02.05.01 - 10:15pm

Hey Casey, I've been working on some online stuff for the past hour, so I thought I'd take a break and respond to your recitation. What really piqued my interest is your mention of Sassy magazine. Women in their twenties usually have nothing but kudos for this magazine. So my question is: What was it that made the magazine hit such a chord with its readers? What, for instance, would make one of my former girlfriends keep almost every issue well into her twenties? (I won't ask her since we aren't on good terms any longer!) I am truly curious about this vexing enigma of a paradox, so when you have some extra time, could you drop me a short word on it?

Shawn

*****

and my response...

Ummmm - maybe this isn't the best time to admit I still have all my old Sassy issues too. Sassy just rocked because it was so different than any other teen magazine. It didn't talk about how to get a boyfriend or lose 10 pounds or look like every other unrealistically starved model. It had real girls in it (and actually had an entirely reader-produced issue every year) and talked about things like vegetarianism, Jane's Addiction, sex and riot grrls. And Chloe Sevigny interned there before she became a big-time actress. Obviously this was too subversive for advertisers and the publishing company pulled the plug. Basically, it made girls feel like they had a voice and they could dye their hair orange if they wanted to (ahem) and it didn't matter if the boys would love 'em for it or not.

I could talk about how much I love Sassy all night.