Pinky’s Paperhaus attended the Podcasting Expo noting that only 15% of the people who showed up were women. She says the expo was “hype-y and ho-hum.” Why then is the realm of podcasting overwhelmingly male? This Wired article delves into the issue more, pointing out that even the president of Women in Technology International is a man. Further, podcaster Wendy Malley notes in the article, “I don’t know if a guy’s going to download that podcast. They’ll see that it’s two chicks and think, ‘I probably don’t want to hear a bunch of chick talk.'”
Bad enough that we have pejorative and often misleading labels like chick flicks and chick lit. Does this mean that we’ll see a slew of journos and bloggers badmouthing “chickcasts” as well?
Podcasting, I think, has demonstrated that it is less of a novelty and more of a viable possibility than it was a year ago. And I’m curious why women have been reluctant to take the mike and cement themselves in a low-cost medium that encourages alternative voices.