 | |
| Categories | Teen |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Matilda Publications (1988–89), Lang Communications (1989–1994) |
| First issue | March 1988 |
| Final issue | 1996 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Sassy magazine is a defunct, general interest teen magazine aimed at young women. It covered a wide variety of topics, and was intended as a feminist counterpoint to Seventeen and YM magazines. Sassy existed between 1988 and 1996.
The magazine was founded in March 1988 [1] by an Australian feminist, Sandra Yates, CEO of Matilda Publications, who based it on the teen magazine Dolly . Women Aglow, an evangelical women's group, boycotted Sassy due to its content about sexuality immediately following its start. [2]
Sassy's founding editor was Jane Pratt. [3] The magazine's original main writers were referred to by Pratt as "Sex" (Karen Catchpole), "Drugs" (Catherine Gysin), and "Rock 'n Roll" (Christina Kelly) [4] because of the topics they covered. Executive Editor Mary Kaye Schilling became Editor-in-Chief in 1990, when Pratt went on to host a daytime talk show. [3] When Schilling left, Christina Kelly was promoted to Editor and remained in that position until the magazine's end. Kelly hired Erin Smith of Bratmobile as her intern in 1991. [3] [5] The fashion department was headed by Mary Clarke, Jacinta Dobson, and Andrea Lee Linett, who discovered Chloë Sevigny on the street and hired her as an intern. The distinctive look of the magazine was created by Cheryl Collins, who had worked at Australia's Dolly. When Collins left, Schilling hired Noel Claro to art direct the magazine. [3]
Sassy was first published in March 1988 in the United States by Matilda Publications with a circulation of 250,000. It was acquired by Lang Communications in October 1989, at which point its circulation was 450,000. [6] Petersen Publishing officially took over with the February–March 1995 issue, [7] and its editorial offices were moved to Los Angeles from New York City. It then stopped publishing as its own title in 1996, when editorial sections (and staff) of Sassy were absorbed into another magazine published by Petersen called `TEEN [8] beginning with the January 1997 issue. [9]
In 1992, Sassy spun off a short-lived title for teen boys called Dirt: Son of Sassy. It was created by Mark Lewman (words), Andy Jenkins (art direction) and Spike Jonze (photos), who went on to direct music videos and feature films. They were collectively known as "the Master Cluster." According to Canadian author Douglas Coupland, "Dirt was a funny and smart magazine for young people". [10]
Sassy anticipated "crowd sourced" content by over a decade, starting with their "every single little thing in this issue is reader-produced" December 1990 issue. Originally conceived by Alan Goodman's and Fred Seibert's Fred/Alan Inc., Sassy advertising agency.
Sassy conducted an annual search for the Sassiest Girl in America, and in 1990, Sassy magazine conducted a search for the Sassiest Boy in America. Over 150 entries were received, with the eventual winner being Ian Svenonius of Nation of Ulysses. [3] In the story highlighting his selection, Pratt states, "He's going to be a big deal. I'm sure he will be and we're going to be so proud that we were the first ones to discover him." However, it was discovered that Svenonius wasn't a "boy" at all, but rather lied about his age, as he was 22 at the time of his selection—too old, per contest rules. He was allowed to retain his title. [11]
Sassy's in-house band was named after the Chia Pet, [3] with various members from the editorial staff, including Jane Pratt on violin, Mary Kaye Schilling and Christina Kelly on vocals, Kelly's then-husband Robert Weeks on guitar, her then-sister-in-law (and Sassy writer) Jessica Vitkus Weeks on bass guitar, Mary Ann Marshall (also a Sassy scribe) on drums. Karen Catchpole lent co-lead vocals to some songs including "Hey Baby" and "Don't You Want Me Baby". [12] The band once opened for The Lemonheads [13] at iconic now-closed New York City rock club CBGB.
16. "Don't You Want Me Baby"
In April 2007, Faber and Faber released a tribute to and history of Sassy by former Teen Vogue editor Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer called How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time. [3] The book recounts the magazine's rise and fall; its unusual appeal to both men and women, teenagers and adults; and its influence on mainstream as well as alternative women's magazines. It includes interviews with staffers and fans.
Bratmobile is an American punk band from Olympia, Washington, formed in 1991. They are known for being one of the first-generation "riot grrrl" bands. The band was influenced by several eclectic musical styles, including elements of pop, surf, and garage rock.
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People is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, People had the largest audience of any American magazine, but it fell to second place in 2018 after its readership significantly declined to 35.9 million. People had $997 million in advertising revenue in 2011, the highest advertising revenue of any American magazine. In 2006, it had a circulation of 3.75 million and revenue expected to top $1.5 billion. It was named "Magazine of the Year" by Advertising Age in October 2005, for excellence in editorial, circulation, and advertising. People ranked number 6 on Advertising Age's annual "A-list" and number 3 on Adweek's "Brand Blazers" list in October 2006.
