Gurl.com

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gurl.com
The second logo for Gurl.com, which was used from 2011 to 2018.
Logo used since 2011
Type of site
Available inEnglish
FoundedMay 1996; 27 years ago (1996-05)
DissolvedNovember 2018; 5 years ago (2018-11)
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
Country of originUnited States
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)
ParentHearst Magazines
URLgurl.com at the Wayback Machine (archived November 30, 2018)
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional (required for contributions and message board)
LaunchedMay 1996; 27 years ago (1996-05)
Current statusDefunct
Native client(s) onWeb browser

Gurl.com (pronounced "girl dot com"; formerly stylized as gURL.com from 1996 to 2011) was an American website for teenage girls that was online from 1996 to 2018. It was created by Rebecca Odes, Esther Drill, and Heather McDonald as a resource centered on teen advice, body image, female sexuality, and other teen-related concerns. First published as an online zine, it later expanded into an online community. At one point, it provided a free e-mail and web hosting service, known as Gurlmail and Gurlpages respectively.

Clothing retailer Delia's purchased the site in 1997; it was later sold to PriMedia in 2001, who in turn sold it to iVillage in 2003. Alloy (later rebranded as Defy Media) acquired it from iVillage in 2009. The website ceased activity after Defy Media's closure in 2018 and was acquired by Hearst Magazines, who redirected it to Seventeen's website.

As one of the first major websites aimed at teenage girls in the United States, Gurl.com was heavily associated with zine culture and third-wave feminism; it was also used in academia to study the online behavior of teenage girls. Unlike teen magazines in the 1990s, Gurl.com was known for its humorous tone, unconventional approach to teen-related topics compared to mainstream media, and contributions from its audience (such as editorials and artwork). The popularity of Gurl.com led the creators to co-author three teen advice books, the first being Deal With It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a gURL (1999).

Gurl.com won the I.D. Magazine Award for Interactive Media in 1997 and a Webby Award in 1998; its founders received the New York Magazine Award in 1997 for their work on the website. Gurl.com was also met with privacy concerns, as well as criticism from conservative and anti-pornography advocates for its sex-positive stance and sex education resources.

History[edit]

Gurl.com's logo from 1996 to 2011

Rebecca Odes and Esther Drill, childhood friends from West Orange, New Jersey,[1] conceived the idea of managing a magazine while they were in high school,[2][3][4] as teenagers in the 1980s.[5][6] Dissatisfied with the teen magazines available to them growing up, they sought to curate alternative media that would properly address the concerns of teenage girls.[3][4] In 1995, while they were graduate students at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, they, along with fellow student Heather McDonald, decided to form a female-positive online space aimed at teenagers, as they felt the Internet lacked such communities in the 1990s.[2][4] They wanted to create an uncensored resource for girls, with features similar to those in a teen magazine, but also wanted to build a community centered on female interests, with peer advice and opinions from other girls.[7] Gurl.com was then created as Odes, Drill, and McDonald's Master's Thesis project.[7] The name of the website combined the word "girl" with the acronym "URL".[7] The logo of the website contained a closed fist with painted nails.[7] The website was launched in May 1996.[2]

After Gurl.com's initial launch, the website was included as a member of EstroNet, a web portal designed to drive traffic to independently owned websites created by women.[8] The clothing retailer Delia's approached Odes, Drill, and McDonald with an acquisition offer and purchased the website in December 1997.[4][9]: 152 [10][11][12] Odes, Drill, and McDonald continued to work on the website from Delia's offices.[4] Gurl.com was included as part of the website network iTurf (Delia's online subsidiary) in an attempt to launch an e-commerce market targeting Generation Y.[11] Gurl.com was initially launched as a non-commercial website,[9]: 156–157  but it began selling merchandise from Delia's catalogue beginning in May 1998.[11] On September 2, 1999, iTurf partnered with America Online to feature content from Gurl.com on their website in a section called AOgirL.[13] In May 2000, Gurl.com sponsored Take Back the Decks: An Evening of Women in Underground Music, an all-female music festival held at Lighthouse Frying Pan in New York City, New York.[14] From November 16 to November 21, 2000, Gurl.com held the Movers, Shakers, and Media Makers Film Festival at the Pioneer Theater in East Village, Manhattan, with Kim Peirce, Christine Vachon, and Nancy Savoca as guests.[15]

