Gawker.com broke the news early this morning that Moe Tkacik, one of the most polarizing yet beloved voices of its sister site, Jezebel.com, is leaving for RadarOnline.com.
Moe had her fair share of detractors in her 14 months at Jezebel, most notably for her anti-Hillary Clinton stance and some recent public remarks about date rape and safe sex, but whether you agreed with her or not, she’s an endlessly engaging, sharp and often very funny writer. Her posts on everything from politics to tampon horror stories and King Creep Paul Janka were provocative and heart-felt.
Go get ’em, Moe!
P.S. Expect our own Sinister Rouge, a longtime friendly sparring partner of Moe’s, to weigh in a bit later.
UPDATE: One of us just had a brilliant idea (it happens sometimes). In the comments, post some of your favourite Moe moments!
ButtercupPunch - "La clique, c’est chic!" 
July 22, 2008 at 10:33 am
It’s not gonna be the same without her!
July 22, 2008 at 10:34 am
Wow, nice related post, automatic generator . . .
July 22, 2008 at 10:35 am
She will be missed. I shan’t be returning to Jezebel, henceforth.
Lady Skittlehattington, over and out.
July 22, 2008 at 10:38 am
@LL: Dear Annie Scott, you speak truth. Now let me copyedit you.
July 22, 2008 at 10:52 am
Much as I disagree with her on a LOT of issues, she has had some absolute gems. Her egg post inspired me to buy breakfast sandwiches for a week straight (you owe me $ for that, Moe), and her I-always-flush-my-tampon post was straight up hilarious.
That said, I hope someday she finds some internal peace, and I hope she’ll still be blogging by then so I can read about it.
July 22, 2008 at 11:07 am
Whatever.
Actually, this could turn out to be my favorite “Moe Moment” depending on how it plays out. The fact that Jezebel once again let another media outlet scoop it on a story about it’s own business, well that’s just both par for the course as well as priceless.
Also it would be nice if Moe took the next three weeks and tried that thing called REHAB. A nice 21 day program couldn’t hurt.
Best of luck to Ms. Tkacik in this venture and all future ventures.
July 22, 2008 at 11:07 am
@badenbaden: Just you mentioning that egg post has made me hungry. Jerk.
July 22, 2008 at 11:08 am
Well, she always gave me a headache, and I think she was much better writing about fluff than substance. The fluff was great – eggs, tampons, drinking, etc.
July 22, 2008 at 11:09 am
So when is Slut Robot or whatever going to sluttysluttertons.org?
My favorite Moe moment–“I wasnt gonna fucking report him! I had more important things to do, like drink!”
Did I say favorite? I meant depressing.
July 22, 2008 at 11:16 am
@picklesinmytuna: YES.
I hate to see one of the good writers (yes, despite her demons, Moe is a good writer) leave, but I think this move will be a good one for her.
July 22, 2008 at 11:20 am
Well here’s my “Moe Moment” and it was honestly the last straw for me w/The Jez. She has serious problems of a wide variety and I hope she gets help, per Pickle’s earlier recommendations.
AGreenEyeDevil at 11:28 AM on 07/02/08 Reply * to the Leona Helmsley & Trouble post:
MOE: And isn’t this whole story sort of a study in how people who have excessive affection for animals – maybe there is something wrong with them?
(The Devil): You know what Moe, that just fuckin pisses me off. It takes many, many perspectives to make the world go ’round and cover the countless unmet needs that exist in this harsh world. The needs and advocacy of animals are certainly one of those things! I truly expected a more thoughtful, inclusive approach from The Jez. Although as of late, that really shouldn’t suprise me on this blog.
July 22, 2008 at 11:22 am
i have mixed feelings about moe but its probably for her own good that she’s moving on to better places/getting out while the gettin’s good.
@nevernikki: SlutRobot, PRICELESS.
July 22, 2008 at 11:25 am
I’m jealous she will be working with Balk’s Cock and Choire.
July 22, 2008 at 11:40 am
I dunno, Devil, have you ever read any of David Sedaris’ stories about his animal-loving sister Lisa? I think Moe was probably talking about people like HER and PETA- people who care more about animals than humans and are incapable of forming emotional attatchments to beings that are not covered in fur/scales/feathers- there IS something wrong there. I thought that was what she was talking about. But, your second comment was right- there are lots of perspectives in the world, and the perspective that people who are obsessively in love with animals are possibly screwy in the head is just as valid as you furbaby-lover perspective. Jez (or any media outlet for that matter) is not responsible for aknowledging both perspectives in an opinion piece. That’s kinda not how those work.
You’re allowed to disagree with writers who write opinion pieces about unimportant topics like Moe, Andy Rooney, Rex Reed, whomever, and it’s not the fault of the news outlet that’s publishing them. There needn’t be a disclaimer over every possibly-(but come on, unlikely)-inflammatory post. However, I think Slut Machine’s opinions about safe sex, underage sex & whatnot could cause a public heath crisis, so that’s a whole different can of worms. Know what I mean?
July 22, 2008 at 11:54 am
Uh, I guess, basically, what I’m saying is, when it comes to the editors of Jezebel being insensitive to the readers, that Leona Helmsley post should have been the LEAST of your (or anyone’s) worries.
Actually, I find, that most of Moe’s posts (save the Hillary ones, and the gray rape ones, I guess) should be the least of anyone’s sources of Jez-induced outrage. Because I think she’s pretty much never NOT joking, and that comes across to me, but I can see how it might fly over some people’s heads.
But yeah, that Jez consistently refuses to be on top of their own shit and allows other news outlets to scoop their inner working before they can is laughable. The fact that they always break their own shit painfully late, to the point of irrelevance, and it’s always some half-hearted “now now, campers, let’s just sweep this little mess right under the rug here” post, THAT is what I found most intellectually insulting about the whole dealie. If there were a last straw to be had, I’d have thought it would be that.
July 22, 2008 at 11:55 am
She kinda lost me with the Paul Janka investigative reporting, and then the subsequent post on his ex-girlfriend including a picture and wikipedia entry. I thought that was messed up. But I think the change of venue will be good for her and I’ll be interested to read her radar stuff.
July 22, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I’m almost glad the shit hit the fan whenever that was and we all got banned, because if it hadn’t, the TKO of Moe leaving on top of the slow, excruciating decline of Jezebel would have knocked the wind clean out of me.
Kind of like hanging on to a bundle of stripped wire with your teeth in an effort not to fall to your death.
(Sorry, I just The Dark Knight. The theme, it permeates.)
July 22, 2008 at 12:08 pm
BDJ: As a career Public Health professional (that spent time working STD/HIV clinics), you can’t imagine how deeply disturbed I am by Moe and SMs position on safe sex, STD, and partner notification. I am so deeply disturbed, and angered, by their positions I just have to back away and not engage. I applaude those of you that could remain civil and try to engage them in a dialogue! From a clinical, professional perspective, I truly hope they both seek help at some point in the very near future. Undoubtedly, some of that anger/frustration flowed into my animal response.
The Jez was always the one preaching “be nice, be respectful, be inclusive, don’t play mean girl” to their readers, yet allowed their editors to say/do whatever they wanted. That’s hyprocracy. The animal post was my trigger for snapping on that one.
July 22, 2008 at 12:10 pm
@BDJ: Have you read one of his newer essays about the grandmother on the roof of her house during Katrina, but how a similar photo of a Cocker Spaniel on the roof of a house seemed to inspire more concern?
I agree with you that it’s really the extreme of this that Moe was probably referring to. She should have made this clear if that was the case.
July 22, 2008 at 12:13 pm
She reeeeally doesn’t like to be told she’s wrong, does she? I’m mad she’s going to Radar because I read that, too.
Anyway – not the most angering momemt, but the post where I stopped taking her seriously: The unnecessary and unfunny drama between her and blakely.
July 22, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Seriously? The only moment of Moe’s that wasn’t spoiled by an Adderall-stream-of-consciousness, rolling-toil-of-words-running-together-OH-if, this-is-weird-I’M HUNGOVER, PEOPLE! and throw-in-some-BIG-words-about-economics, er, and-stuff-that-sounds-smart, ’cause not having a college diploma while touting oneself as “an expert on China” really sucks rocks *deeeeep breath* was inspired by none other than Dodai.
