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Jezebel Sez
Last night I was watching clips of a couple of Jezebel writers, Tracie Egan (brunette, teetering towards a certain fullness of face) and Moe Tkacik (redhead, thinner), on Lizz Winstead's Shoot the Messenger, a weekly talk show. Their appearance was taped on 6.30.08. If you haven't spoken to any sharp, urban twentysomething femme fatales lately, you may want to watch this.
Mostly I was going, "Okay..." Sassy but not classy, and certainly not very curious about anything outside their realm. Is there anything more attractive than the exhibiting of genuine curiosity? Is there a bigger turn-off than people who don't seem to know the meaning of the word? Although I admire their sexual fearlessness, or the pose of same.
Egan and Tkacik are obviously tickled to be passing along intentionally nervy and contrarian attitudes about sex, date rape and sloppy contraception (i.e., having the guy pull out). Clearly they're being themselves, but that also means deriving a certain delight in pissing off older women who are veterans of feminist battles over the last 30 to 40 years by talking about how...well, listen to them.
Definitely fascinating, although a voice is telling me there's something degraded going on as well. Something in their "you know, whatever" way of talking -- blase urban Valspeak -- tells me that certain aspects of the universe are being overlooked by these two. I'd be willing to bet they've never read anything by Alan Watts.
Lauren Lipton's 5.4.08 N.Y. Times profile of the Jezebel crew reads as follows:
"The Jezebel blog was founded last spring by Gawker Media as a smart, feisty antidote to traditional women's magazines (or 'glossy insecurity factories,' as Jezebel describes them). It quickly developed a loyal following and has seen an influx of new visitors, after being name-checked on the official blog for Gossip Girl, the prime-time soap opera.
Jezebel.com staffers as of two months ago (l. to r.): Tracie Egan, Maria-Mercedes Lara, Moe Tkacik, Jennifer Gerson, Anna Holmes, Dodai Stewart and Jessica Grose.
"But as Jezebel's first anniversary approaches on May 21, its readers and editors are learning a lesson right out of high school: popularity has its pitfalls, and mean-girl behavior is hard to quash.
"Some readers, in comments on the site, have accused editors of political bias and misogyny. Readers have called one another, by turns, immature, boring and cliquish. This spring the editors responded by banishing certain commenters and putting others 'on notice' for being nasty or, worse, not funny."
I know the name of that tune. Nothing gives me a feeling of greater pleasure than the banning of brutish big-mouths who spew personal venom on the HE threads. I slap those bitches down like dogs, and then boot their ass into the snow.
How do you pronounce Moe Tkacik's last name? Obviously you drop the "t." What is it...Kassik?
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 5, 2008 at 10:21 AM
comment #1
George Prager
says ...
"She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."
Flannery O'Connor "A Good Man is Hard to Find"
Posted by George Prager
at July 5, 2008 11:37 AM
comment #2
BurmaShave
says ...
Friend of mine was there, her perspective on it:
http://jessandjoshtalk.blogspot.com/2008/06/gloria-steinem-is-dinosaur.html
Posted by BurmaShave
at July 5, 2008 12:03 PM
comment #3
George Prager
says ...
Do you think any of them know how to cook? (Besides heating up Boca burgers in the toaster oven?)
Posted by George Prager
at July 5, 2008 12:08 PM
comment #4
JohnCope
says ...
"...although a voice is telling me there's something degraded going on as well."
You think? I don't know, Jeff, is this supposed to be a joke? I'd prefer that it was supposed to be. This is a real show? Winstead is grating and obnoxious as hell. We're supposed to see that and her guests as some valorization of feminism? Some valuable or even valid next step? How about a step back? This whole thing functions as auto-critique. It would work well within the context of an Alexander Payne movie.
My favorite line from About Schmidt and one of my favorite lines ever:
"This guy's rich already!"
Profoundly horrifying because the character doesn't mean it to be. Same thing with all of the above. Actually, on second thought, it all would probably make more sense in a Bret Easton Ellis story. I think variations on this have already turned up in Glamorama.
Posted by JohnCope
at July 5, 2008 12:10 PM
comment #5
Redmond
says ...
These ladies call me out every Friday (Though not the last two weeks. Enough said on my identity.) So to watch so-called "feminists intellectuals" implode like drunken fratboys is the most awkwardly fascinating spectacle I'd ever witnessed. And did one of them just say rape is no big deal? If I'm keeping score correctly: Misogyny = horrible wicked evil. Rape = Eh, what're ya gonna do?
Wow.
Posted by Redmond
at July 5, 2008 2:15 PM
comment #6
T. Holly
says ...
How can sex educators have a fighting chance with these dirty birds. The good old days were when people were afraid of aids and actually interested in ways not to exchange bodily fluids. I blame porn for all the mis-education about sex to the point where even the woman don't understand what's good for them and not enough screenings of Lake of Fire.
Posted by T. Holly
at July 5, 2008 2:21 PM
comment #7
Jay T.
says ...
I'd rather kill myself than listen to them continue talking... couldn't even make it a quarter of the way into that clip.
Posted by Jay T.
at July 5, 2008 2:54 PM
comment #8
Fien Print
says ...
Jeff, if memory serves from college, the "T" actually *is* pronounced in Moe's last name. It's pronounced like "Tassick."
Posted by Fien Print
at July 5, 2008 4:06 PM
comment #9
rockne
says ...
If that redhead is a "sharp, urban twenty-something"...this world is in more trouble than I thought.
She's a train-wreck.
Shall we:
Getting and being wasted in an interview is fine.
Date-Rape is no big deal
and
an abundance of "Fuck"s are fine, no big deal.
This is what young women are aspiring to be today.
Wow.
Posted by rockne
at July 5, 2008 9:55 PM
comment #10
Studly Semite
says ...
You guys are fogies - this is how people under 35 talk these days. Plus I am just happy those girls are getting laid because I'd never go home with either of them.
Posted by Studly Semite
at July 5, 2008 10:55 PM
comment #11
MAGGA
says ...
Rockne, an abundance of "Fuck"s ARE no big deal and being wasted in an interview is fine if the setting allows for it. But the attitudes about rape are pretty horrible. I know they intend to be funny, but I know from earlier "foot-in-mouth" moments in discussions that making light of something that, in all likelyhood, is a truly traumatic and life defining thing in the lives of several of the people in the audience is a thoughtless, narcissistic and mean-spirited thing. If they don't know that, I agree that "bright" and "sharp" are the wrong words to use.
Also, a lot of women think the pull-out method is safe. For a while. This is the kind of moronic thing that gives fuel to the abstinence-junkies in religious circles. If we are to live in societies where casual sex is encouraged, and I think we should, then staying safe needs to be encouraged at all times. It's the same as being "cool" about drunk driving, you can make jokes, but as the generally clever people on this blog don't seem to know whether or not this is a joke, I think it's irresponsable.
Also, they weren't at all clever, funny or insightful. Feminists (and I'm a man who sees myself as one) can do a whole lot better than this.
Posted by MAGGA
at July 9, 2008 11:05 AM
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