Following the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, Delia's sold or closed down all of their Internet properties in late November 2000, with the exception of Gurl.com.[9]: 152 [16] On November 23, 2000, Gurl.com was redesigned with less focus on e-commerce.[16] In May 2001, PriMedia, the parent company of Seventeen, acquired Gurl.com in an attempt to expand its teen-centered properties.[9]: 152 [17]: 33 [18][19] In August 2003, while downsizing and paying off its debts,[20] PriMedia sold Gurl.com to iVillage, with Drill and McDonald joining staff.[17]: 33 [21] In 2005, Gurl.com opened its first mobile store powered by M-Qube, selling ringtones and wallpapers for mobile phones.[22]

In 2009, Alloy acquired Gurl.com as part of their strategy to build a digital entertainment hub aimed at teenagers and young adults.[23][24] Alloy later relaunched Gurl.com in 2011 with a new logo,[25] containing a cursive font with the "u" shaped as a heart.[4] Once Alloy merged with Breaker Media and became Defy Media in 2013, Gurl.com focused on video content and had a YouTube channel.[26] The website ceased activity after 2018 with the closure of Defy Media.[27][28] Once Gurl.com was redirected to Seventeen's website,[29] Hearst Magazines later announced on February 15, 2019 that they acquired Clevver,[30][31] including Gurl.com, which Defy Media had grouped with Clevver's network.[32] In 2020, Jamie Petitto, who had been a video editor for Gurl.com from 2012 until its closure, stated in a video post on her social media accounts that Gurl.com had stopped updating since 2017.[33] She also stated that she had offered to buy Gurl.com from Defy Media but could not meet their demand of $3 million.[33]

Content[edit]

Zine[edit]

Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein (pictured in 2007) was serialized on Gurl.com.

Gurl.com drew inspiration from teen magazines, and its initial launch used a zine format.[7][9]: 154 [34] The website's intended demographic was girls aged 13 or older.[34] Unlike contemporary online communities aimed at young women in the 1990s, Gurl.com had an edgier appearance,[9]: 154  using a frank and nonjudgmental approach to address topics such as dating, health, and beauty.[9]: 152  Gurl.com also directly addressed topics such as female sexuality, which according to The Cut was not commonly seen in traditional media aimed at teenagers in the 1990s.[4] Early content parodied and satirized mainstream teen magazines.[3][9]: 152  The website initially used drawings of women instead of photos to emphasize body positivity and to avoid body image concerns.[7]

Content on the website was organized into topics such as "Deal With It" (daily life), "Looks Aren't Everything" (fashion and beauty), "Where Do I Go From Here?" (career), and sports.[9]: 154 [35] When Gurl.com was given a new design on November 23, 2000, "Stop, Look, and Listen" (shopping) and "Movers, Shakers, and Media Makers" (celebrities and other women in media) were added as two new sections.[9]: 154 [16] "The Boob Files" had first-person essays written about breasts that were submitted by contributors.[9]: 152 [36] The website also had an advice column run by McDonald, titled "Help Me, Heather."[2][37]

Because Odes, Drill, and McDonald believed that girls prefer creating to being consumers, the website allowed contributions from its users, such as comics, poems, opinions on current events,[9]: 154  and reviews.[2] For the same reason, they limited contributions from celebrities, as the website was intended to be a counter against aspirational fantasy.[2][4] One of Gurl.com's notable contributions from its readers was its comics section, which included serializations such as Those Sucky Emotions and Mizbehavior, both initially listed in the "Deal With It" topic.[9]: 154  Other comics included Girl Stories by Lauren Weinstein;[38] Fifteen Revolutions and Rachel the Great & Tuna by Rachel Nabors;[39] and Girls in Love and I Heart Sex by Martina Fugazzotto.[40]

During Alloy's (later rebranded as Defy Media) acquisition of Gurl.com, the company shifted the website's focus towards video editorials.[26] Jamie Petitto was hired to be a host for the video content from 2012 to 2017.[33] She primarily hosted a DIY video series called Do It, Gurl on Gurl.com's YouTube channel,[33] which was nominated for a Streamy Award in 2013.[41]

Features[edit]

