domestic Goddesses” exploring what the author, Lauren Sandler, calls “The Internet’s most ostentatiously blissful women — the curators of domesticity on Pinterest, Tumblr, and thousands of female-driven blogs, ” saying they “occupy a sexless aspirational world.”
Citing Deb Perleman’s Smitten‘s transformation into Smitten Kitchen and the sister bloggers (Elsie and Emma) behind A Beautiful Mess, Sandler says that a new kind of cyber-exhibitionism for women exists in lifestyle blogging; where these women are curating a perception of domestic bliss, without ever acknowledging that “physical pleasure exists, never mind its key role in domestic bliss.”
The article doesn’t harp on or chastise these kinds bloggers, rather, the author acknowledges some of the sexuality issues facing modern women, and wonders if the readers, writers and curators of “food porn” and “shelter porn” couldn’t all benefit from extending the intimacy of this blogging into the bedroom. She mentions Dooce and The Pioneer Woman as examples of content that spans a more all-encompassing “lifestyle” perspective.
Joanna Goddard of Cup of Joe recently dipped into a “taboo” topic on her blog, causing some to question if she’d been hacked, and most to praise her honesty and share their stories in the comments. (Though in fact Goddard was previously the writer of Glamour.com‘s sex and relationships blog.)
Some bloggers go there, and some bloggers don’t, and just because a topic – any topic – isn’t addressed openly on a blog, shouldn’t prompt readers to assume it’s lacking from their life. Ultimately everyone must decide for themselves what they feel comfortable sharing, what they think is appropriate, and what will appeal to their audience.
Read the full article from The Cut here.
Do you think that many lifestyle blogs are leaving out a critical component of the domestic life, or is it really none of our business?
Photo via Shutterstock
but yeah we shouldn’t assume
A Cup of Jo has actually been posing questions very similar to that one for quite some time now. I think she is a good example of someone who brings it up the right amount. I, for one, could never bring that up on my blog as my parents are avid readers.