I can’t find it, and perhaps I’m giving Moe credit where none is due, but it referred to Dodai’s grandmother showing her some historical documents that showed the prices of items at an estate sale before slavery was abolished. It revealed that teacups were considered to be worth more than one of the older slaves who had been used up, so to speak. The way it was written was thought provoking and not that finger-wagging BS that has become staple at Jezebel. If she can find the writer that wrote that inside of her, and give up the booze, she could do something worthwhile with her writing.
I think Megan does a better job on politics on Jezebel, but I’m still not going back. They wanted page views and they got them, but quantity will never equal quality.
As for Tracie, the clock is ticking. This is what happens when you rely solely on IMAGE to carry you. Once the masses see you have no substance — and that you are deluded enough to think that there’s only a 1% chance of spreading your herp while skipping your acyclovir doses and having unprotected sex for 2 years with your BF, but firm in your belief 25% of the population has the herp, so that you don’t feel so *alone* — they’ll rethink their allegiance to your bangs.
July 22, 2008 at 12:14 pm
BDJ: I was so disturbed by their posts on sex and weary of their Hillary bashing, I very rarely clicked on those posts for the last several months I read the website! Take those out, and there’s not much left in which to partake!
July 22, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I’m one of the people that usually found Moe’s posts a bit rambling and confusing. The ones I bothered to focus on were pretty good, though.
I’m hoping Moe’s departure will mean that Megan is made a permanent fixture for the political stuff and news roundups.
July 22, 2008 at 12:21 pm
@MyFatBaby: HA! I love how “Your Favorite Moe Moment” has turned into “What Turned You Off Jezebel Forever Moment.” I’m the most guilty.
July 22, 2008 at 12:27 pm
In person, she’s funny, quirky, and just an all around great person. Although I didn’t always agree with her views(Ayaan Hirsi Ali, hatred of HRC), she will be missed at Jezebel.
Hopefully, this will get her away from Slut Machine and put an end to that toxic friendship.
July 22, 2008 at 12:28 pm
paislet–Adderall! THAT makes sense. And the “expert” on China thing always cracked me up a bit. I have a feeling the expertise lies squarely in having watched The Last Emperor and and really liking kung pao chicken.
I have no real problem with Jezebel. It can be entertaining. But DON’T tout yourself as some modern feminist website and espouse views and claim them as the views of all. women, everywhere. Especially when said views include 1) indiscriminate fucking of hipster boys; 2) Obama “panty dropping” worship; and 3) rape shampe.
July 22, 2008 at 12:29 pm
@Devil- Word, dude. See, I thought Moe was joking about endorsing the “pullout” method during that T&D interview, given that it was likely that that method led to her having a painful pill abortion just a few months prior to the interview. (I’d link you to the post she wrote about that, but I’m banned from Jez access at work) But I’m really not sure. She may have been serious about that, for all I know. If that’s the case, homegirl may indeed need help. I mean, far be it from me to armchair diagnose anybody I barely know, but most of the girls I grew up around who effed indescriminately without protection were usually in the throes of some self-destructive depression symptoms. I just don’t feel like opening your body up to infections and possible pregnancy is “fun” or “empowering”.
But you know, the site itself did once do it’s own underhanded way of countering SM’s irresponsible message: One time, after some douchetastic SM post about STDs being “no big deal”, Jessica or somebody put up a post about some scientific study showing how the Herp can lead to infertility. Hilare.
And yes, Devil, the “Jez Rez ’08” post was the Day the Snark Died on Jez. I honestly believe that had that post never gone up, the comments section could have thrived for at least a few months longer before devlving into the Teen Vogue Forum.
@MayorBeth- I’ve not read that essay, but I don’t doubt it for a second. Gonna Google it now…
July 22, 2008 at 12:31 pm
@BDJ: It’s called “April in Paris.”
July 22, 2008 at 12:32 pm
And may the word “totes” never be uttered again.
July 22, 2008 at 12:34 pm
@cate3710: “I’m hoping Moe’s departure will mean that Megan is made a permanent fixture for the political stuff and news roundups.”
YES. I was thinking the same thing, even though I really like Moe and am sad she’s leaving Jez.
@Never Nikki: When I read the Gawker post, my first thought was, “Please tell me they just spelled ‘Tracie’ wrong.”
July 22, 2008 at 12:39 pm
@NeverNikki- “I have a feeling the expertise lies squarely in having watched The Last Emperor and and really liking kung pao chicken.”
Not so, mah fren. She lived and worked in China for a number of years, and her dad is, well, who he is. The “China Expert” label is and has always been facetious, but she still knows a damnsight more about China than the rest of the Jezebel staff, (and you know, likely most Americans) so for that purpose, she’s their China expert. Kind of like how I’m not a licensed aesthetician yet I know the most about makeup and beauty, so I’m the default BCP “beauty expert.”
I’m not trying to be a Moe cheerleader or anything, but I’m still gonna correct false assumptions when I see them, is all.
July 22, 2008 at 12:44 pm
My favorite Moe moment was the one where I decided to quit reading her bullshit. I can’t be bothered with my-daddy-says-HRC-sux nonsense.
July 22, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I’m not surprised by this. Moe had been absent from Jezebel for over a week, and since I’m not there regularly anymore, I figured she got fired after Winstead-gate.
Also, although Megan is really smart and a great writer, she was unnecessarily bitchy to readers in the comments section LOTS of times. She was just really rude and angry in her responses too often for my taste.
I read online somewhere that Tracie was developing a sex show for Current TV. Anyone read that as well?
July 22, 2008 at 12:49 pm
@KittenFluff: “Please tell me they just spelled ‘Tracie’ wrong.”
*lovin’ it*
I pledge allegiance to the bangs,
Of the United Sluts of Mascara,
And to the pageviews,
For which it brings,
One false notion,
Under Blog,
With loserdom and justified snarking for all.
@BDJ: Who IS her dad, again? Her sister works at WashPo and now her dad has connections, or something? I have finally figured out why I have a paycheck-to-paycheck nuttin’ job, and “others” have careers. I was born into the wrong effing family.
July 22, 2008 at 12:51 pm
John J. Tkacic, Jr., a “senior research fellow in China policy in the Asian Studies Center of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank.”
July 22, 2008 at 12:52 pm
i stopped clicking on moe’s post awhile ago. i don’t know her therefore i have no personal beef with her. i just wasn’t interested in reading blog posts by yet another woman who needed to loudly claim she was too cool to be a feminist. because i am one and i have to read the rest of the mainstream media that is hostile to women i don’t need to make the effort to read something that should be fun but isn’t.
as others said, i hope we now get megan alot more. i haven’t given up on jez, i’ve just stopped commenting and stopped clicking on moe/tracie’s posts.
July 22, 2008 at 12:53 pm
@ Leets: …”she was unnecessarily bitchy to readers in the comments section LOTS of times…”
This is absolutely true about Megan. I sat back and watched her call SinRoo out one day in what became the height of hypocrisy of their blog (she tried to say SR was a “bad influence” on younger commenters) after SR tried to shut that annoying little spikey nose hair called RachyStyle the eff up and well, it was sort of the nail in the coffin for me at Jez. Megan was new then, and I thought, “Okey-dokey! This is the direction they’re headed, I’m headed to Gawker and Defamer…laterz!”
July 22, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Leets–wait, so since her dad is an expert in China, that makes her one? Well, my dad is a doctor. Anyone want me to perform open heart surgery on them?
Very much in agreement about Megan’s comments. I seem to recall her near hysteria regarding McCain’s “I stopped beating my wife two weeks ago” joke. Some poor commenter was trying to explain about the whole classic leading question context and she went near hysterical. I think the words “I can’t be your friend anymore” were written.
BTW–Estelle Getty has passed. moment of silence for Sophia, the best Golden Girl. :(
July 22, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I’m going to miss her, because at least she could handle people dissagreeing with her. And not turn into a stubborn 14-yr-old like SM.
Does this relate to all the shoot the messenger miss-steps? Or is it just good timing?
