Why I Write for Women

*Edit* any reference made to voting is now out of date.

Guys, we’ve been nominated for an Afrobloggers award! Our blog, madelinewilsonojo.com has been placed in the Education and Activism category.

Why I Write for Women

A few years back, I took a copywriting course with the College of Media and Publishing (this is not an ad). I’d been blogging since the age of around 18. The advice given to me by the course leader was to begin showing the world my intentions to be a serious copywriter by submitting articles to various publications and also starting a blog.

I began submitting articles here and there, but in terms of blogging, I knew I wanted to pay special attention to my content. I already had been blogging successfully for around nine years (I share everything I have learned about blogging here) but I wanted my writing to take a different direction.

Why?

Around that time, I was going through a frustrating period of career stagnation. My many job applications were going out and coming back in the form of rejection. I was subject to the classic millennial’s dilemma of being asked for experience, whilst no one was prepared to give me any. Unless you are really lucky, if you have ever been on a job hunt, chances are you have experienced similar. However, being a black woman with a non-European surname, I just had to wonder whether misogynoir played a part in the hundreds of “no” emails I was receiving.

Maybe you feel I was being presumptuous or playing the race and gender card. However, did you know that British citizens from ethnic minority backgrounds have to send, on average, 60% more job applications to get a positive response from employers compared to their white counterparts? You should definitely read Slay In Your Lane which goes more into the research.

You may also want to read: Book Review | Slay in Your Lane Presents Loud Black Girls

Anyway, I just knew I couldn’t be the only black female millennial feeling this way. It’s a feeling which cannot be shaken off once it enters your heart, and it’s not a pleasant sentiment to hold at all – that notion that every effort to make something of yourself is being intentionally snuffed out simply because of who you are. So I created this platform to amplify the works and stories of other black women like me, who might be in need of a booster, some support, sisterhood, an embrace, in order to feel seen or heard.

Since 2016, we’ve been amplifying the writing and stories of women. Particularly black women. Here, we love the stories and writing of black women, so running this blog has been a joy! I am proud to lead this platform and I am even happier to have you on board with me! Together, we have produced hundreds of book reviews, interviews and film reviews, the majority of which feature black women and their writing. We have also learned lots about blogging and writing in general through our communications academy.

I know what what I do serves a purpose. I educate and I amplify. There are many women in their respective industries not getting their props, who will continue to draw knowledge and strength from this madelinewilsonojo.com. There are also many women around the world just like you, who by simply existing and doing the work they do continue to educate, entertain and inspire others.

Well done! If we win this award, it will be for you as much as it is for me. Because you are why I write for women.

 

Before I leave, 10 Facts About Women in Writing

These fun facts should encourage or frustrate you to keep putting in the work

• Toni Morrison didn’t start writing until her mid-30s
• Women make up only a third of authors and the critics who review them
• Journalism is still a traditionally male-dominated field
• Women writers dominated 2017’s bestsellers lists
• It took Zadie Smith two years to write the first 20 pages of ‘On Beauty’
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was preparing to be a doctor but realised she didn’t want it enough and turned to writing instead
• The blogging scene is predominantly female
• 38% of bloggers do it professionally versus 62% who do it for personal reasons
• The first known woman writer is the Akkadian/Sumerian poet Enheduanna (2285 BCE-2250 BCE)
• Even in children’s literature, women do not dominate!

Sources: The Guardian, pudding.cool, bookstellyouwhy.com, mentalfloss.com, bbc.com The Washington Post, vuelio.com, csmonitor.com