Women's Websites Insult My Intelligence
The good news is that these sites are dying a slow, agonizing, well-deserved death. It turns out you can go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public, especially if that public has two X chromosomes. Women.com and iVillage are hemorrhaging cash and staff, and Oxygen.com is barely breathing. In a desperate attempt to stanch the bleeding, iVillage recently acquired former rival Women.com in a deal that company officials say "creates the most comprehensive destination to meet the everyday needs of women online."
But no matter how many iVillages they think it takes, it’s impossible to create a site that reflects all women. "It’s the same problem with all mass media as network TV claims to represent all humans," Jenkins says. "All women don’t want anything; specific women want a variety of things."
So which website would I build if it were up to me to create "the most comprehensive destination to meet the everyday needs of women online"?
Why, I think it already exists. It’s called the World Wide Web.
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