Great list, thank you for sharing.

Liz and I are leading a conversation at Educon2.1 in January 2009 on the topic of in the hopes that we can bring to the table these three question as they pertain to the edublogosphere:

Our blogroll, our Reader, who we follow on Twitter is all personal to us and the five impressive women you chose to showcase reveals a bit about your educational interests – thanks again for sharing.

When I read your post the other day my response was that I was honored that you had included me on your list since I’m such an admirer of your work. Gender never entered my mind.

Yet when I read On Growing Facial Hair and Gender and Blogging and Top 25 Lists, Oh My! my instinctive response was do we really need to be having a debate on gender. These were posts by woman talking about male gender bias.

Chuckling as I enter into the gender debate — but if you look at the big collaborative projects what proportion of them are coordinated and facilitated by men as opposed to women? All the large projects I’ve been involved with have been coordinated by all women perhaps I have unwittingly been exhibiting gender bias myself?

Vicki,
Yes, I like that you say ‘for now’, it lifts my spirits to think that gender and race will not matter in the future.

Heidi,
Thanks for both your thoughtful comment, and also for the advice you shared on my ‘Unintentional Bias’ post too.

Ken,
As well as Kim and Sue, Silvia Tolisano and Michele Martin are both great educators that I’ve ‘met’ online, and I thank you for sharing who your mentors are.

Cheryl,
We really do live by example, and just as your comment in my ‘Let’s Talk About Sex’ post said, ‘it is about being a good citizen online and in the community, it is about being respectful of oneself and others.’ I think it starts in the home and it seems you’ve done a great job there!

Jabiz,
We share the same hopes for how our girls will be seen in the future. Also, thanks for the link… an uplifting project that inspires hope!

As a man, who has always had a hard time dealing with other men, especially those saturated in machismo and testosterone, I agree that the world needs to move more towards the feminine.

As the father of a little girl, I see her future as one where she will not be judged as a woman, but as a capable, compassionate, and intelligent human being.

In closing, I would like to share a link to a project run by my best friend. I have mentioned it on Twitter, but I would like to add a plug here as well, because it seems to fit your message. I hope you don’t mind.

Daraja Academy will be the first free secondary school in all of East Africa. In January 2009, 25 girls from Kenya will be given a chance for a secondary education which would otherwise not be possible, given their current economic situation.

The mission of the Daraja Academy is to cultivate a community of individuals with a sense of cultural awareness, social conscience, and environmental responsibility, all while instilling talents that will enable them to open doors to a global society.

More here: http://daraja-academy.org/

I thank you and all of your readers in advance for any support you can give to this grassroots project.

I will be heading to Kenya next week, to learn more and will share what i find via the network.

Can’t argue with you there! Silvia Tolisano, Kim Cofino, Sue Waters and Michele Martin are four women who got me into blogging and taught me how to do it. Their team worked hard for more than a month to provide volunary assistance to Homers like me. There wasn’t a bloke on the team. They were the team.

Catchya later
from Middle-earth

I must admit that I’ve been thinking a lot about the gender stuff – more specifically how women are portrayed, how we are judged, and how we are often belittled in both subtle and not-so-subtle ways.

Barry Oshry speaks about systems, dominance and “otherness.” http://seeingsystems.blogs.com/my_weblog/2008/09/the-story-indic.html

In that context, women are the “others” and our language reflects this difference (waiter, waitress, actor, actress) – and that’s why this differentiation bothers me, I think. Because it implies that I am different and perhaps “less than” the men around me.

Does this offend us because deep down, we’re afraid that it’s true? That we really are less? Would it offend if we were confident in our value and worth, regardless of the intent?

What I’ve been learning and practicing is to trust in myself and ignore the “distractions” around me. http://www.iwasthinking.ca/2008/12/15/an-eagle-knows-its-an-eagle/

I am getting better at being proud and confident of being a woman – and of knowing that I don’t have to do things (like manage a team or a project) the way the system or society or the “old boys club” tells me I’m supposed to (CONTROL them, have inflexible rules, apply consequences, punish, etc…). Instead, I’m learning to trust my “feminine” way of leading (influencing, building relationships, creating trust, sharing my passion, using my creativity).

It is a softer kind of power – yet every bit as powerful when I trust in myself!

Here’s what I’ve come to believe: the world will not change until we change ourselves! When we stand up and just expect equality while being ourselves, we will indeed have taught everyone around us how we deserve to be treated!

So thank you – for including me on your list, for believing in me even when I haven’t believed in myself, for supporting me to be MYSELF!

You’re pretty incredible, my friend! As the others above have noted – I also respect you immensely, and that makes this that much more of an honor!

Take care,
H