I missed Culch.ie being honoured by the Irish blogging community as Best Pop Culture Blog at the Irish Blog Awards on Saturday night because I was upstairs fixing my hair (true story). I’m sorry I missed it because I figure it’s a damn good feeling to be validated by the other people who share your same blogging passion and have decided to tell you that they think you’re good at it. Luckily, I’m one part of a big culch.ie team and a lot of other people represented and a good time was had by all.
It’s a shame to see someone else’s good time ruined by begrudgery though. Equally honoured by their win were Beaut.ie, who take the time to show up every year, accept their award (throwing weight behind the IBAs by showing that as professional writers, they think it’s worth coming to) and be lovely to all who approach them – which is much more than a lot of nominees and winners do.
Leaves a bad taste in the mouth, then, to discover that some folk have no qualms about making little of their achievements and decrying that they’ve been named Blog of the Year 2010 because they’re only a beauty blog.
It’s an awful shame to spend 17 years in formal education only to discover that you’re vapid because you read a website about make-up. It came as a terrible shock. I’m not sure whether to give up being educated or just throw out my foundation and go around looking like the bride of, well, probably Grandad, if he married according to his principles.
Female IBA attendee applies lip gloss in 'you won't get away with that here' shocker
Ah jaysis lads, the internet is an awfully sensitive place. If you’re not impressed by the blogs that are winning awards then nominate the ones you read and sign up as a judge so that there’s a fair hearing for all tastes.
The tragedy of it…in a year where there’s national uproar on the economic front, the blog world saw fit to honour a website about beauty. And here I thought the blog awards were about honouring the best, no matter what the subject they write about. It doesn’t matter if NAMA was the biggest news of the year, clearly nobody had a consistently great blog about NAMA or it would’ve won – are we supposed to vote for websites that cover the right topics in case all other media outlets bully is the schoolyard for liking lipstick?
I read beaut.ie. I’m not ashamed of it. I would buy beaut if it were a magazine. Similarly, I’d buy any newspaper that had a column by Suzy Byrne or any magazine featuring Demure Lemur or Xbox or Rosie orRosemary or Sinéad or David. Somehow, I’ve managed to get through life maintaining dual interests in make-up and politics; humour and fashion; arts and technology. Mind you, I’ve had the honour of meeting most of those bloggers and I’m delighted to call some of them friends, so I’m really just part of a clique, ruining it for the rest of ye.
Sinéad Cochrane, joint winner for Best Technology...we gather she types Pat Phelan's posts
The biggest insult to all these women who are apparently being affronted by beaut.ie is to tell them that they’re wrong to ‘waste’ their free choice by choosing make-up. People should be recognised for their talents irrespective of how unimpressive those talents may seem to others who insist on comparing to them to apparently more worthy pursuits. Beaut isn’t just about what nail polish looks best but about where the deals are and frugality and how to improve yourself physically, which shouldn’t be any less okay than mentally.
Traffic and comments speak for themselves. Readers like beaut.ie. Their work clearly kicks the work of begrudging others right in their foundation-free faces. Let’s not forget, a politics blog very deservingly won the Grand Prix last year and unless y’all would like to have yearly Groundblog Day awards where we pat the same people on the back every time, then embrace change.
Well done Beaut.ie. I hope begrudger.ie hasn’t completely rained on your parade. Blogging: Because Sometimes People Like To Read Shit About Shit That They’re Interested In, And That Shit Isn’t Always The Same Shit Because People Are Diverse And That’s OK.
If you’re a hater just go buy some false nails or something, at best it might hinder your typing for a while.
Thanks to admin for okaying my rant. I stand over it as personal opinion, it doesn’t represent everyone on Culch.
Well said Sinead!
great post.
as its a blog awards and not a content awards i agree that beaut.ie are well deserved winners.
congrats to all.
cheers
c
Fantastic post. Beaut.ie is a fantastic blog. One of the best.
I don’t read it myself, but I did give it full marks across the board when I judged it. It’s the perfect example of what a specialist blog should be.
It’s funny that anyone would mind something like beaut.ie winning the grand prix. I consider it a fantastic reference point for serious/educated women. Serious/educated women always look amazing too - it makes them even more fabulous. Where on earth would they seriously educate themselves in looking fabulous if it wasn’t for the good ladies at beaut.ie…? I strive to be one day as fabulous as they.
