{"id":37137,"date":"2019-07-29T05:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2019\/07\/29\/the-future-of-cannabis-media-is-female\/"},"modified":"2019-07-30T00:41:24","modified_gmt":"2019-07-30T08:41:24","slug":"the-future-of-cannabis-media-is-female","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2019\/07\/29\/the-future-of-cannabis-media-is-female\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future of Cannabis Media Is Female"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Tera
\nPatrick, adult film star and apparent marijuana enthusiast, smiles coyly out
\nfrom the cover of the August 2008 issue of High Times, a \u201csex, nugs and rock
\n\u2018n\u2019 roll special,\u201d with a pile of bud strategically placed in front of her
\nbikini-clad cleavage.<\/p>\n

On this
\ncover, Patrick epitomizes the archetype that women in weed have pointed to,
\nagain and again, as an example of the sexy, sexist specter they\u2019ve been working
\nto exorcise for years. In the brave new world of legal cannabis, women are insisting
\nthat their place is in the boardroom or out in the grow, not behind the booth. <\/p>\n

The women at the helm of the buzziest new cannabis media entities are no exception\u00a0\u2014 and in their roles as editors, they can set their own agenda for how women are portrayed in cannabis media. In the last three years alone, new publications Miss Grass<\/a>, Gossamer<\/a>, MJ Lifestyle<\/a>, Dope Girls Zine<\/a>, EstroHaze<\/a> and Broccoli<\/a> have launched, boasting women at the top of the masthead. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt
\nquickly kind of dawned on us that women really weren\u2019t being properly
\nrepresented in the space, and it was really hard for real women to get any
\ninformation on cannabis other than, \u2018bongs and thongs,\u2019\u201d says Jennifer Skog,
\nfounder and editor in chief at MJ Lifestyle. <\/p>\n

Skog says she first noticed this disparity when she began working with cannabis brands as a photographer<\/a>, and that\u2019s what inspired her to found (and fund) a print magazine of her own. Now, MJ Lifestyle is working on its third issue, which Skog says will focus on movers and shakers in the world of cannabis policy. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw
\na clear vision that, wait, we can actually change the perspective of how women
\nare portrayed in and out of the industry,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

A Targeted Audience<\/h4>\n

These
\nfemale-centric publications want to insert more nuanced portraits of women in
\nweed: the mother, the entrepreneur, the patient, the educated and elevated
\nconsumer. Over and over again, the women Cannabis Now spoke to talked about
\nusing their platforms to empower women, build a community of women and
\nilluminate women\u2019s real <\/em>experiences \u2014 goals that are par for the course
\nfor an Allure, a Cosmopolitan or an O Magazine, but are seemingly absent from
\nprevious cannabis media consideration. <\/p>\n

Elise
\nMcDonough, who spent 15 years at High Times wearing a variety of hats including
\nproduction coordinator, graphic designer and that of the magazine\u2019s first-ever
\nedibles editor, says there\u2019s a reason for this absence: intended audience.
\nAccording to McDonough, High Times cultivated an outlaw-chic brand and sold
\nbest where cannabis laws were harshest. Its targeted audience was underground
\ngrowers, who were overwhelmingly male.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
A spread from Broccoli Magazine combines cats and cannabis to psychedelic effect. Broccoli is one of many media outlets dedicated to female readers. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe
\nreason that many women weren\u2019t involved in the industry when it was illegal was
\nbecause they\u2019re primarily the caregivers for their children,\u201d McDonough says.
\n\u201cIf they got locked up or something bad happened to them, it would seriously,
\nnegatively impact their families and that\u2019s a risk a lot of women just can\u2019t
\ntake\u2026 In the absence of those kinds of risks, we\u2019re going to see women be able
\nto thrive [in cannabis] as they do in other industries.\u201d <\/p>\n

Now, as legalization takes hold across the United States and around the globe, women are able to engage with cannabis in an unprecedentedly open way, and women-centric publications want to be there to guide them down that path. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re creating sort of
\nthese gateways and onramps to say, \u2018Oh, you know, come sit with us!\u2019\u201d says
\nStephanie Madewell, an editor at Broccoli Magazine. Founded by former Kinfolk
\ncreative director Anja Charbonneau, Broccoli has been lauded for its design and
\nwritten up in Vogue, Broadly, Dazed and the Los Angeles Times. The magazine is
\naimed at women and non-binary people looking to explore the world of cannabis \u2014
\nand beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cI
\nthink one of the ways we really try to do that is by admitting what we don\u2019t
\nknow [about cannabis],\u201d Madewell says. \u201cOne of the things we really try to
\ncommunicate with our approach is that we\u2019re all in it together, and we\u2019re all
\nlearning and figuring it out and we can all listen to each other. It\u2019s sort of
\nthis group process.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

