Shelley, you know the industry far better then I and I defer to you on what it is like to do business within this world. I have never had to do anything in this industry other than write about my experiences and comment on how my sans-gun past and my pro-gun present compare. You are right that being judged on one's merits and hard work should be the key to success in this and many other male dominated industries. But I still believe that the women who work in this industry are different in the most awesome of ways.
I must come clean about the inspiration for my original post on the women of the firearms industry. I had recently received an email from a woman who claimed that her experiences with industry ladies, had been nothing but negative. I polled my own feelings, other female gun bloggers and, I too, spoke with Kathy Jackson. The consensus was, that gun industry women don't snipe at one another, they support each other and have formed something of a sisterhood. With this data collected, I began writing.
My original post was written purely as a defense of my friends. It is fine that people disagreed and that many have had different experiences. At this point I will only claim to be an expert on my own experiences. As a blogger I know that I may put out content saying anything I want, but just as Shelley points out, if this girl gun blogger doesn't hold herself to a higher standard, then I am doing a disservice to all of us.
This is why I completely agree with Shelley's latter point, just because anyone can start a blog does not mean all blogs are created equal. Or to use a local turn of phrase: Opinions are like a**holes, everybody's got one. Sometimes an expert puts out useful content in blog form. Other times, blogs inspire conversations that need to be sparked. Probably equal to the both of these instances, are blogs that are pure crap. It's up to readers to decide where they want the bar to be set and then vote, with their clicks, their "likes" and their page visits.
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