July 22, 2008 at 1:21 pm
My favorite Moe moment: Her style is rambling and distinctive, often frustrating to read, and usually rife with gems. It’s a loss for Jez, but they have other very strong writers to keep the flag waving.
I always thought Moe came up with “Crap Email From a Dude” and if that’s the case, it’s all worthwhile, because that’s consistently the best feature on Jezebel (I’m not including Jessica’s posts on feminism and Megan’s political posts in that statement).
July 22, 2008 at 1:39 pm
@Leets- If anyone were to get fired over the T&D appearance, it would not have been Moe.
I think forgiving your date rapist is nowhere near as harmful and disturbing as saying you’ve never been raped b/c you’re “smart”, and then completely unpromtedly plugging/bragging that you “once paid someone to rape me.” I think Moe’s had one foot out the door for a months now, and Balk also essplains over at Radar that this move has been in the works for a while.
My favorite Moe posts, to get back on topic, were the ones where she brought up music, namely her odd 90s-holdover love for the Replacements. For someone to cop to THAT big of an unpretentious taste in music is really awesome to me.
July 22, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I still read Jez for Dodai, who I think just gets better and better.
July 22, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Hey, I ain’t read nothin’ of Moe’s I didn’t like; check that – adore. I’ve not always agreed with the subject matter, but loved the way she put it together. Eh, your Moe mileage may vary.
My favorite Moe moment wasn’t even on Jezebel, I don’t think. Gawker, maybe? Poison darts were being hurled at her from all commenting corners and at the end of the page was Moe with something akin to “YOU’LL NEVER HATE ME AS MUCH AS I HATE MYSELF.” I cracked up because it deflected so ably, and cried, sad it might be true.
I will always dig Moe and say so loud and wrong.
BTW, not that anyone noticed me, but I’m Parasol on Jez.
July 22, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I’ve been wondering this for awhile: How do you pronounce Moe’s last name?
Also, I think it’s sad, but I actually doubt they could get rid of Slutty McSlutterson very easily. She’s the most recognizable and public of their bloggers, and she has all those cheerleaders who think she is tha shizznit, and would protest loudly.
July 22, 2008 at 1:52 pm
BDJ: Bring your own lampshade, somewhere there’s a party.
(I almost weep listening to that song, I don’t know why — “if being afraid is a crime we hang side by side at the swinging party down the line.” Sob!)
July 22, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Couple things:
First, whoever above re-baptized Tracie as “Slut Robot”, thanks. That’s it from now on.
Two, what the hell would her TV show be? A combination of “Girls Gone Wild” + “Jackass”?
July 22, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Moe has her demons but overall she is a good writer when she knows what the hell she is writing about.
I agree with Pickles and thinks she needs rehab. STAT.
But ultimately i wish SM was leaving. I really can’t stand her. Never have.
July 22, 2008 at 2:17 pm
@SarahHeartburn- I was thinking it’d be like a reality version of that Billie Piper ‘Diary of a Call Girl’ show, only nobody gets paid, and the sex is less mysterious/glam, more hipstarded and… disgusting. And what, isn’t CurrentTV that channel that only plays newfangled Falcon Crest-type dramas and old eps of Temptation Island? Or is that the new name for CourtTv? Bear with me, I get my low-viewership, niche-market cable channels mixed up.
July 22, 2008 at 2:22 pm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_5_38/ai_n25470222
http://current.com/currenttv
July 22, 2008 at 2:26 pm
That girl never met a run-on sentence she didn’t like. There are some good thoughts in there, but I got exhausted trying to pick it all apart. Here’s hoping she gets some actual editing over at Radar.
I never read Jezebel anymore, and even if I did I woudn’t really miss her- but it seems more and more like that place is a sinking ship.
July 22, 2008 at 2:34 pm
@ SarahHeartburn: Two, what the hell would her TV show be? A combination of “Girls Gone Wild” + “Jackass”?
It’s supposedly going to be on Current TV. That is the vast wasteland of cable, sort of like C-SPAN, but with (a few) commercials.
As a tee vee professional, I can’t imagine WTF this show would be like, or any network executive actually buying it.
Producing a pilot and then actually having it picked up are two vastly different things.
July 22, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Whatever her show would be, I ain’t watching it ’cause it’ll give my tv an STD. I wish Estelle Getty was still around to smack her upside her whiny head, Sophia style.
And I named her Slut Robot. Who wants to touch me? I said who wants to effin’ touch me??!!
July 22, 2008 at 2:50 pm
@Bowling: Her show can only be thing of extreme nightmares for television and public health professionals!! We should have a joint traumatic stress debrief if we watch it!
July 22, 2008 at 2:56 pm
@ AGreenEyeDevil:
I can get Dr. Drew to host!
July 22, 2008 at 3:02 pm
@Bowling: Sounds like a plan! Still…trying…to…wrap…my…mind…around…this…one!! Geez.
July 22, 2008 at 3:15 pm
@NeverNikki:Howz about slut-o-matic? slutbot?
July 22, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I for one, hope this TV show happens. Think of the Gawker coverage, people! Think of the endless snark fodder. It’s gonna be like “The Simple Life”, only instead of playing at different vocations and horribly mucking them up, it’ll be someone playing at being a responsible, sexual, adult human being and, well….
July 22, 2008 at 3:39 pm
When I saw the headline in my RSS feed I thought you were talking about Estelle Getty.
July 22, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Anonymous: Moe’s YOU’LL NEVER HATE ME AS MUCH AS I HATE MYSELF was indeed a golden Moe moment. Like you, I howled when I read it, then felt sad for her, and wanted to clutch her to my motherly bosom and stroke her hair.
July 22, 2008 at 4:28 pm
@Dictator4life: It rhymes with “classic.”
I’m both sad and glad that Moe is leaving.
When I first starting reading Jez, I didn’t get the Moe love. I didn’t dislike her, I just couldn’t get far enough into the rambling posts to form an opinion either way. I think the first post I at least skimmed to the end of was the April Fool’s Day post about how she was being fired. I was laughing out loud at my desk at parts of it and I saw that there are some real gems in her writing.
She’s very talented and one of the criticisms I’ve voiced before is that she seems content. No matter how much praise you hear, you can (and should) always push yourself harder and strive to be even better. The rambling has its charm and if she makes an effort to tweak it for clarity, it can be a great trademark. And I’ve seen her do it; she just has to deliver the quality consistently.
Which leads me to why I’m glad she’s leaving. I still love Jezebel and while I don’t plan on giving up on them any time soon, I want every writer there that I admire to get out eventually (sooner rather than later if the downward spiral doesn’t come to a halt soon). I’ve never read Radar, but I will now and I hope they have higher standards in terms of what flies there. If so, she might be motivated to only post her best work.
And yes, I do wish it was Tracie who was leaving. Fuck. I want to be able to watch the reality tv clips, but I feel dirty whenever I break my SlutRobot boycott. (Thank you, Nikki!)
And Amoureuse is right; she’s really genuine and sincere in person and I’d like to think if she’d been sober at Thinking and Drinking, she might have had some thought-provoking things to say about rape. I wasn’t around for her gray rape post, so I could be wrong, but I feel like if she was more articulate that night– even if what she had to say still made some people angry– it wouldn’t have been easily dismissed as thoughtless and stupid.
Unlike one silly woman who should stop whining already about being exploited by Lizz Winstead when she was repeating the same ignorant crap there she’d been posting when she was presumably sober. Idiot.
July 22, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Woah. That was long. Sorry, everybody. I will now start submitting my own comments to an editor before posting.
Geez.
July 22, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I liked Moe up unto the point where she gave that bullshit “apology” about the Rhianna debacle. You know, if you’re not going to be mature enough to admit that you may have made a mistake, then you’re obviously not self-aware enough for me to waste my time reading your stuff.
I’ve never liked being talked down to…and between Moe and SM’s instances of talking down to the readers just turned me off Jez almost completely.
You know what’s sad, though? I went back the other day just to see what was going on…and the first post I read had Anna snarking on somebody about something SHE misunderstood. Of course, per the usual Jezebel style, an apology was NOT forthcoming.
I really do hope that Moe gets some help. She is a great writer, but really, really needs to grow up a bit.
July 22, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Dammit…Rihanna.
