I’m a big fan of Jezebel. The Gawker-run site (mission statement: "celebrity, sex, fashion for women") is an intelligent mix of ladies mag, tabloid and Gender Studies 101 class, run by a group of sharp, quippy editors. Unlike the other few mainstream internet outlets that I skim every day, I am compelled to fully digest or investigate a full two-thirds of Jezebel’s steady stream of content, and that's no small amount.
But I have a quibble: why is Jezebel “for women”? Isn’t that against the spirit of the site? Sure, Jezebel is mostly about women and their issues, but its habit of starting posts with greetings for the “ladies” effectively halves its assumed audience, playing right into the gender stereotypes that the site’s authors strive to debunk (men watch/do/think this, women watch/do/think that). Jezebel's editors constantly call out male writers and magazines for perpetuating such derivative gender cliches, but then turn arround and don't even think to invite men to consider the issue. This doublethink nonsense is a hallmark of the faulty school of feminism that (perhaps unwittingly?) endorses a “separate but equal” sense of justice. Jezebel should be above it.
Assume there are men listening, Jezzies. Maybe even let one or two contribute. Because ‘women’s issues’ are actually a ‘people’ thing.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment