DoubleX on Gawker May 24, 2009 Jill The Assimilated Negro covers the DoubleX debacle on Gawker today by posting thoughts from feminist writers in Parts One and Two. I contributed to Part One along with Amanda Marcotte, and Part Two is Jess McCabe and Matt Uford. Check ’em out.
A link to Part One of that series really shouldn’t be posted without comment given that it leads off with these gems: ‘Well, “hate” is a strong word; more like “pissed!” Or maybe, “PMS’d?”‘ ‘And that research didn’t even include the fallout from finger-wagging Slate-offshoot Double X. ME-OW!’ ‘One of the more salient criticisms to come out of the cat-fighting over who/how/what a feminist is these days came from Jez editrix Anna Holmes f-word laden diatribe…’ This will not be taken as irony at Gawker even if it was meant as such.
Unfortunately I agree that although TAN sometimes does employ pretty subtle humor, Gawker is the kind of venue where references to cat-fighting are often totally straightforward, girls will be girls and sure do like to fight, etc. However, the commentary is whip-smart. And makes it pretty clear that we can all more or less forget about Double X, gods willing.
Aww. Well, you know, “unsatisfying one-night stands” can become “remember how funny and ridiculous it was the first time, but now i’m rather fond of our relationship” very quickly. Let’s hope. Jill, thanks for classing up the joint.
Yeah, i don’t think Jill was being cynical at all when she said that the writers at DoubleX picked a “cat fight” with Jezebel and young women in order to increase page views. I think that was their intention and pretty transparently so. I read Hirshman’s piece just out of curiosity (although I wish I hadn’t) but I don’t plan on visiting the site any time in the near future.
I certainly took TAN’s intro as ironic and I have to ask the question: would any sexist reader of Gawker be convinced otherwise by a “sarcasm tag?”