July 22, 2008 at 5:10 pm
I’m going to miss Moe because, as a writer, I really love her writing style. And I’m PUMPED that she might be at a place where she gets actual editing (thank god I don’t have that job).
She’s had her good points, her bad ones, but jezenomics has always been one of my favorite features. I hope she gets some help–both professionally and regarding that drinking problem she keeps talking about–and turns her run-on sentences into the sparkling, witty writing I see in them.
July 22, 2008 at 5:17 pm
*crawls out of lurkdom*
Well, damn. That’s one less person to read on Jez. I was already mostly limiting myself to Dodai and Megan, since what they’re calling Rape Gate over at Gawker, but Moe was still in the mix (plenty) as well. I could appreciate her rambliness, usually, and I sent the lost tampon story to all my girlfriends.
I’ve been reading here since that article about how Jez commenters were hateful bitches, and I just want to say that I really appreciate the stuff y’all write! If it weren’t for the fact that I was taking a break from the internet during Rape Gate I probably would have been banned along with, well, a lot of you, and come out of lurkdom earlier.
July 22, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Trixie, I feel the same way about Moe.She drives me nuts but I feel a big sisterly thing for her. I think she needs one minor whupping and a lot of support. When she gets it together, she does right well. Take for example this from the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/10/AR2008061003538.html
I may not agree with everything she says, but I applaud her efforts. THIS is what she can do at Radar, and Alex Balk is a really good editor (and love object, but that’s another story). I think she will do good things there.
July 22, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Well, shit. I meant WRITE WELL (I’m not from the south, so I have no right to say “right well…”
See what I mean about what a good editor could do?
July 22, 2008 at 5:44 pm
@haguenite: Well, I’ll be damned! How pleased am I to see you here!? Don’t forget Jessica, the woman has a knack for summing things up smartly and concisely. And you, you need to delurk immediately.
July 22, 2008 at 5:57 pm
I am a hater. I can’t think of a thing Moe’s written that I liked. Glad she’s leaving!
July 22, 2008 at 6:06 pm
@ robot ninja spy
ha..would anyone actually hire SM? I’m convinced she’s got dirt on someone at Gawker for keeping her job this long.
July 22, 2008 at 6:09 pm
sorry..Slut Robot. I’m not giving that one up.
July 22, 2008 at 6:11 pm
@ robot ninja spy: “I’m convinced she’s got dirt on someone at Gawker for keeping her job this long.”
I wondered about this, too. Did she have a relationship with the Fleshbot editor at one time? I seem to remember in the big Gawker trip to Vegas for the AVM Awards that she eluded to this fact…in a photo…of the two of them texting…with his effing wedding ring in plain view…ugh…I must go use hand sanitizer after typing that.
July 22, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Oh my GOD. I just saw that Slut Robot (well done) posted a make-up tutorial on Jez today. All those people slobbering over her makeup on Pot Psychology must have finally gone to her head. That is so wrong. WRONG! I can’t even come up with anything witty to say about this, I am so horrified and disturbed. And she put her vibrator next to that dude’s face! Holy fucking hell! Also, she called people who wear it SLUTTY? SHE called OTHER PEOPLE slutty??!??!!?
July 22, 2008 at 6:23 pm
@ paisleypajamas
Wow..I only looked at the pictures to that post knowing at that point her words would kill a few brain cells.
July 22, 2008 at 6:25 pm
@ dictator4life. She’s real good at using words against others while banning commenters for using it against her. see also: ‘retarded’
July 22, 2008 at 6:27 pm
@dictator: I liked the part when she said the best way to combat super-dry skin from drinking and smoking was to use extra moisturizer. What a great idea!
July 22, 2008 at 6:36 pm
@TMFG- That Rihanna thing? Intern Cheryl did that, and Moe just posted the apology post, apologizing for something SHE didn’t do. You dig? But yeah, that post was confusing as hell.
July 22, 2008 at 7:11 pm
@BDJ – Oh, I know that Intern Cheryl did the Rihanna post. My issue was the way that Moe’s apology for Cheryl (if that’s what it was supposed to be…) came across. It was really condescending and didn’t even address the issue that people were upset about (i.e. that Cheryl, in her post, flagrantly broke the “no dissing on a woman’s looks” rule, while commenters get worsties-or just yelled at-for the same thing.)
It was the same infuriating issue that bothered me about the SM post re: Polanski: that instead of addressing the problem at the heart of the issue, both Moe and SM went off on tangents that completely missed the point of people’s anger. The way I read it, it just seemed like they were either being deliberately obtuse, or really WERE too dumb to see the point. As Moe can be really smart when she’s not doing the “oh I’m soooo hungover!/soooo drunk!” thing, I’m leaning towards being deliberately obtuse.
Either way, that’s not something I can admire in someone that wants my time and my web-page clicks.
Sorry for the novella! :)
July 22, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I wonder if this is one of those, “we’ll give you a chance to resign before we fire your ass” kind of things?
I never got the Moe vibe. I found her writing dull, confusing, and long winded. Her pieces were long on trying to be clever and short on research or facts, but she occasionally got a good one in.
Her tripe about Hillary Clinton was beyond slanted. It was some of the most misogynistic crap I read during the primary. I just stopped reading it after a while.
I wish her well, but I won’t miss her. Now if Slutbot would just “resign”
July 22, 2008 at 7:27 pm
I am not a Jezebel poster or even a regular reader, being more of a Gawker girl myself, but oddly, I recognize almost all of the logins over here. You all were some of the best parts of the few things I read over there.
I stopped reading SlutMachine after the “I have unprotected sex with people and don’t tell them I have herpes” thing. I couldn’t believe the largely “good on you” responses, or maybe it was just a lack of outrage. I could be remembering it wrong. I actually missed the whole Roman Polanski thing (was it before or after that? I should probably google), but even without knowing, I can guess what angle she took.
Both she and Moe – for different reasons – make me very glad that the internet was not ubiquitous while I was in my 20s. Their unearned swagger is just flat out embarrassing, even if both of them do have some talent.
This is probably an unpopular opinion over here, but part of the problem seemed to be the addition of a public moderator. I don’t know hortense and have no beef with her, but I actually read some of her comments today, ostensibly trying to keep the “thread” on track. They were condescending, to say the least, and smacked of…pissy hall monitor. Just a terrible tone towards commenters on a site that thrived because of a strong community.
Not addressing it directly, however, was the perfect illustration of why I don’t care for Jezebel, and why hortense’s tone bothers me. There is an absolute disregard for the readers, who put the site on the map. That, in my admittedly little readership, is something Moe and SM had in common – no sense of accountability to anyone but themselves and ‘their truths.’
Anyway, this is long winded, but, having stumbled here from a link, it is kind of terrific how great of a community you have built over here. Silver linings and all that.
July 22, 2008 at 7:36 pm
@myrtlebeachbum
My favorite Moe moment was the one where I decided to quit reading her bullshit.
me too. her stuff was always way too rambling and nonsensical. hopefully she’ll do better with a real editor.
July 22, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Hortense is in sort of a terrible position. Imagine having to referee that playground, especially with all these horrific shitstorms breaking out. Give her another chance, Karion — I have always found her to be a smart and wonderfully fair, and she is adored by us BCPers. When I had my ass executed for basically telling some other commenters to suck it, she was beyond compassionate and kind about it.
July 22, 2008 at 7:49 pm
@lesbiansayswhat and paisleypajamas: See, I can totally get why Vice hired her and I can see her working at hipster douchetard publications, but I don’t get how she gets taken seriously outside of that. I will admit that I’ve read a couple of posts on her personal blog that demonstrated she can be a good storyteller. The problem is most of her stories are about her doing stupid stuff, so that negates any appreciation I have for her talent. And yes, she has a sliver of it but she’s too self-absorbed, arrogant and childish to do anything worthwhile with it.
And I remember what I left out of my too-long post earlier! To whoever mentioned that Jessica followed SM’s herpes post with another one with correct info about herpes, yes, Jessica is awesome. Did you see this?