Great post Sinead. It’s a pity some people couldn’t take their noses out of their copy of The Female Eunuch, (for clearly these complainers care a lot about women’s rights, eh? Sure one has a picture of a woman, sorry, woman’s boobs, on his blog header and all) long enough to realise that a beauty blog is a niche blog - and this does not mean that it is not worthy of an award.
Would they be so upset if a movie or football or beer blog won?
I think we all know the answer to that one. Of course not everyone is expected to agree with all of the winners who were chosen, but the reasons being put forward for Beaut.ie not winning are, on the whole, stupidly sexist and smack of bitterness.
Bloody women, eh? Now they’re getting awards for writing about mascara…they’ll want the vote next.
Great post Sinéad, it has somewhat eased my anger after reading other sexist, bile-filled tripe on other blogs whinging about it. Thanks!
While Beaut.ie is not a site that interests me personally I do appreciate the quality of the posting there and the time, effort and consummate skill the authors have. For any member of the internet fraternity (and I use that word on purpose) to suggest otherwise is incomprehensibly narrow-minded and shameful.
It was a worthy winner…although I still think Culch was robbed!
I’m a huge fan of the beaut.ie site. I personally think it was well deserved. I do love Culch.ie tho!
“Serious/educated women always look amazing too”
No they don’t. It’s just that the ones that don’t are ignored by all the serious/educated men, so you never get to see them.
Sinead - this is lovely, thank you!
When it comes down to it, all we actually care about is the people who do log in and read us every day, because they are the ones we do this for.
Well said!
Brilliantly put Sinead.
Thanks Sinead, and congratulations to you all at Culch.ie too - yay!
Still laughing at “bride of grandad”
Well said! I’m a big fan of beaut.ie and was at the awards. I was so pleased to see that writers whose posts I look forward to reading everyday won the overall prize.
I hate the opinion that women are vapid, vain and vacuous because some of us are interested in fashion and beauty. Give us some credit! We are capable of being smart and hard-working as well as being interested in the frivolous and girly!
Congrats to Culch.ie as well!
Every blog can’t please everyone. There will always be people who think that certain blogs were robbed, certain blogs are crap and certain blogs are undeserving.
Beaut.ie; although I don’t read it myself, excel in their category and have every right to win Best Blog if the judges felt that they were the right blog. I’m not the least bit interested in make up but I can see why they would have such praise and such a good following. The girls seem like lovely people and I’m chuffed for them that they took home the award.
Congratulations to them, to Culch.ie and all the other winners.
Well said Sinead !!
love it!
If I ever end up in a magazine I’ll hold you to that.
and you wonder why others call us a nation of begrudgers?! bah humbug to the instigator and give credit where credit is due. Congrats Beaut.ie
Well fecking said
moany oul begrudgers
Ah jaysis lads, the internet is an awfully sensitive place
It sure is and thank god, where else would I get my amusement on wet Monday evening.
Well done, Sinead!! It was a stinging blow to find people were criticising Beaut.ie’s win simply because they write about beauty! I don’t normally read make-up sites myself, but I’m a huge fan of fashion blogs, and I’m a little shocked to find that because of this I’m a backwards girl that is on the way to giving up her job and education and running to the kitchen to be a silent housewife.
It’s unfair to judge the category of the Best Blog, because not everyone likes everything! Beaut.ie won because of the hard work they put in to build up their site, and THAT is what Best Blog is about.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to powder my nose….
At the risk of being forever blacklisted, does it really matter that much? They’ve done very well for themselves and even if I don’t read them (I have my own little beauty secrets), I can recognise that that and acknowledge that they deserve to be recognised for that. Well done. I don’t read it, but that doesn’t make it inappropriate or unfit for an award.
As an aside, this was my first year at the awards and found very little bitching or backstabbing going on. The way people talk about all the bitterness and bile made me a little nervous, but I sensed none of it. Even now it seems like the complaints are a few voices in the wilderness rather than a sizeable minority?
Anyway, live and let live and all that. Congratulations to all, and to beaut.ie.
In a blogging context all this defence appears justified, but surely on the wider philosophical context there’s a weakness in human’s ever pandering to social conditioning, appearance being one of them.
The word ‘begrudgery’ is played so fast and loose, lads, it’s been taken a wee bit out of context here. Okay so it’s a fun word to say but it just don’t fit. It’s a criticism, not a wish to be in the winner’s place. Everyone’s allowed to criticise and you’ve got to agree that blogging would be so BORING if absolutely everyone was a yesman.
Don’t say you don’t love a good scrap, you know you do. Besides, it’s great for hit counts, yiz sluts.
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