A Crowd or a Community? <\/h4>\n

Though an
\nabundance of new publications that fit under the same umbrella \u2014 women, check,
\nweed, check \u2014 would seem like a detriment in any industry, especially one as
\ncompetitive as media, all of the women we spoke to say the space is cozy rather
\nthan crowded. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like seeing the stories
\nother people and other publications are choosing to tell, how they\u2019re choosing
\nto tell them,\u201d Madewell says. \u201cI don\u2019t feel like there\u2019s some sort of finite
\nlimit on what\u2019s there, because I feel like it\u2019s all shifting and moving so much
\nthere\u2019s kind of room.\u201d <\/p>\n

And the
\nniche is made roomier by the fact that, when you zoom in, it\u2019s easy to
\ndistinguish the different sensibilities of these women-centric cannabis
\npublications and the women who run them. <\/p>\n

EstroHaze, for instance, has a distinctly entrepreneurial tilt, down to its origin story. According to co-founder and chief content officer Safon Floyd, it came into being like so many good things \u2014 during a smoke sesh with friends and coworkers Sirita Wright and Kali Wilder, \u00a0who she worked with at business publication Black Enterprise. <\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
EstroHaze cofounders from left: Kali Wilder (CEO), Sirita Wright (CMO) and Safon Floyd (CCO). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt literally happened just that organically, from our jobs inspiring us to smoke, which inspired our entrepreneurial venture,\u201d she says. The online venture began as a podcast, but after an infusion of funding from cannabusiness accelerator Canopy Boulder<\/a> in 2017, \u00a0EstroHaze has grown into \u201ca full-fledged platform\u201d aimed at \u201cmulticultural women.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen the
\nnecessity for that voice in the space and it\u2019s been empowering and supported
\nand people seem to love it, so it\u2019s growing,\u201d Floyd says. \u201cI think the
\nnecessity for it all has made it easier for women to kind of kick doors open
\nand say listen, we\u2019re here and this is what we\u2019re doing, and you can cry about
\nit if you don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other publications, particularly those that publish a print magazine, tend to cast a wider net and write about topics adjacent to the cannabis industry. \u201cI don\u2019t think [smoking marijuana is] the most interesting thing about anyone I know,\u201d Gossamer co-founder Verena von Pfetten told Coveteur<\/a> before the launch of the magazine\u2019s first issue in 2018. \u201cWe pick people to feature [who are] the type of person you want to be seated next to at a dinner party, whether you know them or not. Maybe they smoke weed, but not always.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broccoli,
\nwhich publishes a magazine three times a year, utilizes a small network of
\ncontributors, mostly women and non-binary writers, and looks for people who
\nwant to share longform stories, as opposed to the bite-sized news that occupies
\nmuch of the digital realm. In their last issue, they published a piece titled
\n\u201cTo Be a Woman Is To Be In Pain,\u201d in which four writers detailed their
\nexperiences using weed to treat various reproductive conditions \u2014 PMS,
\npolycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis and morning sickness. In this way,
\nMadewell says Broccoli looks to hold a mirror up to life events other
\npublications have thus far neglected. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve
\nheard from so many interesting, thoughtful readers from so many different
\nplaces, and so many of them, that\u2019s really their feedback: \u2018You know, I haven\u2019t
\nhad anything that felt like it was speaking to me,\u2019\u201d Madewell says. \u201cIt feels
\nlike a real privilege to be able to try and do that, and to listen to those
\nvoices and then try to reflect back stories and content and things that amplify
\ntheir experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fighting the Stigma<\/h4>\n

One of
\nbiggest hurdles for cannabis in general is the stigma that surrounds the plant,
\nthe aura of criminality and laziness that serves to vilify the plant and its
\nusers. It\u2019s something the women behind and between the pages of these new
\ncannabis publications still struggle with, especially in the image-conscious
\nrealm of women\u2019s media. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was
\nvery hard to actually have women be open to be in the magazine or even be
\nphotographed in any way, shape or form with cannabis,\u201d says Skog, who herself
\nhad previously vowed never to smoke weed on camera. \u201cSo many women have been
\nreally closeted for so long, and for us, much like the female cannabis plant,
\nwomen have been dealing with being negatively stigmatized all over the world.\u201d <\/p>\n

Skog says she has lost former photography clients and faced judgment from members of her non-cannabis community because of her publication, but that she refuses to let that drive her away from the work. <\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Jennifer Skog, founder and editor in chief of MJ Lifestyle. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a
\nsoccer mom, I\u2019m coming out of the closet still every day when I\u2019m out with my
\nkids, talking to parents, and so I think it\u2019s awesome that so many women are
\nkind of stepping up to the plate and wanting to take this on,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

