By Anindita Basu
Oxygen is both a website and a cable television network for women.
I am not very familiar with the television station except for having
watched a few episodes of Xena and some concerts by Paula Cole and
other similarly acoustic female artists. The network seemed to take
care in the type of advertising it aired, nothing that objectifies
women too badly, and ran many ads for feminine products. On the whole
it seemed reasonable from the superficial level of seeing occasional
shows when staying at my parents' house. I was very disappointed,
however, by the website. The site remains very aware of the programming
and types of articles available, female-centric of course, but it
is self-aware to the point of being boring.
The web page is politically correct and lacks any element of controversy.
I imagine the target audience to be women, many in their twenties
and thirties, who label themselves as feminist. They have diverse
interests and want to make a difference. However, when I followed
the "issues and action link," the headlining article was
"And the nominees are…" which is a report on Oscar
nominees. Later in the page, there are a few more interesting links
about tracking legislation and finding state representatives. There
are also links to various women and their accomplishments, such as
Rosa Parks and Marian Wright Edelman. A network that could easily
support these interests instead seems to trivialize them by making
Oscar nominations the initial focus, then following with these secondary
pages.
The site has many basic elements such as chat rooms and bulletin
boards. There are links to horoscopes, polls and games. There are
links to popular television shows like Xena and Buffy. The site feels
very much like a popular women's magazine or a grown-up teen 'zine.
Of course I exaggerate the level of Oxygen's mediocrity, there are
a few interesting articles and conversations when one looks for them,
but for a network that claims to provide something new for women,
I am very disappointed with how mundane their site is.