People keep sending us this Times of London article entitled “I had sex with my brother but I don’t feel guilty.” Two things about that. One: incest is not okay. It’s not ever okay. Two: I’m sick to death of people writing first-person essays about bad behavior and expecting that the mere act of writing about it absolves them of any responsibility and places them above censure. In the Times, the anonymous incest-lover says, “[Incest] doesn’t happen to everyone but it happens to some, and I don’t want to be made to feel guilty about it.” Then why are you writing about something incredibly taboo in a public forum? If this lady wants to fuck her brother, fine. I’m not going to stop her. But the expectation that this “honesty” is beyond reproach is laughable.
http://jezebel.com/5025346/incest-enthusiast-wants-your-understanding-acceptance
Yeah. Odds are even if SM read this, she probably agreed with it enthusiastically and didn’t realize it applied to her. Silly rabbit.
July 22, 2008 at 7:52 pm
@karion: hi, welcome.
you make some excellent points but i’d just like to point out that many of the members of the “strong (Jezebel) community” of which you speak were actually banned from the site or became so fed up with the bullshit they had to leave. i don’t envy hortense her job, especially with the decidedly UNcommunity-like feeling emanating from there these days, so if what you say is true then i personally wouldn’t begrudge her her moments of frustration. as you pointed out, the site’s editors aren’t all that interested in what goes on below the jump.
July 22, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Well, hmmm. I’ll defer to some of you more journalism-inclined ladies on Moe’s writing style, but for all of her rambling I never felt like I was just reading a summary of a longer article that was being linked to. When she’s on top, she’s really on it like SH mentioned.There were only a handful of times that I could ever garner anything stronger than “meh” at what she wrote. Not because I didn’t care, but because someone much more articulate had already taken her to task or the thread had turned into an avalanche of attacks & shaming (some not always “deserved.”)
Some of my favorite Moe moments include her the tampon fiasco, suggesting that Jesus would be a crappy boyfriend, and mentioning/linking somewhat random rap videos in her posts. I’ll have to go through my bookmarks later to find some more.
July 22, 2008 at 8:18 pm
*Sneaks in (I have been lurking)*
I don’t know what I will miss about Moe (Estelle Getty has died, so today’s been a bust)…however, I won’t miss the bizarre, rambling, incoherent posts that take forever to sort through before I finally give up.
July 22, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Man, it’s fun to see all of you new/old people over here. I hope ya’ll keep coming back! And stop lurking! Post!
July 22, 2008 at 8:35 pm
I couldn’t even get through her goodbye post, and had no idea it was a goodbye post until I read in the comments. I’ve never had any particular animosity towards her, but a lot of her stuff is just difficult to get through. Especially because my brain is slowly melting away from studying for the bar exam.
July 22, 2008 at 8:52 pm
@ AnnoyingFemaleLeadVoiceover: That tampon post was hilarious and shocking.
@ robot ninja spy: I finally took her off my RSS feed I added her to a long time ago. It was so much worse than Jezebel. If one person criticized her in any way she went on the attack..telling them no one asked them. Took me back to the good old days of 3rd grade. Until finally so many people were calling her out on her shit she couldn’t respond to all of them except making a general ‘fuck you haters’ post.
July 22, 2008 at 9:06 pm
@Trixie @kadinsky:
Again, no beef with hortense. I am familiar with moderating a high traffic website and I know exactly how crappy that role can be. Worse, I suspect hortense gets blamed for some of the more arbitrary bans that some of the editors dish out, because hortense is the public ‘face’ of moderating it.
Moderating is really quite a skill and requires swift reading comprehension to do it right. She will realize that she can better do her job by not saying anything and just taking quiet action and letting the offenders contact her directly. Posting things like “let’s all try to stay on topic here and not talk about the purple elephant in the room” is just ineffective and hall monitory. Banning longtime commenters for wanting to discuss the elephant is just batshit, and yet it was policy at the site I moderated.
Also, I hate that the only GM site that has a moderator is the one geared towards women.
@robotninja, et al: I actually realized something after my last post. I don’t believe SM. I don’t believe she is genuine or honest. I think she created a character and plays it deliberately and defiantly.
July 22, 2008 at 9:10 pm
@karion: That is an interesting theory. Someone who lives in New York should follow her one weekend and investigate. Then post an expose. Although that’s a big investment of time. People who lie fascinate me though. I don’t understand their motivations, most of the time.
July 22, 2008 at 9:10 pm
@Karion: Poor Hortense’s life is akin to playing life-boat referee on the deck of the Titanic! I wouldn’t know whether to be homicidal or suicidal if I had her job. She really is a kind and fair person!!
July 22, 2008 at 9:23 pm
@Karion & Dictator: It would not suprise me to learn elements of what she shares are a result of confabulation. But I tend to think her time with The Jez and Gawker network of folks would have exposed a totally “designed” false life.
It is an interesting point! I think we all agree something is terribly amiss in this equation.
July 22, 2008 at 9:23 pm
“Until finally so many people were calling her out on her shit she couldn’t respond to all of them except making a general ‘fuck you haters’ post.”
This is one of the things that drove me nuts about Moe and SM (and SM’s fangirls), because using arguments like that allows you to absolve yourself of all responsibility for your actions. In fact, I hate-with the fiery passion of a thousand suns-both the “haters” and “jealous” arguments that Generations X and Y tend to dish out against any sort of criticism nowadays. Grow the hell up and realize that some criticisms may have merit, dammit! And while you’re at it, get off my lawn!
One more thing to blame the baby boomers for, I guess.
July 22, 2008 at 9:24 pm
@ karion. Interesting. I guess I never considered that because she was so incredibly invested in defending each and every word/action the Slut Robot said/took as if her life depended on it..could have also just been her career she was trying to keep up.
July 22, 2008 at 9:25 pm
@Karion: I agree. I know some outrageous people, but it’s not non-stop like that. But deliberately being so unlikable is probably worse.
July 22, 2008 at 9:44 pm
I have a little ‘insidery’ information, and it fully supports my theory. Remember, of course, that GM pays their readers on page views. What garners attention, I ask you, more than what SM does over there? “I fuck guys and don’t tell them I have herpes because I cured myself?” Yeah, that gets the clicks. Also note that one of her close friends is CollegeCallGirl, whom I know to be awesome, and who also has a strong internet following. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all that.
Anyway, I didn’t mean to hijack your thread or steer the conversation. I admire what you fine folks created here, and from there. Good stuff.
July 22, 2008 at 9:47 pm
@Tea Em Gee Eff: It’s funny also that it’s evident in any post that she’s got a screaming base of fans that are female and young. And yet she is completely offended when someone says she’s in any way responsible..or a role-model. Sure, completely buy into your ‘sexually unsafe haven’t been raped because you’re smart and live in Williamsburg’ creation because it’s fun/ny for you but don’t expect people in a professional medium/environment to not see through the immature bullshit. ‘I Hired Someone to Rape Me because I Wanted To’? I couldn’t believe Jezebel ever said that was brave.
Also, I’m keeping your damn ball you crazy kids!
July 22, 2008 at 9:54 pm
PinkSoxHat–you’re studying for the bar? Aww, baby face. Lemme know when you need foot rubs and ice cream sundaes. :)
And I’m gonna let my bitch flag fly here–I have no pity, sympathy, or maternal feelings towards Moe. Nobody hates me like I hate me? Yeah, I felt the same way. When I was fourteen and I wrote shit like that in my dream journal. You’re 30 years old. Grow up. Good riddance. Next.
July 22, 2008 at 10:17 pm
NeverNikki: That comment is really funny when you look at your avatar, which sort of has a scolding look on its face.
For some reason the avatars in here never fail to crack me up. Sometimes they just go so well with the comments. Like someone will talk about being drunk, and the avatar looks pissed out of its mind.
No, I am not high.
July 22, 2008 at 10:17 pm
@lesbiansayswhat: It wasn’t until recently that I learned that there was a Williamsburg that was in fact NOT the one in Virginia. So my first reaction to her statement was, yeah, you’re not gonna get raped there b/c it will take the costumed townsmen too long to get their breeches and powdered wigs off. You’ll be able to run away by the time they’re ready.
July 22, 2008 at 10:25 pm
@Trixie: The avatars are really bizarre. Is that a WordPress choice you get to make for your site?
@dictator: That’s really funny. It’s like loading a musket!