For
\nFloyd and EstroHaze, the drive to destigmatize cannabis is two-fold. She says
\nthey work to fight off not only misconceptions about cannabis among women, but
\nalso those held in the black community. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese aren\u2019t drugs<\/em>, you know what I mean? We\u2019ve had that narrative so long in the African American community that we\u2019ve kind of succumbed to it,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019ve been so hardened by cannabis [prohibition] for so many years and now it\u2019s really an opportunity to snatch our power back, and we\u2019re trying to empower our community to do so.\u201d <\/p>\n

I\u2019ll Have What She\u2019s Having <\/h4>\n

But
\ndespite the air of optimism from women at the frontlines of cannabis media
\ntoday, McDonough cautions against celebrating too soon \u2014 or buying in too
\nquickly. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople definitely want to
\npromote female-owned companies and draw attention to those responsible
\nbusinesses that are empowering not only women but people who have been
\ndisadvantaged by prohibition,\u201d McDonough says. \u201cBut then when you look at who\u2019s
\ngetting all the money and who\u2019s getting all the funding, it\u2019s still kind of the
\nsame people.\u201d <\/p>\n

She
\nalso says she\u2019s been disappointed to see capitalism\u2019s creep into cannabis
\nmedia, a complaint often leveled at more traditional women\u2019s media as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I
\nsee products targeted towards women that are very stereotypically designed to
\nbe pink or to be covered in jewels, or to be just promoting this kind of
\nconsumerism as a means to your own enlightenment, I think is kind of a false
\ntrap,\u201d McDonough says.<\/p>\n

This is not
\nto say the push for consumerism is limited to women\u2019s cannabis products. But
\nthere\u2019s a fine line between feeling called to build up a special sense of
\nconnectivity and calling it like it is: the people who read and subscribe to a
\nmagazine are audience members, or more bluntly, customers.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
By centering the voices of women and non-binary writers and artists, these publications aim to expand the cannabis user paradigm. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

And it\u2019s no coincidence that many of these publications offer more than just content. Take Gossamer\u2019s \u201cDusk\u201d CBD line<\/a>, the $79 pipe necklaces<\/a> Miss Grass sells on their website\u2019s \u201cShop\u201d section or the In Bloom<\/a> music festival hosted by Broccoli with $275 weekend passes. This isn\u2019t a gotcha moment: It\u2019s a reflection of the modern media landscape, where even the most progressive publications have to sell products to survive. <\/p>\n

The latter offering, however, exemplifies a phenomenon McDonough finds promising: events where female cannabis enthusiasts can meet up and enjoy our new, more relaxed legal reality. \u201cIt\u2019s not about buying fancy glittery vape pens, it is about finding female friends to smoke with and chill with and build a community, versus just buying products,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Speaking about In Bloom, Madewell echoed McDonough\u2019s
\nappreciation of community building. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things I hope for is that people who are responding
\nto some quality in the magazine then come to a place and they\u2019re in a room with
\nother people who are also responding to some quality in the magazine and then
\nthat sense of commonality, it creates a foundation for people to build whatever
\nthey want, whether that\u2019s friendships or connections or whatever may be,\u201d she
\nsays. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of a lovely thing to give people the opportunity to grow
\ncommunities in that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

But whether you\u2019re a woman pushing for equity<\/a> in the cannabis industry or you just want to know where to buy the cutest rose gold vape pen, the abundance of female-focused cannabis publications reflects and heightens the reality that the role of women in the cannabis industry has been shifting for a long time. <\/p>\n

\u201cFor all of us women, for us to be having this real culture that we have and really just elevating the space is kind of magical,\u201d Skog says. <\/p>\n

Even High Times stopped publishing the titillating magazine covers, long before any of these new entities hit the scene. \u201c[Our] publisher\u2019s attitude always was, we will do this as long as it sells, and when it doesn\u2019t sell, we won\u2019t do it anymore,\u201d McDonough says. \u201cAnd let\u2019s say like\u2026 2008 to like 2010, you really saw that type of content not sell anymore. They stopped putting sexy women on the cover when it was no longer a successful strategy.\u201d <\/p>\n

TELL US<\/strong>, what\u2019s your favorite cannabis publication? <\/p>\n

Originally published in Issue 37 of Cannabis Now. <\/em>LEARN MORE<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The post The Future of Cannabis Media Is Female<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n
\nRead More: The Future of Cannabis Media Is Female<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tera Patrick, adult film star and apparent marijuana enthusiast, smiles coyly out from the cover of the August 2008 issue of High Times, a \u201csex, nugs and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll special,\u201d with a pile of bud strategically placed in front of her bikini-clad cleavage. On this cover, Patrick epitomizes theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":137,"featured_media":37138,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11645,11646,50,4074,99,11647,11648,85,10190,11649,11650,4229],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37137"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/137"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37137"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37139,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37137\/revisions\/37139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}