xoJane used to be Jane, a print magazine along the lines of Sassy and Bust and Bitch: that is, a Clinton-era publication aimed at women but more likely to print stories about RiotGrrls and extreme knitting than diets and makeup.
Today, the xoJane website does talk about beauty and fashion, because they finally accepted, sort of, that that’s what most women like to read about.
They still have an edge though; the editorial policy is extremely, faddishly leftist: “green” this and “trans” that and “slut shaming” whathaveyou.
(They have one story up now called “IS THAT EVEN LEGAL? 6 Rude Things Not To Say To Your Gay Friends Who Are Getting Married” and I thought for a second they were suggesting that it might be illegal to say rude things to gay people because, hey, Mozilla, right?)
One of xoJane’s most popular features is “It Happened To Me,” first person accounts of First World, (mostly) White Woman “Problems”:
“I Accidentally Dated a Racist/Republican/Jock,” “I Worked My Way Through College as a Pole Dancer and Refuse to Apologize For That, SO THERE!,” and endless variations on a theme that’s dear to my heart (given that it’s the subject of my new book):
“I Keep Hooking Up With Strange Men and Now I’m Depressed, Single and 35 and Don’t Understand What Went Wrong.”
Maybe I should submit this pitch:
“I Agreed With Something at Jane XO!”
Because that’s what happened to me today.
From “Myths of the Golden Age,” Prospect Magazine
Via their email newsletter, I clicked over to an essay entitled “I’m Over Critically Acclaimed White Man Television,” with the express purpose of mocking it mercilessly on my blog.
Then I read the strapline:
I’m tired of watching middle-aged white men having mid-life crises and cheating on their wives and failing as fathers and committing terrible crimes and trafficking in moral ambiguity
Wow. That’s… exactly how I’ve felt for years.
People say to me, “Kathy, you need to watch The Sopranos,” and I reply, “If I wanted to watch fat Italian men yell at each other, I’d move back to my hometown.”
I look at Mad Men and see another typical “edgy” liberal-values TV show, but one that’s seductively dressed up in gorgeous vintage costumes and slick production design.
Breaking Bad is based on the fantastical premise that an American public school teacher in the 21st century didn’t have gold-plated health insurance.
Apologists scold me, “But Kathy: these shows are really, deep down, about family and loyalty and other stuff you should be in favor of, as a conservative.”
Well, frankly, I’m not automatically “in favor” of “family,” as mine was no great shakes, thank you.
Anyone who says they would “do anything for their family” is a) in the Mafia or another sick, tribal criminal enterprise, b) simply lying and rationalizing their own immoral behavior and therefore c) an unprincipled danger to society.
You know their “noble” familia philosophy means your (anti)”hero” would, in theory, kill or steal from you, right?
(Ahem…)
And loyalty is laudable only if it is deserved and reciprocated.
Anyhow, Kit Steinkellner goes on to call for stuff like “diversity” and “inclusiveness” and other crap. This IS xoJane after all.
But it’s nice to see that the left and right can sort of kind of agree on something once in a while, even if it’s just, “Shut up about these overrated ‘prestige’ TV shows for five minutes, please!”
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