Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow.
Friends: Today is my last day at Jezebel.
In late 2006, I was, as a friend once put it, “languishing” at a teen magazine. The work was fun, but I was no longer happy and I really wanted to work online. There was a post on Gawker requesting “magazine-obsessed” writers for a “special project”; the copy stipulated that applicants not send a resume, but instead, a short email proving magazine obsession. My email to specialproject@gawker (or whatever) was written addressed to Anna Wintour; the body of the missive contained a serrated critique of everything I hated about Vogue: lack of diversity, focus on prohibitively priced couture, fetishization of thinness, dedication to nepotism and cronyism, etc. I believe the email ended, “But I still buy it. Love, Dodai.”
I had no idea, when I pressed send, that the recipient of that message would be Anna Holmes, with whom I’d worked briefly at Entertainment Weekly — and that the special project was to be called Jezebel. The site launched in May 2007; I started in July 2007.
The journey these last seven years has, without question, been a transformative experience. Jezebel has literally changed my life. The freedom to express myself openly, to work with brilliant people, to cover widely varying topics — from menstruation to Photoshop, from the Seasonal Affective Disorder that is the Urban Outfitters catalog to racism in the workplace — has been an exciting, exhausting, rewarding ride. Magic has happened here (and I don’t just mean the time writing about Kenny Styles led to meeting him, or the time we peed on a roof in Brooklyn, through a Shenis, for science. That video is sadly lost forever.)
I have LOVED writing about International Male, dystopian fiction, hot guys’ abs, half-naked pop stars, weight loss, weight gain, and hideous prom dresses. And more than that: Being a part of the smartest, funniest, most daring and outspoken crew on The Internet. These ladies are superstars.
I am so grateful to Anna Holmes for hiring me and teaching me everything and letting me write food porn and all kinds of Today In Catalogs, to Jessica Coen for encouraging me to do weird shit and to say fuck everything, and to all of the unbelievably amazing people I’ve had the honor of working alongside these past seven years. The site’s in Emma Carmichael’s very capable hands and I am off to be the Director of Culture Coverage at Fusion. Follow me on Facebook and on Twitter!
I leave you with a few more of my favorite posts:
A Cupcake Is Never Just a Cupcake: The Pscyho-Sexuality of a Twee Treat
The Tragic Tale of the Blind Date Dick Pic
Anthropologie, Translated as a Southern Gothic Novella
The Sephora Problem That Has No Name
On Miley Cyrus, Ratchet Culture and Accessorizing With Black People
A College Freshman Turned in My Blog Post As His Homework
Pretty sure this one is the one with the most views. But also please check out these old back issues of In Fashion I scanned. Amazing.
Jezebels I love you!