Those of us who write for and read This Mommy Gig are no strangers to social media, Web 2.0 or the tool of those popular terms called blogging. Some work in corporate offices, some have virtual offices or part-time jobs, others concentrate full-time on their families; but, we all make time to leverage the latest online tools. And we’re by no means alone. More than 36 million women in the U.S. write and read blogs every week.

So, why is it then that when Chris Brogan decides to interview 32 “leaders in social media” in his upcoming twebinar* only five of them are women? This dearth of women being asked to speak or being interviewed about social media has already been discussed by greater minds than me. Lena West talked about it back in February. And Connie Reece called out my own city’s Chamber of Commerce for being guilty of it back in April.

But, what hit me when I looked at the list of leaders is that they’re mostly people who make the conference circuit. So, the visiblity that affords them perpetuates more opportunities for more visible engagements.

And, then I was also hit by this recent tweet from Laura Fitten, who I know better as Pistachio. Laura is a consultant who travels that conference circuit quite a bit herself, and she was asking if men at these events ever get asked “who is watching your kids?”

I somehow doubt they do. It is expected when you see a man traveling for work that if he has a family, his wife is taking care of his children. But, the reverse is not as expected when women travel. And, based just on personal observation, it doesn’t often happen.

When my church held a forum for men, where they spent a weekend away from their families, not much changed in the makeup of my 5-year-olds Sunday School class. But, when a women’s weekend retreat was held, nearly 50 percent of my regular attendees were away at grandma’s house for the weekend!

By no means an exhaustive study on the topic, or necessarily an apples-to-apples comparison, it all came together to make me ask: is the reason we don’t see more women speaking or being held up as leaders in social media the fact that fewer of them have (or feel they have) the freedom to travel the conference circuit to make the connections and get their name out there?

*I love Twitter, but does everything have to be named for it now?

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