Jane Pratt is the founding editor of Sassy, Jane and xoJane. She is the host of the talk show Jane Radio on Sirius XM Radio.
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Elle Girl was the largest older-teen fashion and beauty magazine brand in the world with twelve editions. Launched in August 2001, it was the younger sister version of Elle magazine, and similarly focused on beauty, health, entertainment and trendsetting bold fashion—its slogan: "Dare to be different". The magazine was published monthly and was based in New York City.
Teen Vogue is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to Vogue, targeted at teenage girls and young women. Like Vogue, it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since 2015, following a steep decline in sales, the magazine cut back on its print distribution in favor of online content, which has grown significantly. The magazine had also expanded its focus from fashion and beauty to include politics and current affairs. In November 2017, it was announced Teen Vogue would cease in print and continue online-only as part of a new round of cost cuts. Other publications would also follow and go digital, such as InStyle. The final print issue featured Hillary Clinton on the cover, and was on newsstands on December 5, 2017.
The Nation of Ulysses was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in spring 1988 with four members. Originally known as simply Ulysses, the first mark of the group consisted of Ian Svenonius on vocals and trumpet, Steve Kroner on guitar, Steve Gamboa on bass guitar, and James Canty on drums. Tim Green joined the band late in 1989 as a guitarist and the band became "Nation of Ulysses." Nation of Ulysses disbanded in the autumn of 1992, having failed to complete their third album. After the breakup, Svenonius, Canty, and Gamboa went on to form the short-lived Cupid Car Club and The Make-Up. Tim Green went on to help create The Fucking Champs, a mostly-instrumental trio out of San Francisco, and later Concentrick, a solo project with a focus on ambient music.
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Ian Folke Svenonius is an American author, filmmaker, and musician with various Washington, D.C.-based punk bands including Nation of Ulysses,the Make-Up,Weird War,XYZ, Too Much, Escape-ism, and Chain & the Gang. Between his numerous projects, Svenonius has released more than 22 full-length albums and over 20 singles, EPs, and splits. A published author and online talk show host, Svenonius' projects share a tongue-in-cheek, radical left political ideology.
Robert Einar "Pete" Petersen was an American publisher who founded the Petersen Automotive Museum in 1994.
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Douglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized the terms Generation X and McJob. He has published 13 novels, two collections of short stories, seven non-fiction books, and a number of dramatic works and screenplays for film and television. He is a columnist for the Financial Times, as well as a frequent contributor to The New York Times, e-flux journal, DIS Magazine, and Vice. His art exhibits include Everywhere Is Anywhere Is Anything Is Everything, which was exhibited at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Royal Ontario Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, now the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada, and Bit Rot at Rotterdam's Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, as well as the Villa Stuck.
Cycle was an American motorcycling enthusiast magazine, published from the early 1950s through the early 1990s. During its heyday, in the 1970s and 1980s, it had a circulation of more than 500,000 and was headquartered in Westlake Village, California, near the canyon roads of the Santa Monica Mountains, where Cycle's editors frequently road tested and photographed test bikes.
Tavi Gevinson is an American actress, writer, and magazine editor. At age twelve, she came to public attention for her fashion blog Style Rookie. By 15, she had shifted her focus to pop culture and feminist discussion. Gevinson began acting in 2013, and later starred in the HBO Max series Gossip Girl (2021–2023).
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a subcultural movement that combines feminism, punk music, and politics. It is often associated with third-wave feminism, which is sometimes seen as having grown out of the riot grrrl movement and has recently been seen in fourth-wave feminist punk music that rose in the 2010s. The genre has also been described as coming out of indie rock, with the punk scene serving as an inspiration for a movement in which women could express anger, rage, and frustration, emotions considered socially acceptable for male songwriters but less common for women.
Rookie was an American online magazine for teenagers created by fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson. Rookie published art and writing from a wide variety of contributors, including journalists, celebrities, and the magazine's readers. The subject matter ranged from pop culture and fashion to adolescent social issues and feminism. Rookie's content was divided into monthly "issues", each built around a theme. It updated five days a week, three times a day: roughly just after school, at dinnertime, and "when it’s really late and you should be writing a paper but are Facebook stalking instead."
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Charles Stuart Pratt (1854–1921), who sometimes wrote under the pen names of C. P. Stewart and C. P. Stuart, was an American writer of children's literature, best known for being the art editor of Wide Awake magazine for 16 years, starting in 1875. He edited children’s magazines for 30 years, and for most of that time he worked with his wife, Ella Farman Pratt.
