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Back in the ‘80s I used to work at a Christian “coffeehouse” (for those unfamiliar with the term, that’s a kind of nightclub without the cigarettes or booze, and the entertainment usually featured contemporary Christian singers). One weekend I had to pick up Wayne Watson at the airport, so I headed on out, only to realize I really didn’t really know what he looked like! I mean, I’d seen his albums, but like many musicians, on every one of them he had a different “look”.

So I had an idea and zipped over to the bookstore in the airport, and lo and behold, there was one of his albums (an older one), complete with a picture. When he finally came out of the plane, sure enough, his hair was different and he had a beard. In fact, he really didn’t look much like his picture…

A post by John Koestier at bizhack yesterday causes me to wonder if a familiar bugaboo is going to raise its ugly head (if you think about it, ALL bugaboos have ugly heads). Although I think John handles it well, it’s something I’ve wondered about for some time, but it reminded me of the story above. Are you like your picture?

In Blogrolls and sex: what does gender have to do with it, he brings up the fact that a particular female Blogger whose blogroll consists of exclusively women bloggers, and asks some very good questions.

It’s one of those “elephant in the room” issues: everyone knows it’s there; it’s just not talked about that much. (Old joke – Q: How do you know an elephant has been in your refrigerator? A: You can see his footprints in the butter dish.)

Now before we go on, let me just say up front that if you check MY blogroll, you’ll not find any women Bloggers’ links there (with the exception of links to “groups” of bloggers, like MP Daily Fix). It’s not that I don’t want to; in fact, it’s not that I care one way or the other. It’s just that I simply haven’t found any I want to read regularly (yet). That’s it in a nutshell. No prejudice, no chauvinism, just – well, let’s call it chance. I’ve actually read many women’s blogs – I simply haven’t found one I like enough.

Could it be the subject matter? If you check my blogroll, you’ll find most are focused on Business, Leadership, and Innovation, plus a few odds and ends. Am I saying there are no good women’s blogs in these subjects? No, of course not! But here’s my question in response: Does my blogroll say I’m sexist? And a related question: Would any reader have even thought about it except for me bringing it up?

The thing is, I think blogrolls serve a valuable purpose on a blog. First, they help provide your readers with an insight into who you are. The fact is every single item on a blog page tells a little story. Every post, every link and every button tells your readers about your likes, dislikes, and personality. In addition, the blogroll serves as a source of more good blogs your readers might want to keep track of. It’s like a personal recommendation: “I’ve read this blog and you might like it too.”

One thing about blogging that some may forget (although I don’t see how it’s possible to forget this) – everything a Blogger writes contributes to the public story of who they are. So if readers are getting a picture, is it the one you want them to have?

Are you like your picture?

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!