In recent years, women's magazines have been experiencing a decline in readers, and, subsequently, sales. Magazine covers are strewn with women from popular culture who are obviously (and usually grotesquely) Photoshopped, sometimes way beyond recognition or possibility.
The ubiquitous sexualization and objectification of women is an issue that is now being addressed and taken seriously. Women are becoming increasingly more vocal in their quest for equality and to take down the current patriarchal society.
So, how is it possible to entertain and enlighten without being offensive to women?
This is where Jezebel.com and one of the 10 women who write for the site, Deputy Editor Dodai Stewart, comes in.
A part of Gawker Media, based in New York City, the blog serves as an online platform where judgment is scarce and various topics concerning women in national and global spotlights are spoken about in-depth. From covering fashion events to speaking out against the inequalities women face, Jezebel presents a healthy and lively social commentary from both the blog's writers and commenters.
With a past strongly rooted in fiction – she participated in high school musical theatre and was a screenwriting-major in college – Stewart tackles popular culture and current events concisely and with humor.
A part of Gawker Media, based in New York City, the blog serves as an online platform where judgment is scarce and various topics concerning women in national and global spotlights are spoken about in-depth. From covering fashion events to speaking out against the inequalities women face, Jezebel presents a healthy and lively social commentary from both the blog's writers and commenters.
With a past strongly rooted in fiction – she participated in high school musical theatre and was a screenwriting-major in college – Stewart tackles popular culture and current events concisely and with humor.
"[Jezebel] mixes style commentary and gossip with no-holds-barred posts about politics, the economy, sexism and, certainly, sex," according to Lauren Lipton of The New York Times. “Like a digital-age upgrade of Sassy, the 1990s-era indie-feminist teenage magazine, Jezebel appeals to a young, urban demographic, with a roster of editors whose strong voices inspire loyal followings."
Jezebel describes itself as, "a blog for women that will attempt to take all the essentially meaningless but sweet stuff directed our way and give it a little more meaning, while taking more the serious stuff and making it more fun, or more personal, or at the very least the subject of our highly sophisticated brand of sex joke."
The site's intro page for Stewart states, "In addition to lending her carefully-calibrated meter for pop culture bullshit to the site, Dodai will be working on fashion stories for Jezebel and indulging in her obsession of magazines, mainstream and otherwise."
Jezebel describes itself as, "a blog for women that will attempt to take all the essentially meaningless but sweet stuff directed our way and give it a little more meaning, while taking more the serious stuff and making it more fun, or more personal, or at the very least the subject of our highly sophisticated brand of sex joke."
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Q: What have your previous career experiences been?
A: The first job that I had was at a company that represented directors and photographers. It wasn’t a film agency, but an agency to promote directors who create commercials. One of the representatives in the photography department had a sister working in a magazine and she [the rep] always saw a stack of magazines on my desk. I’m such a magazine junkie.
I ended up working as an office manager at This Old House magazine then became an editorial assistant. After that, I moved to Entertainment Weekly, as well as bounced around at different magazines like Jane, YM and Modern Bride. I also worked at a teen magazine, J14, for about 7 years. The teen magazine didn’t have a diet or health section; it was purely entertainment. As a frustrated screenwriter and a very big film fan, writing about movies was something I really enjoyed and I was trying to carve out something. I really wanted to work online because I felt that it was blooming and blossoming. After blogging for a little while, I answered an ad for Gawker Media and got a job writing for Jezebel.
I ended up working as an office manager at This Old House magazine then became an editorial assistant. After that, I moved to Entertainment Weekly, as well as bounced around at different magazines like Jane, YM and Modern Bride. I also worked at a teen magazine, J14, for about 7 years. The teen magazine didn’t have a diet or health section; it was purely entertainment. As a frustrated screenwriter and a very big film fan, writing about movies was something I really enjoyed and I was trying to carve out something. I really wanted to work online because I felt that it was blooming and blossoming. After blogging for a little while, I answered an ad for Gawker Media and got a job writing for Jezebel.
