Haggling Over The Price

You know the old joke. Supposedly told about George Bernard Shaw (some attribute it to Sir Winston Churchill). Aristocratic lady and Shaw are talking at a party. Shaw asks if she would sleep with him for 1-million pounds. She agrees. Then Shaw asks if she'd do it for five pounds. She replies, "What do you think I am?" Shaw says, "We've already established what you are, ma'am. Now we're just haggling over the price." What brings this up? Well, have you been following that little dust-up over at Right Wing News? It started with this post. Go ahead and read it; I'll wait. It continued with this post. Responses were swift. And ... intense. Beth (MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy) fired back. Cassandra (Villainous Company) weighed in. As did C.A.Marks (Alabama Improper) and so many, many other blogs (I'd be all day listing them). So, perhaps I should stay out of this. After all, I don't have boobs. Plus, I don't want to risk having my Thai Pepper cooked! Still, here I go. Making an ass out of myself. Sex Sells? First, do women bloggers post pictures or say/do things that would be considered using sex to draw an audience? Yes, some do. Agent Bedhead has posted sexy images, though not pictures of herself. Still, the idea is, sex sells. In fact, she gets slightly bothered when I call her "cute as a button." She prefers the "sultry, sexy" persona. And if I didn't have children nearly her age, I'd probably go that route. But you understand... Does Smokin' Hot Mean Bad Writing? Are the attractive women that post pictures bad bloggers? No, not all. Some are. Some are not. How a woman looks really doesn't have any relationship with how smart she is or how well she writes. However, the first time I visited Beth's (MVRWC) blog, she was using the "Geek Girl" theme. Which, to be honest, implies a sexy woman's blog. I've never met Beth. I've seen a few different pictures of her. The "Geek Girl" doesn't look at all like her. But Beth, based on the pictures I've seen of her and on comments of those that have met her, is a very attractive woman. But... and this point is worth mentioning ... I didn't go to Beth's blog because of the "sexy woman" image. I didn't see the "Geek Girl" picture until I was already at her blog! It did not -- it could not -- have pulled me there. I had to have already been there to have seen it. Which invalidates one of the arguments about posting sexy pictures. John Hawkins wrote

If you're a female blogger and one of your strengths is your looks, there's nothing wrong with trying to look sexy to entice guys over to your page. Nothing. At. All. If you've got it, flaunt it, and enjoy the increased traffic.

Sorry, John. But "trying to look sexy" will not "entice guys over" to a blog. They've got to already be there to see the sexy pics. What it can do is bring them back. But I think the women are saying they don't want those that are ... typing with one hand? ... to be there anyway. Sexy Is Bad? Are the sexy women bloggers bad people? No, not all. Some, like Agent Bedhead and Feisty Republican Whore take a "bad girl" persona. I've met "Agent Bedhead." I've not met "Feisty Republican Whore," but I know a bit about her (yes, she's a girl; no Libertarian Girl hoax going on there). She's an attractive young lady (yes, she's cute as a button) and ... here's the kicker ... she's a good person. Who's A Whore? I guess, to some degree, from very large to very small, most of us are whores. Sex sells. Sexy works. Remember Libertarian Girl? A guy posting as a hot chick. Got busted. Still posts, though not as a hot chick anymore. But the fact is, lots of hits came from the hot chick picture he was using. John Hawkins is right: A smokin' hot picture will bring visitors back. However, I don't think the picture gets them there in the first place ... unless it's part of a BlogAd or something. But it does bring them back. I think John was saying that it's okay to use whatever is at your disposal to draw the audience. Which makes blogging much like ... professional wrestling. Characters, sometimes using their real names, sometimes using variations of their names, sometimes just making stuff up. But it's all part of the act. Part of the show. Is blogging like that? Yeah, to a degree, it is. I know of (and actually know some) bloggers who use pseudonymns. Okay, fake names. But it's a character they play. Sometimes, the character is close to the mark. Other times, it allows them to act out. I've blogged under multiple (more than one) names. Sometimes as a joke, where I was not trying to hide who I really was. But sometimes just to get some stuff out, or to try something different. But have I ever used sex to draw an audience? Yes. What else could explain all the hits we get here by way of Google searches for Jamie Lynn Spears naked?