Savvy Women

Troy Headrick
The American University in Cairo
Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
contact@savvy-women-magazine.com

Hi, my name is Troy Headrick. I’m the new blogger at Savvy Women’s Magazine. By the way, have you noticed yet? I’m not a woman.

That’s right, I’m XY and not XX. (I’m talking chromosomes here.) I raise this point about my chromosomes, about my “maleness,” because I’m blogging for a women’s magazine. As one who has written for magazines whose primary audience is women, I’m very aware (sometimes painfully aware) that the vast majority of those who write for such publications are women. That’s right. It’s almost always women writing for and about other women in women’s magazines. If you think I’m overstating the case, I challenge you to go online and look at such publications. Look at who’s writing the articles. It’s almost always XX.

That might be a good thing? What do men know about women, anyway, right?

Or that might be a bad thing? I’m just wondering, at what point does women only reading the thoughts of other women become something akin to groupthink?

Here’s an idea. Perhaps women’s magazines should include a category of articles called “What Men Think about Women” and then have only men write those? What do you think? It sounds like a fabulous idea to me. (I wonder if I can patent it???)

The more I think about this, though, the more confused I become. Perhaps men have no right to write about women? Or maybe women don’t want to hear from non-women in their magazines? Perhaps women hear enough of men’s voices when they listen to their grandfathers, fathers, husbands, boyfriends, brothers, sons, uncles, and nephews? Maybe women are up to here (I’m indicating my chin) hearing men pontificate?

I’ll wrap this first one up by telling you a little bit about me (in case you’re interested). I’m 47 years old. I’m a writer. I’m an artist. I’m a world traveler. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the mid-90s. I am an academician. I teach writing classes at the American University in Cairo. I love women (enough to have married two of them, but not at the same time!). I have lived in the Middle East for ten years. I’m originally from Texas. I have taught “women’s studies” classes in the past. I currently teach a composition class that has “gender” as its main theme. I have also taught classes on happiness and creativity and heroes and philosophy.

My goal is to make this a fun and interactive and thought-provoking blog about women, women’s lives, women’s loves and hates, women’s concerns, women’s issues, etc. Sometimes, though, I might write about these subjects from a decidedly male point of view. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though.

Anyway, I hope you’ll participate. (Note: Post something in the “comments” section or send me an email!)

More in about a week…

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