While Gurl.com could be accessed without an account, registration was required to submit content and participate in the chat room and message board.[7][9]: 154  Registration was free, and users were strongly advised to create a non-identifying alias to keep them anonymous.[7][17]: 45  The message board, known as the "Shout-out Boards",[42]: 791  were where users could interact with each other and exchange advice.[2][43] Gurl.com also had an online avatar-based text chat room server, known as the Gurl Palace, accessible through the computer program The Palace.[2][43]

As well as messaging features, Gurl.com featured online games.[3] Some of the early game content satirized beauty standards,[3] such as the game "Hairy Gurl".[44] Later games stuck to Gurl.com's concept of acknowledging girls as creators instead of consumers, such as "Make Your Own Rock Band", "Make Your Own Reality TV Show", and "Try the Prom Dress Selector".[7][9]: 154  It also had personality quizzes, with a well-documented one being "Paper Doll Psychology", where users could dress a paper doll and receive an assessment on their personality based on their clothing choices.[3][9]: 152 

During Delia's ownership from 1997 to 2001, Gurl.com provided an e-mail service through Gurlmail.com and web hosting through Gurlpages.com,[45] both free services owned by Lycos.[2][43][46] Many users used Gurlpages to host zines,[34] particularly about female sexuality.[43] Others used Gurlpages to host their creative works, such as poetry, and rants about their daily lives.[34] Websites hosted on Gurlpages were part of Gurl.com's network and allowed users to easily connect with one another.[34]

Publications[edit]

Following the success of Gurl.com, Odes, Drill, and McDonald received a book deal through a partnership with Scholastic.[45][47] They published a series of teen advice books based on the editorial content on the website and also included conversations found on Gurl.com's message board.[7] The first book, Deal With It! A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a gURL, was released on September 1, 1999;[2][7] it offered advice on puberty, queer identities, sex, eating disorders, drug use, and mental health, with a list of resources on each topic.[48][49] To promote the book, Odes, Drill, and McDonald launched an accompanying website, DealWithIt.com, which hosted an online version of the resources.[50] Deal With It! was received favorably, most reviewers praising the book as a valuable resource about sexual health as well as its tone and presentation; some critics cautioned that parents might not find some of the content appropriate and advised that the book was not suitable for younger readers.[44][48][50] Deal With It! was listed at #82 on the American Library Association's Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books from 2000 to 2009,[51] with several organizations challenging the book due to its LGBT-friendly and sex-positive content.[52][53] Deal With It! became a national bestseller,[54] selling 100,000 copies in the United States by January 2000,[55] and was awarded the I.D. Magazine Award in the Graphics category in July 2000.[56]

Deal With It! was followed by The Looks Book: A Whole New Approach to Beauty, Body Image, and Style on October 1, 2002,[7][54] which examined beauty standards throughout the ages.[9]: 152  Publishers Weekly described the artwork as "whimsical" and the book as both intelligent and humorous, suggesting that it presented a message of empowerment.[54]

The final book, Where Do I Go from Here?: Getting a Life After High School, was released in 2004.[57] The book discussed topics such as entering adulthood, managing finances, alternatives to college, and other social issues in college life, such as incompatible roommates, date rape, and binge drinking.[57] Britta Hays from Tampa Bay Times praised the book for profiling options after high school without bias.[57] Harry Wessel from The Orlando Sentinel described the book as one that would help teenagers make good choices about their future and said that, despite its branding, its advice was also applicable to men.[58]

Analysis[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

Gurl.com was praised for being a positive community on topics such as female sexuality, queer identity, and body positivity, as well as its inclusion of peer advice from teenage girls, by media outlets such as The Cut,[4] Glamour,[59] and Los Angeles Times.[37] Janelle Brown from Salon.com noted that the accessibility of sex education online had prepared young girls and also allowed them their own sexual agency.[60] Despite the acclaim, Los Angeles Times and Common Sense Media suggested Gurl.com was more appropriate for an older audience.[35][61] In 1999, the website had approximately 800,000 visitors per month.[44] In 2001, approximately 40% of girls who regularly used the Internet in the United States visited the website.[62]