July 22, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Slutrobot keeps her job because all the men at GawkerMedia are either hoping to, or are getting, a “job” from her. SlutMACHINE. Thats gonna get you a good performance appraisal right there.
*whispers* I kinda love Pot Psychology but it’s probably because I have a girl crush on Rich.
July 22, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Lesbiansaywhat: You have a choice of different themes and these seemed the most entertaining. By the way, stop sticking your tongue out at me.
Wassupbishes: I love Rich, and more than that, I fucking LOVE his cats.
July 22, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Yeah the friendship with Rich is bizarre because I’m pretty sure all my gay boyfriends would cut me if I acted like her. Also, Rich is great.
@Trixie..I do like my mentally ill slightly sociopathic sprocket. There must be a hundred different ones as it seems everyone’s is different but assigned.
July 22, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Please excuse the blog intrusion (again).
@karion: I hear what you’re saying, but most of the frequent commenters are quite familiar with Hortense, so her tone doesn’t really come off as pissy hall monitor. And I always think of it as a friendly heads up, so she doesn’t have to start addressing us in private. Sort of like a courtesy for the regulars who may have gotten carried away. While I may not necessarily agree with what is considered on or off topic, I appreciate a general warning. Believe me, if someone is clearly a troll, she swings the axe with nary a word.
July 22, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Meg: Don’t apologize! Drop by more often!
Would you care for a cocktail? You look pretty tanked already, actually!
July 22, 2008 at 11:19 pm
@lesbiansayswhat: I agree completely. In fact, I would also make the argument that just because you never set out to be a role model doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to be more responsible in the messages you’re sending out once you actually become one. But again, that’s a maturity issue.
Oh…and stop running through my flower beds, you brats!!!
@dictator4life: CotD, for sure. I laughed so loudly that my husband was like…”are you O.K?” haha!
July 22, 2008 at 11:44 pm
@ karion: I always wondered what went down with — and why CollegeCallGirl didn’t hang out anymore — after she made a comment about SlutRobot that couldn’t have gone unnoticed. I don’t remember the topic of the blog post, but she hopped on and said something about, “Yeah, it’s like when your friend, Slut Machine, invites you for a mani/pedi and her credit card gets refused.” I laughed for days. Then it pissed me off, because CCG wasn’t around anymore on Jezebel and infrequently on Gawker. Ugh. I think she might count as the very first self-exiled Jezebel.
If I were servicey like PicklesInMyTuna I would rifle through all of the examples of SM showing her ass repeatedly over there, and how that pales in comparison to any and all craziness caused by Moe’s pharmaceutical and ethanol cocktails.
July 22, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I love how this turned into a ‘why we really left Jezebel (forced or otherwise) and what it might take to bring us back’ thread.
July 23, 2008 at 12:35 am
I’ll miss Moe, as she had a few lulzy moments–ten-day-old bloody tampons come to mind–but not that much.
As for Ms. Egan, her milkshake will be drank soon enough.
@LSW: Rich is cool, but Winston is awesome and made of win, like all cats are.
July 23, 2008 at 12:48 am
@ karion: Wasn’t that what (and I’m so sorry I only remember her real first name because Tracie outed her, in what was one of her more horrific violations of basic decency) “Annie*” said? That Tracie is a liar and “Slut Machine” is a persona? I could see that, easily.
I’m only a couple years older than Moe and Tracie, but I had to stop reading because seriously every other post made me cringe in thankfulness that there were no blogs when I was young and (not quite that) dumb — do these women not realize that someday they’ll *grow up,* and yet all this lameass bullshit about drugging and boozing and passing on STDs will still be out there under their real names for every future friend, employer and husband/partner/whatever to read? I feel ancient, but it just makes me shake my woolly gray head.
*Was she Wookie? I can’t remember.
July 23, 2008 at 12:58 am
Wow, I’m surprised and pleased to find you all over here! Have to say I don’t have enough time at work to keep up with the Jezebel kerfuffles (I had to look at pictures of Michael Phelps all day, which is *exhausting*) but it’s nice to have some cool heads explain it. Using proper capitalization.
July 23, 2008 at 1:55 am
@karion: To be fair, the Consumerist has a moderator (and a Code of Conduct), but I’ve yet to see her/him ban anyone publicly in the same manner Jez encourages Hortense to.
Wait… Consumerist had ‘public executions’ way back before Jez was even a fat in the wind. And they posted the commenter’s screen name and the offending comments, then left the forum open for comments. Very “hurl tomatoes at the hunchback”.
July 23, 2008 at 2:02 am
I’m down for the JezeBAN, but I love Dodai to pieces. I still click on her or Jessica’s posts. And even then my commenting is very limited. When I start reading comments like this it sucks that in prbly the first tourny she had a shot to win she gets DQ’d for some technical thing. I just close the tab with a tear in my eye.
July 23, 2008 at 2:04 am
@paisleypajamas: I was on a Gawker post with CCG and she said she wouldn’t participate on Jezebel anymore because of their “hooker hate.” Not sure what that means exactly.
After a while on Jez, I just started thinking – why am I even interested in what these girls think? These are not people I would listen to in real life. Most of their “articles” are just rehashes of other people’s work anyway. It was the commenters that interested me most.
July 23, 2008 at 2:11 am
@Ms.Marvelous: I’m glad to see I’m not the only person whose avatar has tape over his mouth. I was feeling like the internet gods wanted me to shut up. *sniff*
July 23, 2008 at 3:43 am
BDJ, et al,
I don’t think Moe’s writing about animals was the “least concerning.” That’s the only thing that really, I mean viscerally, offended me. It wasn’t just her thought that people who REALLY love animals “have something wrong with them;” it was her denigration of animals on the basis that they don’t have a “higher consciousness,”too.
I see nothing wrong with valuing animals as much as human beings. What’s wrong with that? And yes, sometimes, people who can only form bonds with animals have “something wrong with them.” For example, there is a famed scientist and animal rights activist(whose name escapes me) who was afflicted with a terrible stutter. The only creatures open to bonding with him were animals. Now that he’s older and his stutter’s healed, he works on behalf of animals who, as he puts it “gave so much to me” ‘and have no voice, as once I had no voice.’
Others, like PETA, like myself, adore animals for their merely unspeakable grace.
July 23, 2008 at 4:57 am
Those of you on a Slut Machine boycott may have missed the post-T&D Pot Psychology where she very quietly admitted that she wasn’t a doctor and wasn’t the person to ask for advice on herpes. And that the person with the question about it should consult their Obgyn.
July 23, 2008 at 6:54 am
@ms.marvelous: On the hooker hate, It seemed that anytime a woman talked about enjoying her sex work or the benefits of her job the thread would be immediately be flooded by the same 4 or 5 commenters who felt the need to repeat why they would never do sex work and condemn those who do. Anyone who tried to argue for safe sex work (me) were in the commenting minority. About the time that CCG decided to stop reading Jez is the time I stopped reading articles on sex work (unless they focus on WOC because those don’t get hits).
July 23, 2008 at 7:27 am
My favorite thing about Moe’s posts was how they made me think I was high. My least favorite thing – they made me think I was high.
She had some hilarious posts, but eh, I have love for Dodai, Anna and Megan. Even the newer gals are growing on me. The commenter BS still remains the same. I miss you ladies.
Even though TV is my religion, I haven’t been clicking on SM’s posts – I just can’t do it.
July 23, 2008 at 7:36 am
I’ve only commented here once, but read this site everyday so pardon the interruption :)
I still read Jezebel everyday, but I’ve noticed lately that the snark and fun is completely gone. I truly believe that it’s not the editors or writers that made Jezebel the great site it is today, it was the commenters. Gone are the days when you could make a snarky joke and not have to explain it five times because people think you’re being insensitive. I don’t even bother commenting anymore because people there just can’t take the piss anymore. Anyway, I’m glad this site exists and I can still read what you intelligent, funny bitches have to say.
As far as Moe leaving Jez, don’t let the door hit ya.
July 23, 2008 at 8:27 am
@Starletta- I get where you’re coming from, and you’re entitled to feel any way about animals that you wanna feel. But I happen to agree with Mr. Sedaris that anthropomorphizing animals is probably the worst thing you can do to them, hence, why I personally prefer to keep my bonding within my own species. I side with Moe on this issue, you don’t. That’s cool.
