The Gawker Media empire gets a lot of attention from the media. Why, just the other week, former Gawker editor Emily Gould was sprawled out in a “Come hither” pose on the cover of The New York Times Magazine. And yet, I think it’s time the youngest member of Gawker Media (the Condé Nast of the blogging world, for those of you who still didn’t know) got a shout-out. Perhaps I’m also feeling especially susceptible to the charms of Jezebel.com because all this insane Sex and the City promotion has me wondering, “Wow, um…so…what else does it mean to be a sexy lady in New York City?”
Jezebel offers women options aside from Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte, and still unapologetically fills the “girl talk” slot for Gawker Media. For example, sex toys? Yes, they cover that—a blogger known as “Slut Machine” recently reviewed a mermaid-shaped dildo. Hot men? Yes, that too, most recently in the form of über-hotties Clive Owen and Barack Obama. Male insecurities that date back to high school rejections? For sure! And, of course, there is the obligatory SATC coverage from time to time.
Whether you love the Gawker style of snarkiness, or whether you’ve come to the well-informed decision that snarkiness is so 2004, Jezebel is a women’s magazine for smart women. It takes the Cosmo (no, that’s not a SATC reference) model and turns it on its head.