Gurl.com was also met with criticisms over its sex-positive stance from conservative groups. In 1999, Salon.com stated that anti-pornography advocates cited concerns that young girls discussing and having accessibility to sex information would lead to an increase in underage sexual activity and be harmful to their development.[60] Abstinence advocate Coleen Kelly Mast argued that Gurl.com gave a one-sided view of human sexuality, claiming that the information would not help lead to "satisfaction in marriage".[44] Carol Platt Liebau named Gurl.com as part of her criticisms against the United States' "sex-obsessed" culture, criticizing the website for excluding religious and moral discussions about sex as well as for ignoring the opinions of teenage girls who chose to be abstinent.[63] Miriam Grossman included Gurl.com and Deal With It! in her criticisms of sex education, calling the website "offensive material" for including information such as BDSM, sex positions,[64]: 5  and gender identities.[64]: 166–167 

Among other criticisms, parents and scholars expressed concern over Gurl.com collecting information from its users and disclosing them to third-party advertisers to study consumer habits,[9]: 157 [34][62] with The American Prospect naming their personality quizzes as an example of acquiring personal data.[62] In 2015, the Canadian Broadcasting Company included Gurl.com among 1,494 websites and mobile apps that were privacy concerns, as it allowed children to unknowingly list too much information about themselves.[65] Anita Hamilton from Time surveyed several female high school students in Manhattan, New York, and out of the four teen websites shown to them, the students liked Gurl.com the least, citing its "cluttered" design as partly the reason.[66]

Awards[edit]

List of awards given to Gurl.com, with year, name of award, category, nominee/work, and result
Year Award Category Nominee/Work Result
1997 I.D. Magazine Annual Design Review for Interactive Media Gurl.com Won[67][68]
New York Magazine Award Esther Drill, Heather McDonald, and Rebecca Odes Won[69]
1998 Webby Awards Living Gurl.com Won[70]
2013 3rd Streamy Awards Best DIY or How-To Series Do It, Gurl Nominated[41]

Use in academia[edit]

Gurl.com has been used in studies about online behaviors and sexual identities of teenage girls. In a study conducted by Media Metrix and Jupiter Communications in 2000, there was a 125% growth of girls aged 12–17 years old using the Internet, which was partially credited to Gurl.com.[71][72] In a study done by professors Barbara Duncan and Kevin Leander in the same year, they observed that because Gurl.com already had an established network, girls who hosted their website at Gurlpages could easily connect with one another and receive feedback on their work.[34] In 2005, scholar Sharon Mazzarella noted that Gurl.com was among the websites that helped girls be creative and empowered, though there was later increasing moral panic surrounding how harmful messages may influence them.[17]: 141 

Scholars Ashley D. Grisso and David Weiss noted that users on Gurl.com's message board often discussed their interest in sex, usually respectfully as per the established norm on the website.[17]: 45  In spite of this, many discussions about sex on the website were related to male pleasure.[17]: 45  Gurl.com encouraged sexual expression, but some users were quick to shame others who disapproved of premarital sex or discussed their sex lives in detail, downplaying individual sexual agency.[17]: 36, 41, 45  A study published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication in 2006 found Gurl.com to be the best example of a female-centric website that encouraged critical thinking skills in young girls through their discussions on current events.[42]: 791–792 

Gurl.com has also been used as an example of the commercialization of the Internet, as well as recognizing young women from Generation Y as a viable marketing demographic. It was named as a site that inspired the growth of websites owned by teenage girls, creating a potential advertising market worth US$15 billion in 2000.[73] Duncan and Leander argued that Gurl.com created spaces of both "resistance and conformity", as people who had websites on Gurlpages both expressed themselves in creative writing yet also listed personal information identifying their demographics and consumer habits.[34] Scholar Leslie Regan Shade used Gurl.com as an example of commodification and commercialization of a community in the 1990s, when women were being recognized as a marketing demographic for e-commerce.[9]: 157  Echoing Duncan and Leander, she commented that while Gurl.com had a disclaimer stating that their views do not represent their advertisers, the website may have been "packaged for a homogeneous idyllic audience commodity", which contrasts with the "utopian sentiments" of an online community.[9]: 157  Gurl.com was used as an example of stealth marketing in teaching media literacy about advertising.[74]: 77 

Legacy[edit]