Related: You should see ‘Grizzly Man’ if you haven’t already.
July 23, 2008 at 8:42 am
Oh Atherton – it’s painful in some (all?) of those threads now. I cringe everytime I go into a Snap Judgment, because only about 4% of the comments are proper snarks. The rest are “ooooh pretty skirt!” and “huh, my mom always walks behind my dad like that” etc. It is beyond frustrating, and just not worth my time anymore.
July 23, 2008 at 8:46 am
Grizzly Man was the best example of self delusion I’ve seen. Such a man-child and so out of step with the human world. How is it that a crazy unemployed guy who lives most of his life in the wilderness STILL gets girlfriend. She got ate by the bear for her troubles. Man, I’m wandering into a bittercup (percodan)punch area.
July 23, 2008 at 9:03 am
I’m surprised no one has addressed Karion’s most compelling point: that the only site in Gawker Media that has to patronize its own commenters with the “Ladies, we can’t discuss this yet because there hasn’t been an official post about it” mentality is the women’s site.
Yeah yeah, Consumerist, whatever. That’s completely different. All the sites ban commenters whether via public execution or private trigger fingers. But no other site has a schoolmarm in every thread wagging her finger. Why?
(I like Hortense too. Every post she writes that does not include the dreaded “I strongly encourage you to email the editors directly” is a hysterical musing and she makes kickass references to old pop culture and such. This has nothing to do with her personally. It’s just kind of upsetting to me that she even needs to be there.)
July 23, 2008 at 9:31 am
I can only hope she’ll learn something from being edited at Radar…her posts were just awful to read.
As for Jezbel as a whole, there is just so little content I’m interested in anymore and so much of it infuriates me to no end.
July 23, 2008 at 9:50 am
Atherton/BadenBaden-
I’m also getting a little worn out from wading through all the comments these days. Its not so much quality as it is quantity…quantity being fifty “OMG! I want those shooz” or “I heart PopTarts!” posts in a row. The editors used to lob an idea or a photo at us and the commenters would provide the laughs. I still read and post here and there, but the camaraderie and substance is in a downturn.
July 23, 2008 at 10:08 am
kathryn–I heart PopTarts cracked me up. Um, I mean, I, like, totes LOL’d!! OMG!!
And why the h does TheDomina get a monocle? I get cross eyes and she gets a monocle? This is crap. I protest!
July 23, 2008 at 10:20 am
NN: Fret not, your avatar rocks. It might be my favourite. Look at you right now! Your mouth in a perfect O! Your sawed off antlers all precisely lined up.
July 23, 2008 at 10:32 am
NeverNikki-
OMG! Let’s be BFFs…or something…totes? Haha
Crossed eyes aren’t too bad (it just looks like it has glasses on). Before I signed in, my little red-faced stop sign shaped guy had fangs and looked angry. I totally don’t have fangs.
July 23, 2008 at 10:33 am
@tailfeather: Why, thanks for the welcome, miss. And you’re right, we (meaning I) must most definitely not forget about Jessica. I’ll go click on some of her articles to atone for this sin of omission.
July 23, 2008 at 10:45 am
Haguenite, you were one of my fave Jez commenters for a long long time (I would say you still are, but I don’t go into the comments very often anymore on Jez.) Welcome to BCP and please stick around for awhile!
July 23, 2008 at 10:50 am
@kathrynwithay: It’s either that or 50 comments with everyone writing someone the riot act for leaving out a qualifier. Yes, it’s important to clarify what exactly you mean so someone from a different frame of reference knows what you’re talking about, but I hate watching someone get reamed because their very valid statement of less than three sentences did not address the needs of people taller than 6’3″, or who have bunny allergies, or who grew up in the projects on the west side of the moon.*
*Nothing against people who grew up in the projects.
July 23, 2008 at 10:57 am
Robot Ninja Spy–I have bunny allergies. You insensitive bitch.
Its waaaay to PC over there. Like, it makes me want to hit an oil soaked seal with a NARAL sign PC.
July 23, 2008 at 10:58 am
Oh, and nice smile :)I bet you massacre corn on the cob.
July 23, 2008 at 10:58 am
Trixie, you’re gonna make me blush now. Really.
This place was already ‘owned’ by some of my favourite commenters and now even more of them are frequenting as, well, commenters. Again. Perhaps the name should be changed to “Jez II: The bulletproof edition”.
*goes off to eat goulash* Mmmmmm…
July 23, 2008 at 11:14 am
@NeverNikki: I like something Hortense said to a commenter once. I’m not naming names because I like her perspective, I just wish she’d say, “Here’s my perspective on it,” as opposed to, “Actually, you should have this perspective. You left it out. You should stop leaving it out.”
She said, “There’s a difference between coming onto someone else’s playground and re-negotiating the rules and coming onto someone else’s playground, knocking it over and telling them they have to play differently now.” Complaining about snark on a Gawker Media site is exactly that.
July 23, 2008 at 11:17 am
Robot Ninja Spy-
I think a lot of commenters are looking for a fight or at least a way to call out someone to make themselves look better…Every so often, a handful of trolls will sneak in and lower the quality of comments, but a lot of times I see regular names tearing apart someone who simply dissented from the common theme of the thread or just didn’t clarify themselves well enough. Not everyone likes cheese, Gossip Girl, and roller skates.
Plus, its irritating checking Dirt Bag (my fave feature) three minutes after it’s posted and there are at least 45 comments that are irrelevant (“Who is Gillian Anderson?” “OMG I always hated Carrot Top”) or space wasters (“Slow News Day, huh?”)…
July 23, 2008 at 11:18 am
Oh, and nice smile :)I bet you massacre corn on the cob.
Was that at me? If so, thanks! I might make some for dinner now.
July 23, 2008 at 11:22 am
@kathrynwithay: That’s happened to me so many times recently. I think today might be the final straw. Some bitch keeps arguing over whether or not Jessica Simpson’s shoe line is considered a knockoff of Louboutin. I mean, really, seriously? I fear it is J. Simp herself!
July 23, 2008 at 11:31 am
AthertonMerriweather-
No way, really? Good grief.
JSimp shoes are more like uncomfortable knockoffs of Steve Madden, but whatever…maybe it IS JSimp!! Or at least Papa Joe.
Gotta love the armchair fashion experts. Those girls are the absolute worst. Just because you work at Forever21, doesn’t make you a stylist.
July 23, 2008 at 11:33 am
Dammit. Now I want sweet corn and shoes.
July 23, 2008 at 11:44 am
@AthertonMerriweather: What thread is that in? I wanna watch!
July 23, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Re: Snap Judgement…
See, I’ve never liked SJs because they are in conflict with the sites “no girl-on-girl crime” policy. How can one be “snarky” but not “mean”? If you are being sarcastic, you are saying something mean. If you are making fun of any element of a picture, you are being mean. It’s like saying, “It’s fun to talk shit about others! But don’t talk shit about others!” I just find it is too fine a line to walk.
July 23, 2008 at 12:35 pm
@AthertonMerriweather: fear it’s Chestica herself, ‘eh? here’s how you tell, ask her this – if tony romo falls over in a pond, does he make a sound?
p.s. hai :)
July 23, 2008 at 1:33 pm
@NeverNikki: “it makes me want to hit an oil soaked seal with a NARAL sign”
AAAAHAHAHAAAA!!! Comment of the Century, that is!!
Amazing! But for real, the comments over there are choking on PC. If I could access Jez at work, I’d not even deign to LOOK at the comments, only Dodai, Jessica, and Megan posts (Moe posts had she not left). Wordsies.
July 23, 2008 at 1:53 pm
@Robot Ninja Spy
I think that I am one of those bloody people who gets pissed off about perspectives. Every time that there is a post concerning Africa, black people (women), or Islam, I always cringe because there is usually a certain degree of prejudice, intolerance, and ignorance spewed in the comments. I embrace the idea of multiple perspectives and learning about different cultures and issues affecting women around the globe, but I abhor the narrow mindedness and cultural indifference that a lot of the Jezzies display. There needs to be a “read with an open mind” disclaimer posted on those threads.
