Not Knitting-Related: Sassy Magazine

Yeah, I know, I'm bee-hind on the whole knitting thing. I have been knitting, though; I'm started on my wedding shrug.

I don't know how this came to mind, but I decided to google Sassy magazine, which I read as a teenager and absolutely LOVED. Turns out a book is coming out on the mag this month; see here.

I discovered it before I left the States to go back to Europe in 1990, and I begged my parents to get me a subscription. I read it from cover to cover, religiously, until, like this commenter, I started to find that they had bought into commercialism just a little too much and they began taking themselves too seriously. But I remember so much about it, I just thought I would share. I think I disposed of my collection, but I must admit that that magazine was a big influence on me around ages 15-16. It showed me that I could be myself at a time when, admittedly, I wasn't entirely sure what that meant. Like this person, I still miss it too.

Here's some of what I remember:
- The spine was a different color each month, and it always had a catchy quote;
- One of the contestants for the Sassiest Girl in America took a picture of herself while lying down in ivy, and taking the photo with the trigger in her hand;
- An article on a Midwestern girl who said she never ate at McD's because she saw the shape of the cows that McD's reps bought for slaughter;
- A piece on these two girls who, I think, lived in Iowa. They were the granola-crunchy variety and wore flowery dresses over jeans. One of them swam a mile every day and said that's how she maintained her figure. They said they were not afraid of being physically affectionate with each other even though they were only friends. That kind of comment always made me a little leery;
- A piece on hot girls and hot guys. There was a comparison of four girls but I remember only three: one was stick-thin, one of was curvy and sporty, and the other had hips; guys voted for the latter two as hottest;
- In that same issue (can't remember which one), I discovered a pic of Eagle-Eye Cherry who, at the time, wore dreads; I remember my heart skipping a beat and totally drooling over him;
- An article on a guy and his best (girl) friend and how he felt that interfered with his relationship with his girlfriend;
- An article on racial stereotypes, one of which categorized Asians as hard-working;
- Another article on sending a white woman (Christina) and an African-American woman to Tiffany's in New York to see if they would be treated differently (they were). What struck me most about the article was not the fact that they were treated differently, which is disgusting but which unfortunately did not surprise me, but appreciating the point of view of the African-American woman, who had expressed reticence in taking part in the whole experiment to begin with. She said it made her feel like she had been singled out twice. I thought it was terrific of Sassy to publish that because it really opened my eyes to something I would not have thought of;
- An article on putting toothpaste on your zits (which sorta worked); exfoliating your lips with a toothbrush (gently); and splitting your hair in sections, braiding it, and waking up with a temporary "perm" (ha!) the next day;
- A piece on how everyone at Sassy believed in wearing a sweater around their waists while in leggings to hide their butts; I remember a picture of Jane Pratt demonstrating with a striped shirt that I believe had some pink in it. I remember thinking, "Why use a striped shirt? Horizontal stripes always make things look wider."
- An article on what it was like to be a Navajo on the rez;
- Christina writing an article about cat-calling and about how, when she was 17 and wearing a long summer skirt and a tank, some guy came up behind her and rubbed up against her on the subway. When she told her mother about it, her mother said she had asked for it by dressing like that (!!!);
- One of the staffers writing about how one of her friends died of a heroin overdose. This article really came to mind when one of my friends died of the same thing several years ago;
- A story about an albino girl whose mother was a cheerleader in high school. This girl liked to wear "Mr. Bubble" t-shirts to school, and she went to a costume party where she went in her mother's cheerleading outfit. She wore colored contacts, makeup, and a wig, and said she had gone Technicolor. Everything was fine until one of the boys in her class came dressed as her with a Mr. Bubble t-shirt, and she went home, took all the makeup off, and soaked in the tub;
- Their yearly contest for summer internships to make the summer issue;
- One summer issue having a fashion spread based on the Cat in the Hat;
- Their columns about traveling the country; they were always on the last page. I remember Baltimore and the girls there wearing fishnets with holes in them; Pittsburgh with a really cute guy in a cool hat; and Puerto Rico with young ladies I remember striking me as overweight;
- An article from one of the contributors debating whether she should have a rhinoplasty. I remember identifying with that so much. Although I'm now content with how I look, my nose grew before the rest of me, it seemed, and it was huge. I totally identified with the writer's comment about how she felt she had to deflect criticism before it even happened by being self-deprecating about her nose. I also remember her comment about how she was afraid of her grandmother who had a large nose because she thought it made her look like a witch, even though her grandfather had said he felt it was a sign of intelligence.

Reading this list, it makes it sound like they covered depressing stuff, but what I remember most about it was that they didn't hide the truth and really inspired you to do your best and be true to yourself. I always found it really positive and uplifting.

Bring back Sassy! I guess that can't happen; we've all grown and become different people. That said, reading the few pieces I was able to glean on it really made me yearn for it. Adolescence was a crappy time for me, but I remember Sassy as one of the good things.

If they were to publish a book with all the magazines ever published, or an electronic collection, a little bit like what they did with the New Yorker. I would consider paying a pretty penny for that. I would love to reread some of those pieces.

Knitro

P.S.: I found this very intelligent article on Sassy and Jane through one of the links above and wholeheartedly agree with it.