Gurl.com is known for being one of the first major websites aimed at teenage girls in the United States during the 1990s.[62][75] It was also known for its association and contributions to third-wave feminism, riot grrl, and zine culture in the 1990s.[59][76][77][78] Gurl.com's honest and frank discussions about teen issues inspired teen magazines and other female-centered websites to adopt a similar approach.[4] Its branding was also tied to Generation Y identity.[79]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Eakin, Emily (November 4, 2001). "Weddings: Vows; Rebecca Odes and Craig Kanarick". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 28, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Heather McDonald, Esther Drill, and Rebecca Odes, authors: A chat about life as a "gURL."". CNN. September 17, 1999. Archived from the original on May 9, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Copage, Eric V (May 9, 1999). "Neighborhood Report: New York On Line; Girls Just Want To ...". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 17, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Symonds, Alexandria (August 14, 2014). "The Forgotten Pioneer of Teenage Pop-Feminism". The Cut. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  5. ^ Drill, Esther; McDonald, Heather; Odes, Rebecca (2004). Where Do I Go from Here?: Getting a Life After High School. New York: Penguin Books. p. vi. ISBN 9780142002148.
  6. ^ "The Last Roundup '84" (PDF). West Orange High School. 1984. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 5, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via West Orange Public Library.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Mitchell, Claudia; Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline (2007). Girl Culture: An Encyclopedia. California: Greenwood. p. 334. ISBN 9780313339080.
  8. ^ "EstroNet Pumps Out 'Girl Culture'". Wired. November 13, 1997. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Shade, Leslie Regan (2004). "Gender and the Commodification of Community". Community in the Digital Age: Philosophy and Practice. By Feenberg, Andrew. Maryland, US: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 151–160. ISBN 9780742529595.
  10. ^ Grigoriadis, Vanessa (March 6, 2000). "Silicon Alley 10003". New York. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Ryan, Thomas J. (1999). "Delia's Internet IPO seeks to raise $45 million". Women's Wear Daily. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  12. ^ Weaver, Jane (January 11, 1999). "Webzines face do-or-die struggle". ZDNET. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  13. ^ "iTurf Launches gURL on America Online – Expands Online". Business Wire. September 2, 1999. Retrieved June 26, 2021 – via Bloomberg Markets.
  14. ^ Powers, Ann (May 9, 2000). "Pop Review; Lessons for the Sisterhood In Turntable Wizardry". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  15. ^ Shirkani, K.D. (November 12, 2000). "Three ink for gURL fest: Online magazine to host tributes to Marion, Savoca, Vachon". Variety. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  16. ^ a b c "Weaving improved web sites". Women's Wear Daily. November 23, 2000. Archived from the original on September 1, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g Grisso, Ashley D.; Weiss, David (2005). "What Are gURLs Talking About?". Girl Wide Web: Girls, the Internet, and the Negotiation of Identity. By Mazzarella, Sharon R. Switzerland: Peter Lang. pp. 32–49. ISBN 9780820471174.
  18. ^ Connell, James (May 30, 2001). "Tech Brief: Primedia buys gURL.com". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  19. ^ "Primedia Inc. purchases gURL.com from Delia's". Women's Wear Daily. 2001. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  20. ^ Jain, Anita (August 5, 2003). "iVillage makes first foray into teen space". Crain's New York Business. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  21. ^ Devine, Nora (August 5, 2003). "IVillage Buys Gurl.com From Primedia". Dow Jones Newswires. Archived from the original on August 7, 2003. Retrieved September 3, 2022 – via Yahoo! Finance.
  22. ^ "gURL.com eyes the lucrative mobile market". UPI. July 5, 2005. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  23. ^ Ali, Rafat (February 4, 2009). "Alloy Media Buys Online Sports Social Network Takkle.com". CBS News. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  24. ^ "Alloy Media + Marketing Picks Up Social Network For High School Sports TAKKLE". TechCrunch. February 4, 2009. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021. This comes right after Alloy M+M's acquisition of teen girl community gURL.com.
  25. ^ Koday, Dan (July 8, 2011). "Dan Koday's Tumblr". Tumblr. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021. So I can't take full credit for the design (obviously a designer put this together), but as the editorial owner of this project, I managed the process and offered approvals over everything. All in all, I think anyone would agree that the new gURL.com looks 9,000,000 times better!