Back to Moe: Good luck to her and why the hell has Jezebel not brought up her departure? Is it Anna or Denton? Where did this Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy come from? I’d like to wish the girl good luck.
July 23, 2008 at 2:00 pm
@Amoureuse: If it was Denton, I don’t think Gawker would have posted about it. I’m surprised that wasn’t cross-posted in the first place, and the silence is just weird.
July 23, 2008 at 2:28 pm
No, it’s not you. Personally, I enjoy reading your comments and the issues you’re referring to are things that are worth getting riled up about. And even when you do it, you don’t approach it in a self-righteous, condescending way. I’m especially talking about people who pick apart comments on the more frivolous posts and over-analyze comments that are clearly intended to be jokes.
I made a joke about Countess DuLesseps being pissed that that baby prep company wasn’t around when she had kids (you know, the one where they help you compare strollers and decorate the nursery) and was basically reamed for calling working mothers selfish and absolving men from any child -rearing responsibility.
Countess DuLesseps didn’t have a job. She also wasn’t a lower-middle class housewife like the one I was raised by who helped me with my homework and kept up our house (and for the record, I think we’d have both been way more well-adjusted people in the world if she’d had a career).
When confronted, I made what I thought was a valid point, which is, hey, it’s none of my business, but since we’re on the subject, if you don’t have a job, you don’t clean your home, you don’t cook your food and you’re never with your kids (and everyone on Real Housewives of NYC agreed she and her husband were never around the kids) what exactly are you so busy doing? Shopping? Really? And she kept attacking me about bashing working mothers, when I thought I made it clear I was specifically talking about people who didn’t work. Stuff like that is what I’m talking about. (She apologized eventually, sort of, but still.)
July 23, 2008 at 2:30 pm
And for the record, I’m aware that I didn’t say, “Boy weren’t the Count and Countess mad…” because he couldn’t even stay on the same continent with his wife 90% of the time, so it seemed like a given he wouldn’t give a shit about the strollers. Blame the patriarchy for that one. I’m just the messenger.
July 23, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Ooh I didn’t witness that. But that’s also where I am coming from.
The only good thing to come out of Thinking and Drinking, was that I stumbled on:
http://whattamisaid.blogspot.com/2008/07/what-black-girls-can-never-do.html
July 23, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Amoureuse: What a great blog post. Very thought-provoking.
July 23, 2008 at 2:42 pm
CeeJee – I disagree, but I wonder if it’s because we have different definitions of ‘snark.’ (although I disagree with your notion that sarcasm is mean – it’s not when it’s done right.) As far a I recall, very few people have been flat-out mean in SJs, and when they are, they’re usually called out on it. What used to happen was the picture was posted and people would come up with captions, or thought bubbles, or plays on movie titles, or clever comments about some subtle item in the photo. Somewhere along the way people got the idea that they couldn’t comment about people in the photo at all and now it’s full of “lolz I luv shoes” and crap I can’t read.
July 23, 2008 at 3:32 pm
@Amoureuse: That is a great essay, and she’s absolutely right. And it makes me sad that, in so many minds, that’s Jez, not Moe’s better days, or Dodai, or Jessica or Sadie.
July 23, 2008 at 4:13 pm
@ Robot Ninja Spy: Oh good lord…someone actually lit into you for that?
You know…sometimes I just want to go back and stir up hell…but then I’d probably get banned, too.
Could be fun, though. ;)
July 23, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Found the reason why Jez didn’t discuss Moe’s departure yet. She’s not leaving Gawker…
http://radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/07/moe-tkacik-sticks-with-gawker.php
July 23, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I got banned for nothin’. I said Anna would post something about this TODAY.
July 23, 2008 at 4:46 pm
@BFD: Maybe you got banned because you can predict the future. mooaahhhhaaahhaahhaaaa
July 23, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Bowling, I was wondering if you got a reason for the bannination.
July 23, 2008 at 4:52 pm
…other than the “being a sorceress” part, apparently.
July 23, 2008 at 4:54 pm
@Tea Em Gee Eff: Yes. It’s exhausting sometimes. These are the same people who complain about the name-calling. I’d rather be called an asshole than feel compelled to waste several comments defending a silly little quip.
July 23, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Apparently for posting a smart-ass remark on Gawker.
July 23, 2008 at 4:57 pm
It’s all so meta.
July 23, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Is there nowhere sacred for the smart asses??!? I’ll pray to St. Sebastian for you.
July 23, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I had my first experience being called out by another Jez commenter today. I can’t help it that I have an irrational hate of all things that are related to “Friends!” To me, that show represents everything that is wrong with America! And yes, like everyone else in the world, I JUDGE.
July 23, 2008 at 5:34 pm
@haguenite: So now I have to stop reading Gawker now, too?
Life…it just ain’t fair.
*goes and hides in her bitter little hole*
July 23, 2008 at 5:37 pm
She didn’t leave because Denton offered to give her more creative freedom?? What the hell else could she write?
July 23, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Dictator: I fucking hated Friends. I’ll go on and defend you. That show made me want to puke.
July 24, 2008 at 7:46 am
BDJ:
Bdl:
Speaking of anthropomorphizing animals, another scientist whose name escapes me, circa 1850s-ish, did a series of “experiments” on dogs. He’d vivisect them, alive. They would howl, squeal in agony. His helpers objected, ‘You’re hurting them.’
His response? ‘Don’t anthropomorphize the animals. The dogs’ screams are the equivalent of the squealing audible in a crashing machine.’
This is O.T., but my point is, sure, there are differences between human animals and non human animals, but we’ve more commonalities than differences. “Anthropomorphizing” is an accusation often leveled inappropriately to legitimize exploitation of non-human animals, and to deny their feelings, needs, and consciousnesses, which are often as sophisticated as ours – and just as worthy of respect.
We’ve done more harm to animals by denying their “souls” then ever by over-investing in their equitableness to us. They’ve always been “beast machines” who are “harvested,” as opposed to helpless creatures exploited and murdered. Such changed would be needed did we not have such convenient philosophies!
July 24, 2008 at 8:13 am
@Tea Em Gee Eff: Crap! After I logged off, I remembered the best part of the argument!
I was accused of fetishizing motherhood.
Yup. I’m not even sure what that means.
July 24, 2008 at 8:44 am
@Starletta: I’m kind of failing to see how some batshit remark by a “scientist” in the 1800s has anything to do with the actual topic at hand- Moe Tkacik’s leaving Jezebel.
ALLLLLLLLLLLLL I said before, was that if anything Moe has said to offend people, that animal post seems an unlikely one to be the “last straw” for someone. But, I can see that you have a single-minded focus on animal issues, so that post would have been offensive to you. OK, I GET IT. Like I tried to say in the last post to you- WE ARE AGREEING TO DISAGREE HERE. I DO NOT SHARE YOUR BELIEFS, BUT YOUR BELIEFS ARE COOL WITH ME. That’s all I’m trying to say. No amount of laying a lead foot on the dubious-factoid (seriously, if you’re going to quote something so inflammatory, please provide a link, as guilt works better with a little concrete research behind it, rather than hearsay) guilt-pedal is going to get me to drop everything and become a soldier to the Cause. OK?
If you can’t let it drop, if you can’t at least stay a leeeeetle bit on topic, if you can’t refrain from leveling thread-killing topics that could potentially drive away our readers (this is NOT Jezebel. We don’t HAVE to have arguments here everyday, I’d like it to be pleasant here), you can’t comment here. Please don’t make BCP your soapbox. I’m saying this in the friendliest manner I know how, really.
July 28, 2008 at 1:37 am
Well I’m clearly late, but I must say that I generally found Moe’s style to be too rambling. At some point I quit checking in regularly at Jezebel since my favorite community members seemed to be gone.
I’m glad to see you’re all in one place and as interesting to read as ever.
August 7, 2008 at 11:37 am
Wow, I’m really behind the curve. I have to agree with lindzertart. I have also stopped checking in to Jezebel, and although I enjoyed a lot of Moe’s posts, the rambling had got pretty out of hand. Lots of interesting posts here since the last time I visited!