The biting feminist satire of Reductress: ‘Comedy shows what we know deep down to be true’
Struggling to make small talk as if life isn’t a constant, crippling nightmare? Curious to try six desserts that are better than sex, but not as good as Outkast’s Hey Ya? Want to share in the horror of a woman who proudly brought lunch to work and now has to eat the lunch she brought?
All this wisdom and much more can be found at Reductress, the satirical women’s magazine that launched 10 years ago and, a decade later, is as funny and relevant as the day it was born.
The outlet, primarily published online, is known for its blend of madeup news stories, personal essays and lifestyle advice, packaged with a bite that mocks the tone of women’s media. Its tongue-in-cheek articles are as comfortable taking on wellness as current affairs, with headlines including “Nice! Woman replaces screen time before bed with panicking in the dark” and “Interesting! Box tops for education apparently not valid toward student loans”.
The site was founded in 2013 by Sarah Pappalardo and Beth Newell, sketch comedy writers who met through New York’s Magnet Theater. Fed up with male-dominated writers rooms and the “condescending tone and consumerist slant of women’s media”, they decided to parody a women’s magazine in a blog format, Newell says.
“We knew there was more to be said about women’s experiences in the world, and the kind of outmoded, condescending tone of women’s media in particular at the time,” Pappalardo says.
The result took inspiration from both Cosmopolitan and the Onion. Working with a few friends, the pair prepared about 50 posts before launching. The name, Newell explains, was a result of “combining words that might have a feminine sensibility”; they landed on a combination of reductive and seductress.
It’s a tone that still resonates after a decade. Staff are younger, with gen
Zers joining the millennial founders, and topics have ranged from the the climate crisis to #MeToo. But the site continues to publish alarmingly relatable stories on the experience of being alive in 2023, with incisive coverage of our self-improvement obsession and, most recently, the US reaction to the war in Gaza (“Aw! This woman was only willing to separate people from their government when it was her and Trump”).
A day in the life
Early on, Reductress consisted of Newell and Pappalardo meeting in coffee shops; eventually, they moved into an office in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan. They would hold weekly pitch meetings and spend their days writing pieces or editing material sent in by other writers, all while working on their first book – How to Win at Feminism: A Guide to Having It All – And Then Some!, published in 2016 – and other side projects.
“Initially Reductress was just an opportunity to give women a shot at writing something funny from our own unique perspectives,” Pappalardo says. The immediate response was “surprisingly positive”: “While lots of people had attempted satirical magazine covers, nobody else had made a fully fleshed-out magazine.”
Since then, the number of outside pitches has ballooned, and the masthead now includes a staff of five. In 2022, Reductress was purchased by the entertainment company Phenomenal Media (founded by Meena Harris, Kamala Harris’s niece). Along with its online presence, Reductress has published books, holds in-person events, and offers humor-writing classes.
But despite its growth, the writing process has remained similar over the course of the decade, Pappalardo says.
“We’ve always started from a strong conceptual foundation with a unique voice and perspective (for example, the headline) before fleshing out any creative idea.” Staff gather to choose the best pitches from contributors, with a few guidelines in mind: “Is it culturally or politically relevant, in the zeitgeist, or something relatable that hasn’t been articulated before?” they say. “We are always asking, ‘Is the joke clear? Is it relatable? Does it have some truth to it?’”
When it comes to addressing current events, “we identify who has power in any given context, and consider how that power is being wielded. Someone who has the power in one context may not be powerful in another,” they add. “For example, a white woman may fall victim to sexism in one context, but experience privilege in another. This is where being specific in your critique and acknowledging context really matters.”
In 2016, amid allegations of sexual assault in the comedy world, Reductress published a homepage takeover focused on rape culture, covering the site exclusively with relevant stories. “It was a challenge to try to get to the heart of our emotions on the topic, which is why we attacked it from various angles,” Newell says. Stories included: “How to be an ally to both a rapist and his victim”, “Man who sexually assaulted you likes your Facebook post about assault”, and “Chill ways to just sort of live with it”.
“I think observational comedy pulls at the threads under the surface of human behavior to show people what they know deep down to be true,” Newell adds. “But when it comes to serious issues, many will remain in denial, so the role of the comedian is often more about giving strength to those who are already somewhat aware, helping them feel seen in their struggles and a little less alone.”
‘A vast community’
Over the past decade, women’s media has changed – “mostly for the better”, Pappalardo says. “Many brands have taken note that women’s media was too white, too fatphobic, too heteronormative, and trying too hard to sell an unrealistic version of ‘femininity’.” While Reductress’s creative processes remain similar, that particular target is “less a focus of our critique”. Leadership has changed, too, with Newell leaving amid the pandemic in 2020 (she’s since written a book and hosted a podcast about parenting, and is preparing to join the celebrated Upright Citizens Brigade improv troupe next year).
Still, Reductress’s outlook – and its use of humor as a tool for inclusion – has held steady. New forms of media bring new opportunities for parody, and new ways to grow “a vast community of people who connect with comedy, and whose experiences may not be reflected back to them elsewhere”, Pappalardo says. The site’s biggest audiences are in New York and Los Angeles, with international readers coming from London, Australia and elsewhere.
“Reductress started as an experimental side project, so I think 2013 me would be surprised that it still exists at all,” Newell says. “I’m glad it still resonates and that so many writers have been able to adapt and transform it to include their voices and causes.”
Pappalardo agrees. “Satire isn’t meant to provide solutions to the world’s problems, but it is our job to point them out when we see them,” they say. It “can also open up sincere, productive dialogue and learning on issues affecting marginalized groups that the broader populace may not be aware of, like the trans experience on Halloween.”
As for the next 10 years, Pappalardo says, Reductress aims to keep growing its readership and on to different platforms. A decade ago, the company prioritized web traffic; now, “our commercial business is focused on developing original premium content for digital, film, TV, audio, books, and events,” they say.
In other words, as Jesus said before ascending into heaven: “Like and follow for part 2.”
Satire isn’t meant to provide solutions to the world’s problems, but it is our job to point them out when we see them
Sarah Pappalardo