W/T in Jane Magazine or Irony is kind of ironic that way

[xita]

Remember the fake spoilers that suggested Jane magazine was against lesbians.

Rebecca in the Tara's coven list put this up. I'll check out the issue myself soon.

The new issue of "Jane" magazine has the Gutsy and Wimpy Women of the Year listed and Willow and Tara werefeatured.

"Even though we have more gay characters on TV than ever before, it's disheartening that almost all of them are male and total stereotypes. But the relationship between BTVS's resident witches Tara and Willow is one of the most realistic portrayals of young love since Kevin and Winnie on "The Wonder Years". So maybe casting spells and saving the world isn't completely realistic, but they also hold hands, slow dance and lie in bed at night talking. You won't find that kind of normalcy on "Will and Grace". 'I've gotten some amazing letters from girls who felt uncomfortable [about their sexuality], but after seeing us on TV realized that they too can have an awesome relationship with someone they really care about,' says Amber, my hero." GUTSY (written by Joshua
Lyon)

Is that a quote from Amber? I have never seen it. That's very cool. And I think they are still the most romantic thing on tv. Plus they had the most romantic courtship ever. But hey, I am biased.

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Tara: And see those stars along there? That's the bottom of the pineapple.
Willow: It's big.
Tara: Hence the name.

[This message has been edited by xita (edited January 04, 2001).]

[dokkyo168]

hmm that's nice to hear and better to see... you wouldn't happen to know the issue - whether it will be on stands or is already there?

[darvangi]

It's nice to hear that Jane is publishing something worth while in her mag, even if it's a little blurb. This mag was a real disappointment to many people. After she left Sassy, great things were expected of Jane and she talked a great deal about breaking boundaries of stereotypical girlie mags and offering something of substance, then she ends up putting out just another teen girl rag about shopping and make up and how to get guys by being as thin as possible.

Add this blurb to the list of press clippings we need to send to the WB to let them understand the power of what they have in W/T.

[april]

darin, i'm following you around today with my posts...

i think that jane deserves a little more credit than you give it, though. yes, it's fluffy magazine, with more makeup and hair tips than i personally like to have in my reading material, but it's much more hip and irreverent than most of the other "women's magazines" out there. where else would you find an article, complete with photos, about the day an editor spent helping out at a porn shoot? in men's magazines, maybe, but seventeen and cosmo wouldn't touch that one with an, um, ten foot pole...

but yes, xita, i love the irony of it all...if this doesn't allay your fears about the fake spoilers, nothing will.

[Warduke]

Xita, that quote from Amber sounds like the one she made in OUT magazine, it’s not word for word but it’s close.
Here’s the quote from the OUT article…”Too many people don’t have anything. I got a letter from a girl who thinks she’s gay but she doesn’t know. She says, ‘When I saw you on TV I finally saw what I could have. I don’t feel so weird anymore.’ That was amazing.”

[Willowmere]

quote:

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Originally posted by april:
i think that jane deserves a little more credit than you give it, though. yes, it's fluffy magazine, with more makeup and hair tips than i personally like to have in my reading material, but it's much more hip and irreverent than most of the other "women's magazines" out there

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I agree 100%, april. I would also say that Jane is unusual in the way that it firmly takes a stand about being pro-choice, anti-homophobia and unequivocally pro-tolerance, while other "teen" magazines are patently inoffensive, and their copy suffers for it.
I am so glad that W&T are in their "gutsy" category, but I find it sad that girls think they have to see something on television to know that it is "okay". We should all be taught that however we want to be, gay, straight, Christian, Pagan, transgendered or whatever, is 100% fabulous just because it is the way we were meant to be, not because it has been given a hallowed place in pop culture.
But not everyone is supported in the way they should be, and BtVS one of the better places to find validation on television. quote:

[xita]

Well the problem is that gay teens don't usually have gay role models around. I can't speak for anyone, but I was 18 when i finally met lesbians, or people I knew were lesbians.

The only people I knew were gay, or rather the only images I had were in books, television and movies. I had no idea what it meant to be gay, but those outlets had a great impact in my expectations of what would happen. If I had seen gay people dying and never getting love, guess what I might have though awaited me?

Media, especially to gay teens, is very necessary.

[darvangi]

April & Willowmere:

I'm very glad to know that Jane has grown into a magazine of greater substance than it was a couple of years ago when I stopped my subscription. I'll definitely have to pick up a copy and see the girlie goodness for myself. Athough, regarding the porn shoot, I really take issue with the current phenom of girl-power pop culture embracing mainstream het pornography as an effective means of breaking down our culture's repression of female sexuality. Of course, I haven't seen that piece yet, so I shouldn't degrade it before I give it a chance.

I'm certainly impressed with this quote on W/T and how it is applauded for it's gutsiness. Everytime a new one of these year-in-review things has a favorable mention for our girls, I feel all warm and squishy inside. I should really start collecting them so I can make a compilation and put in on a Web page.

Xita: you're so right about the role model issue. Gay teens are certainly getting more good representations in the media than I ever saw when I was a kid. Billy Crystal in Soap is the only thing that comes to mind, and that was just wack. I had to dig deep into underground media history to find my queer heroes. W/T is so important for so many people, and I hope Joss can appreciate that to such a degree that the anti-gay hatemongers can be overshadowed.

[This message has been edited by darvangi (edited January 04, 2001).]

[tommo]

I think in terms of gay teens, Buffy offers a positive view for teens over here. Almost all the kids I teach at school watch Buffy. If just one of them, just ONE happens to see W/T as role models, then it's a good thing. Certainly when I was growing up, lesbians on tv (if there were any) were always older, more self-assured women. The ones I met in real life when I got to be 18 were the same.

I think lesbians are more high profile now, with lots of exposure on tv and in the media. And hey, that's a good thing, right?

[Anyalvr]

quote:

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Originally posted by april:
. where else would you find an article, complete with photos, about the day an editor spent helping out at a porn shoot?

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Well, I don't know about you people, but the other day they had porn documentaries on
three channels -- VH1, MTV, and HBO -- simultaneously.

I don't think Jane is breaking any barriers there.

As for me, the less porn I have with my channel-surfing, the better. I find it about as stimulating as bathroom humor.

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"I tried to be unlovable/why couldn't you do the same?"

-(jewel)

"Spank us 'til Tuesday! We promise to be bad if you do!"
-(drusilla, angel)quote:

[Roxton]

It's great to see such positive recognition of the W/T relationship and how it is impacting on teens. As Darin said, it's important that the WB understand the power of what they have in W/T and the good it can do.

[eekiboo]

i've saved and printed every article ever written abt w/t and read all of 'em atleast during the weekend.. (free time...heh.heh.) now this is an addition to my collection. thnx xita and Jane mag! i just bought that mag once when Angelina Jolie was on the cover. peace