Maelin, Ann, Kaylee and I have been talking about getting this show on the road for a couple months now. I was psyched about it back then, and after a period of deliberation and questioning, I’m psyched again. The issue I found myself grappling with, was just the idea of writing for a gendered audience. Is our target audience decidedly gendered? Clearly, it kind of is — is that ok? And what does that mean — what does it mean to write for a gendered audience?

There’s just something about the idea of thoughts, of commentary — anything intended for intellectual consumption — being gendered just fundamentally does not sit well with me.

Part of this comes from the centuries of associations that society has cemented in our heads when it comes to gendered adjectives. The idea of writing something that will be labeled girly really upset me, just as the idea of a MANLY blog makes me want to roll my eyes. “Feminine” and “masculine” have less of a cringe-factor associated with them, but I was apprehensive that there is still this hint at frivolity, at the likelihood of something superficial that is inherent to a blog that isolates a gendered target audience.

Yet, I love reading pieces written for women, by women. I don’t love all of it, and that’s not all I love to read. I really wish there was more representation of a female voice in writing about my non-traditionally “feminine” interests — about science, technology and gadgets. I really wish there wasn’t still writing in these arenas that is gender polarised to be unwelcoming to me.

Fact of matter is, though, that people enjoy reading writing by people they relate to. It’s just human to want to find something that clicks and resonates with you in the entertainment you seek out. And after some long conversations with myself, I finally think that’s OK.

Not everyone has the same experiences, and some experiences are just inherently set apart to specific cultures, races, and yes, genders. All the men out there probably aren’t quite enthralled by how the mechanics of a diva-cup go down, but you’re in the clear — as long as you don’t run screaming on encountering one — in which case, please, keep running.

So, yeah, I care about blogs that talk about what OPI mattes are the hottest right now. But I also wish someone wrote about what material is in the “longstay coat” that makes it stick around — and whether that’s going to eventually give me some wacky cancer, while you’re at it.

At the end of the day, there is plenty of media out there telling women how to be pretty and decorous, and men how to be manly and even geeky and intelligent. It’s a whole other can of worms that I’m sure we’ll open and reopen again over time when you get down to how this sort of messaging reinforces itself over time, just propagating The Way Things Are.

There is plenty out there telling me how to pair the right leggings with the right skirt for the effortless shabby chic look, whatever that is. But it was only through trial-and-error and venting with a rare female co-worker that I found out how to get ESD straps to play nice with my shoes. Come on. More than the both of us have tested creative ways to pair ESD straps and heels on days involving surprise plant walk-throughs. Let’s talk about it!

I hope that here we can provide a space and context for thoughts and opinions that are geeky, nerdy, in-yo’-face, and whatever else they want whenever they want — but also just as feminine as they want all the time.