  26. ^ a b Peterson, Tim (October 8, 2013). "Video Networks Alloy Digital, Break Media to Merge Into Defy Media". Ad Age. Archived from the original on April 3, 2023. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  27. ^ Spangler, Todd (November 6, 2018). "Defy Media Is Shutting Down, Will Lay Off Employees". Variety. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  28. ^ Colyard, K. W. (June 3, 2019). "'This Is 18' Explores The Lives Of Teen Girls — Through Their Own Eyes". Bustle. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved June 26, 2021. Later, the now-defunct gURL.com's The Looks Book offered up profiles of various fashion archetypes teens could pursue, such as the Chic Geek, Diva, and Ice Queen.
  29. ^ "Cute Hairstyles, Celeb News, Fun Quizzes, Beauty Advice, and Teen Fashion". Seventeen. Hearst Magazines. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  30. ^ Jarvey, Natalie (February 15, 2019). "Hearst Magazines Acquires Clevver Following Defy Media Shutdown (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  31. ^ Hayes, Dade (February 15, 2019). "Clevver Finds New Home At Hearst Magazines After Defy Media Meltdown". Deadline. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  32. ^ "Gurl.com - A teen site and community for teenage girls". Gurl.com. June 3, 2019. Archived from the original (The bottom of the page includes the text "The site is part of the Clevver Network.") on July 6, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  33. ^ a b c d Petitto, Jamie (November 22, 2020). Hi, Gurl. Bye, Gurl. WHY, GURL?! (Video). Retrieved May 9, 2022. I was the next host of Do It, Gurl. In May 2012, my first DIY was a dry-erase picture frame calendar. [...] And then, it all came crashing down in 2017, because Defy Media, the media company that owned Gurl.com [...] went bankrupt. [...] Like, I asked Defy Media if I could buy Gurl, and they said, "Sure. For $3 million.
  34. ^ a b c d e f g h Duncan, Barbara; Leander, Kevin (November 2000). "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: Literacy, Consumerism, and Paradoxes of Position on gURL.com". Reading Online. 4 (5). Archived from the original on May 31, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  35. ^ a b Jones, Karen (April 12, 2001). "You Go, Girls, to These Sites for Dating, Family and School Tips". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  36. ^ Gerrard, Lisa (1999). ""Diets Suck!" and Other Tales of Women's Bodies on the Web" (PDF). Works and Days 33/34 & 35/36: The Future of Narrative Discourse: Internet Constructs of Literacy and Identity. 17/18 (1/2): 54. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  37. ^ a b Colker, David (August 26, 1997). "It's Little Ladies' Choice for Web Fun". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  38. ^ "Girl Stories". Publishers Weekly. March 20, 2006. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  39. ^ "Real Comics for Girls". Comics Worth Reading. December 14, 2006. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  40. ^ Montrero, Patrick (September 13, 2009). "Brooklyn cartoonist Martina Fugazzotto gives teens straight talk about sex in educational comics". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on December 3, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  41. ^ a b "3rd Annual Winners". Streamy Awards. March 6, 1998. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2023.
  42. ^ a b Raphael, Chad; Bachen, Christine; Lynn, Kathleen M.; Baldwin-Philippi, Jessica; McKee, Kristen A. (April 2006). "Portrayals of Information and Communication Technology on World Wide Web Sites for Girls". Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 11 (3). International Communication Association: 771–801. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00035.x. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  43. ^ a b c d Wray, Jennifer; Steele, Jeanne R. (November 1, 2001). "Girls in Print: Figuring Out What it Means to Be a Girl". Sexual Teens, Sexual Media: Investigating Media's Influence on Adolescent Sexuality. By Brown, Jane D.; Steele, Jeanne R.; Walsh-Childers, Kim. United Kingdom: Routledge. p. 195. ISBN 9780805834901.
  44. ^ a b c d Angier, Natalie (November 19, 1999). "A Sex Guide for Girls, Minus Homilies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  45. ^ a b "PW: Children's Bookbag". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 244, no. 37. September 14, 1998. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  46. ^ Ladendorf, Martina (2002). "Cyberzines: Irony and Parody as Strategies in a Feminist Sphere". Digital Borderlands: Cultural Studies of Identity and Interactivity on the Internet. By Fornäs, Johan; Klein, Kajsa; Ladendorf, Martina; Sundén, Jenny; Sveningsson, Malin. Switzerland: Peter Lang. p. 119. ISBN 9780820457406. Archived from the original on July 8, 2021.