Q: How long have you been working for Jezebel?
A: I started working for Jezebel in July 2007. The website began in May [of the same year] with three people. Coming from magazines and, because [Editor-in-Chief] Anna worked in magazines as well, I think that the intent of the site is that Jezebel is the magazine people who work with [print] magazines want to see, work for, or just wish a magazine could be. In the [print] magazines I worked for, I had to edit myself, but with Jezebel, I’m not held back so much.
Q: What is your typical workday like?
A: I start at 6:30 a.m. or 7 a.m., depending on the day. I start really early on Mondays and later in the morning on Fridays. It takes anywhere from 2-3 hours to read through all of the links, scan and read them, and then write commentary. Some things are due at 9 a.m., the next at 11 a.m. and then again between 1-2 p.m. or 3-4 p.m. Sometimes, I end before 5 p.m. I end later than that if I have a television show to cover.
Q: What’s the difference between your other jobs and working for Jezebel?
A: Working at a magazine, it [the job] was more collaborative – meeting the art department, photo department and fact-checking people. There’s none of that with Jezebel because everyone works from home. Also, in an office you get up and go to the water cooler or wherever else, and here, there’s no reason to get up and go. There’s no set break because everyone is doing her own thing.
Q: What do you want to bring to your readers?
A: I think it’s pretty straightforward how I put my personality into my articles. We’re [Jezebel/Gawker Media] an aggregate, which is why I don’t think of this as journalism. We’re just digesting the information and spitting it back out – it’s ‘read this, read that’ and then critique it as you would with your friends. Part of my duties, in addition to writing and putting up pictures, are to read other people’s posts for content and clarity.
Q:You mentioned that you don’t think of blogging as journalism, could you expand on that?
A: I think that blogging is an interesting concept that needs more exploration. It’s interesting that blogging is immediate. I’m not the be-all and end-all authority on it and, I think that everyone can have a blog and write their opinion, but that’s not what journalism is. Journalism is about reporting the facts and being objective.
Q: What are your thoughts on the future of magazines?
A: I appreciate magazines and I’m still a magazine junkie. I think a magazine is a very pleasurable experience when they are beautifully and well done and are interesting. There are so many magazines … I don’t think they’re really necessary. I do think that for those magazines that have gone online, it’s probably a good thing to have a life online because it’s not a waste of paper. If someone is really interested in something, then they’ll pay for it. We’re living in an era where there are too many magazines and, possibly, they’re correcting themselves now.
[Photo provided by Dodai Stewart]
Q: What do you want to bring to your readers?
A: I think it’s pretty straightforward how I put my personality into my articles. We’re [Jezebel/Gawker Media] an aggregate, which is why I don’t think of this as journalism. We’re just digesting the information and spitting it back out – it’s ‘read this, read that’ and then critique it as you would with your friends. Part of my duties, in addition to writing and putting up pictures, are to read other people’s posts for content and clarity.
Q:You mentioned that you don’t think of blogging as journalism, could you expand on that?
A: I think that blogging is an interesting concept that needs more exploration. It’s interesting that blogging is immediate. I’m not the be-all and end-all authority on it and, I think that everyone can have a blog and write their opinion, but that’s not what journalism is. Journalism is about reporting the facts and being objective.
Q: What are your thoughts on the future of magazines?
A: I appreciate magazines and I’m still a magazine junkie. I think a magazine is a very pleasurable experience when they are beautifully and well done and are interesting. There are so many magazines … I don’t think they’re really necessary. I do think that for those magazines that have gone online, it’s probably a good thing to have a life online because it’s not a waste of paper. If someone is really interested in something, then they’ll pay for it. We’re living in an era where there are too many magazines and, possibly, they’re correcting themselves now.
[Photo provided by Dodai Stewart]
