Jezebel: ivillage

Blog-Her

Intern Katy — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:40:00 EDT

According to a new study, women are increasingly turning to blogs and other forms of online social networking to act as their primary source of information. We are not particularly surprised. [MediaPost]

Over-40 Women's Website Is Destined For Failure

Jessica — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:30:00 EST

There's a big splashy article in today's New York Times about the launch of Wowowow.com, a new website for women over 40 founded by NY Post gossip dowager Liz Smith, former presidential speechwriter Peggy Noonan, ex-Simon and Schuster president Joni Evans, 60 Minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl, and ad exec Mary Wells. The site, a sort of upscale alternative to iVillage, is described as "a virtual Le Cirque," where the aforementioned media matriarchs — along with contributors like Candice Bergen, Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg, and ex-Vogue editor Joan Juliet Buck — will "trade on their celebrity and sophistication." The thing is, this focus on the founders' celebrity and sophistication is exactly why their site will fail: These women are looking to form a community of sharp, like-minded women over forty, but they all seem to share the totally condescending attitude of Vogue-ette Buck, who tells Rosenbloom, "iVillage has always puzzled me...I love the idea but it's like Macy's or something."

Macy's?!? THE HORROR! The extra-moronic thing about that statement is that Macy's is popular and accessible. When you're creating a media property, those are qualities to aspire to, not denigrate. And most women, even Wowowow's target audience of successful women over-40, do not want to hear about how Halston lent Candice Bergen a "white mink bunny mask and strapless gown for Truman Capote's 1966 Black and White Ball," or how Joni Evans made an embarrassing gaffe at a party, "gushing to "Calvin Klein" about how she adored his designs, only to realize that she was gushing to Halston." You know why they don't want to hear about it? Because it's name-droppy and completely unrelatable to the average websurfer. And what do people look for in a web community? People who make them feel at home, not people who make them feel terminally unfabulous.

Finally, this site is doomed because the sort of women who would relate to funny little anecdotes about that fabulous night with Calvin and the boys at Studio 54 are not surfing the web all day. The Times piece makes it sound like Wowowow wants a readership much like themselves: "seasoned" women who "who broke through glass ceilings." And those women? Like the founders of wowowow, they're mostly "cyberneophytes" who probably delegate email reading to their personal assistants. Maybe a little bit of that "Macy's" flair could go a long way.

Boldface in Cyberspace: It's a Woman's Domain [New York Times]

Too Sexy for Ann Taylor

Anna — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 09:31:50 EST

Sometimes, when we start to wonder what happened to the chick media's devotion to depicting the Human Condition in all its messily poignant, gut-wrenching splendor, we look to iVillage. In this hard-hitting video feature on women whose office attire includes uh, hard-hitting nipples, we meet a predictably slutted-out Eastern European (we can say that's redundant because our last name is Tkacik) realtor to an HR manager who dresses sort of like Laura San Giacomo in Pretty Woman, etc. etc., and then Clara, who obviously got recruited for her job as an investment bank executive assistant at Scores. In fact, we are wondering if her investment bank possibly did the IPO for Scores, because Clara, who wears a sheer orange cardigan that exposes not only her braless nips but the "cherry on top" that refers to her super classy belly button ring, says there is one woman at her office who dresses even sluttier than she does.

"I think for women that appearance is a double edged sword," says Clara, as her nipples demonstrate that they could slice you.

"I use it to empower myself to get what I want," she says. But another woman in her office, she claims, steps over the boundary. "I'm uncomfortable, and if I'm uncomfortable it must be way over the line." (We can only assume they hired Anne for their accounting work.)

Too Sexy For Work? (iVillage)

Thanks, but no thanks.

eurotrash — Fri, 26 May 2006 12:12:28 EDT

I'm not sure there's ever a way to write about anal sex that won't make people wince, but they have a good er, stab at it over at ivillage.com/

"The anal sphincter muscles are tight bands that encircle the anal opening and control your bowel functions. If you try to penetrate them without breathing deeply, it will most likely cause you pain. In fact, I always suggest that couples insert a well-lubed fingertip first, allowing the sphincter muscles to gradually dilate to the size of the penetrating object until you are both ready for the entry of a live penis."

Well. That certainly got me in the mood.