I LOVED Sassy!
I was too young to read it when it first came out but when my stepsister left for college I found a stack of them under her bed & read them all. It was so refreshing and such a different POV than what was printed in other teen mags.
Jane Pratt, though, turned out to be an utter disappointment. I love Bitch's "Petty Criticism" corner.

i loved sassy. i also love this cover. oh, books.

Christina Kelly is why I became a feminist.

Sassy used to get the greatest guest contributors, like Juliana Hatfield!

Gah! There are SO many books I want to read now now NOW! This one, and Jessica's book, and "Look Both Ways," and Courtney's book (even if it will make me cry). But I am in the throes of uni and I have no time to read for pleasure except to flip through Bust every once in a while.

I loved Sassy, too. I remember when it started changing, and I was all saddened as I subscribed and noticed the big difference in cover models, fashion pieces, and general overall tone and style.

My favorite feature was probably "Cute band alert." They featured SO many British (ok, and some American) indie pop bands that are still favorites of mine. The page that that always featured on...what was it called? It was like a general entertainment/DIY culture page. They'd have a zine of the month there, too. Eeeeee!

I know I must have some old issues of Sassy at my mom's in this big tupperware box of mags. I'm gonna look next time I'm up there. :D

But despite a shared owner and political impetus, the Ms. and Sassy people didn’t really interact. The Sassy people were very intimidated by the Ms. people because we were supposedly the intellectual and serious feminists. And the Ms. people were intimidated by the Sassy people because they were stylish and knew Michael Stipe.

But even if the Sassy staff never felt embraced by their feminist elders, the sight of Gloria Steinem in the communal bathroom was still a thrill. Did they look up to the activists across the hall? “Absolutely, yes,� says Karen. “But then I think we were doing our own thing. I think we recognized that the language that they were using wouldn’t be right for our readers.�

And Sassy had to do their own thing if they were going to reach young girls. Feminism had a persistent PR problem, and not just among teenagers. Throughout the eighties and nineties, mass media continued to portray the women’s movement as a crusade led by a few angry, man-hating women to bring down the family, the economy, and American life as we know it. A 1989 Time magazine article claimed that “to the young, the movement that loudly rejected female stereotypes seems hopelessly dated.� And while Time is guilty of frequent exaggerated declarations that feminism is dead, it’s true that by the time Sassy readers were in high school, the Second Wave’s consciousness-raising sessions — women-only get-togethers during which they traded truths about their lives — seemed hopelessly dorky. In a way, a commercial magazine with advertisements for eye shadow and Doc Martens was the perfect place for the Sassy staff to get out the message that girls were equal to boys, that the right to abortion was imperative, and that being smart was more important than being popular. Sassy was like a Trojan horse, reaching girls who weren’t necessarily looking for a feminist message.

Sound familiar? Ahem. Karen Catchpole was my other favorite writer.

I have a two foot high stack of old Sassys in my closet, and about once a year, I pull them out and spend an entire week in bed reading every one cover to cover. I've probably read each issue about 70 times. My mom continuously begs me to throw them away, and even when I moved out I wouldn't let her toss them. I was only like, 11 when my mom got me a subscription to Sassy, but something about it was so fucking special, and I just can't let go of my old issues. I'm keeping them forever!

P.S. I subscribe to Jane, not because I like it, but because I secretly hope that one day they're going to come to their senses and a Sassy will show up in my mailbox instead.

Sassy was the only mom-approved teen publication in my house growing up. Though she still wouldn't let me buy eyeshadow or Doc Martens.

I remember writing to them when I was 14 about one of their advertisers who used a very thin, nude woman nd how I didn't think it jibed with the message of the magazine. A month later I got a letter with my copy that said I wasn't the only one who complained and they'd kicked that particular ad.

I was thoroughly unimpressed by Jane, and mourned over my favorite copy of Sassy, which had Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love's multicolored mops on the cover.

Oh, how I wish I had that Kurt and Courtney issue! I used to check out a lot of magazines from my local library, and I remember reading it that way, before I had a subsription. It was, like, the "love" issue, wasn't it?

oh, How I Loved Sassy!!
I picked up the very first issue on a whim, and it was love at first sight. Sassy made me feel like the world really could be cool, that I would find a place in it, boots and black eyeliner brandished as tools of enlightenment.

I still get weepy thinking they all got thrown out. So I used to hang on to my janes... but sadly, jane is a poser by comparison.

Can't wait to read the book! :)

I'd like to see an electronic archive of the whole magazine become available, including the december 1994 issue (see it here: http://www.blairmag.com/sissy/ ) and translations of the Japanese edition that Jane mentioned in one of the American issues.

Gosh, I love it that there is a whole generation of feminist who love Sassy as much as I did. I saved ALL my issues. Why can't there be another Sassy? And yeah, about that Jane woman. WHAT HAPPENED? She started JANE and I looked at it and it was gross and stupid and shallow. Well at least compared to Sassy. You know you were a 90s teenage feminist if you remember and love...
Sassy

There must be others to add to the list...

Gosh, I love it that there is a whole generation of feminist who love Sassy as much as I did. I saved ALL my issues. Why can't there be another Sassy? And yeah, about that Jane woman. WHAT HAPPENED? She started JANE and I looked at it and it was gross and stupid and shallow. Well at least compared to Sassy. You know you were a 90s teenage feminist if you remember and love...
Sassy

There must be others to add to the list...

Sassy was the best. I didn't find it and subscribe right away, but I still have every issue I got. And when I was in high school I spent my free periods for about a week reading back issues in the library.

Jane was never nearly as good a magazine, but I kept subscribing to it until recently out of some weird nostalgia.

Another interview with the Kara Jesella at American Sexuality Magazine for those interested...