Update 11/30/2023: Jezebel is being resurrected!
The impact that Jezebel had onme, however, was monumental.
(I know, I know.
This can happen when you grow up with Republican parents.)
I found it instructive.
It was thePhotoshop Failsthat first drew me in.
Photoshop Fails made me laugh.
They made me feel better.
The sites immediate popularity encouraged other womens websites and magazines to loosen their style guides and expand their coverage.
Do you think Id be able to write the wordfuckingin a national publication without Jezebels legacy?
Would I get to write an entire essay comparingShiv Roy to Ivanka Trumpin a pre-Jezebel world?
But I doubt it.
For years I checked Jezebel daily.
I became familiar with its writers, who became my parasocial mentors.
When I commented, which was often, I wanted to make them proud.
Or at least smile.
My writing got tighter.
My jokes got sharper.
I mastered their ironic but authoritative voice.
I found critical points and I made them.
I became, God help me, a professional writer.
Despite everything, its why I still believe in the political power of persuasion.
Jezebel had become more difficult to read lately.
Not because of the content or anything.
This was the latest in a string of public disasters for G/O and its many properties.
Perhaps the writing was on the wall.
Still, Im sad.
This post has been updated.