  47. ^ "Internet Islands in Indian Ocean". Wired. July 22, 1998. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  48. ^ a b "Deal With It!: A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a Gurl". Publishers Weekly. August 30, 1999. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  49. ^ Davis, Pamela (November 10, 1999). "Book gives straight "gurl' talk". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  50. ^ a b Redecker, Cynthia; Williamson, Rusty (1999). "Cool School". Women's Wear Daily. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  51. ^ "Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000–2009". American Library Association. March 26, 2013. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  52. ^ Anderson-Minshall, Diane (September 29, 2011). "Bookshelf: Banned Books Week". The Advocate. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  53. ^ "Letter Opposing West Bend Decision Not to Reappoint Library Board Members". National Coalition Against Censorship. April 28, 2009. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  54. ^ a b c "The Looks Book: A Whole New Approach to Beauty, Body Image, and Style". Publishers Weekly. October 1, 2002. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  55. ^ Lodge, Sally (January 31, 2000). "Self-Help for Teens". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 246, no. 5. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  56. ^ "Deal With It!". I.D. No. July/August 2000. July 2000. p. 113.
  57. ^ a b c Hays, Britta (May 24, 2004). "Life after high school". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  58. ^ Wessel, Harry (February 4, 2004). "Get a life". The Orlando Sentinel. p. G12. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  59. ^ a b Barret-Ibarria, Sofia (August 28, 2017). "Everything I Know About Sex I Learned From '90s Teen Site gURL.com". Glamour. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  60. ^ a b Brown, Janelle (July 28, 1999). "Girl talk". Salon.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  61. ^ Brereton, Eric (August 25, 2016). "gURL Website Review". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  62. ^ a b c d Rayman-Read, Alyssa (December 19, 2001). "Gurl Power". The American Prospect. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  63. ^ Platt Liebau, Carol (2007). Prude: How the Sex-Obsessed Culture Damages Girls (and America, Too!). New York: Center Street. ISBN 9781599956831.
  64. ^ a b Grossman, Miriam (August 1, 2009). You're Teaching My Child What?: A Physician Exposes the Lies of Sex Ed and How They Harm Your Child. Maryland, US: Regnery Publishing. ISBN 9781596985544.
  65. ^ "Most kids' apps, websites collect and share personal information". Canadian Broadcasting Company. September 3, 2015. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  66. ^ Hamilton, Anita (May 15, 2000). "Chicks That Click". Time. Vol. 155. p. 92. Archived from the original on July 17, 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  67. ^ "Razorfish Studios and Gurl Develop the Gurl Palace". Razorfish Studios. March 2, 1998. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  68. ^ I.D. Magazine Annual Review for Interactive Media. I.D. (CD). F+W. June 1997.
  69. ^ "The 1997 New York Magazine Awards". New York. Vol. 30, no. 49. New York: New York Media. December 22, 1997. pp. 93–98. ISSN 0028-7369. Archived from the original on June 14, 2021. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  70. ^ "1998 Webby Awards Unveil Winners". Webby Awards. March 6, 1998. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  71. ^ "The Web: It's a Women's Thing". Wired. August 9, 2000. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  72. ^ "Women outnumber men on the Web in U.S., study shows". CNN. Reuters. August 9, 2000. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  73. ^ Copage, Eric V (April 13, 2000). "Review; Web Sites Clamor for Teenagers' Attention". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
  74. ^ Paxson, Peyton (2002). Media Literacy: Thinking Critically About Advertising. Maine, US: J Weston Walch. ISBN 0825143659.
  75. ^ Johnson, Whitney (June 30, 2017). "This Media Exec Says 'If You Aren't Heard, Here's How To Speak Up'". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  76. ^ Yarrow, Allison (June 13, 2018). "How the '90s Tricked Women Into Thinking They'd Gained Gender Equality". Time. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  77. ^ Rayman-Read, Alyssa (December 19, 2001). "Lipstick and Politics". The American Prospect. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  78. ^ Spiers, Emily (2018). Pop-feminist Narratives: The Female Subject Under Neoliberalism in North America, Britain, and Germany. England: Oxford University Press. p. 116. ISBN 9780198820871.
  79. ^ Dignan, Larry (April 9, 1999). "Web Retailer iTurf Cashes In On All the Right Buzzwords". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.