WEB REVIEWS: NETWORK/COMMUNITY

Black Girl International
This is a guide to sites by and for African-American women, from politics to health, from Web rings to sororities, from business to art. It's updated all the time, and tends to focus on specific articles within sites. Seeing as no search engine covers more than a third of the Web these days, personal Web guides like this are probably your best bet! (reviewed 4/8/98)

Bubbe's Back Porch
Bubbe is a Jewish grandmother, and she wants to hear stories about your grandmother. A digital story bee, she likes to call it, as she weaves these stories together on her site. And if you're in San Francisco, you can visit the live story bee, too, held in honor of Jewish Web Week. (reviewed 2/25/98)

EstroNet
OK, so I'm biased on this one. EstroNet is the Estrogen Powered Web Network, and the current members are Bust, gURL, HUES, Maxi, Minx, Wench, and... the Women's Zone. But if you read these reviews regularly, you'll know that the other six are my favorite sites by and for women out there. It's pretty good company to be in. We're all over the country — some of us are part of huge Web sites and some of us do it out of our own pockets, but we wanted to make a place on the Web where other women could find us all together — a gateway to smart, savvy, female-friendly sites. Because mainstream media does not dictate what is meaningful to us. We do. Join the EstroNet mailing list and get your dose of hormone therapy! (reviewed 10/17/97 by Emma)

bianca's Smut Shack
Now, I'm no chatter, but if I were to chat, it'd be here. Not for the faint of heart — Bianca tells it like it is. Her Parlor Chat room is subtitled "duct tape, dirt and discourse," so if no one there wants to chat about gardening, you can't really blame Bianca. Try Altar Chat (specially designed for women) for something a little more...girly. (reviewed 2/7/97)

Webgrrls
Aliza Sherman is the original (and only, according to her) Cybergrrl and she founded the first chapter of Webgrrls. Go to this site to find your nearest chapter and become a Webgrrl — you'll be joining a worldwide network of grrls who don't buy the whole "math is hard" thing. Aliza ventured onto the Web when it was full of geek boys, and she brought an army of hip, techno-cool girls with her. If you're a woman on the Web, you owe her a lot. (reviewed 11/29/96)

Amazon City
The Amazon woman stands "poised at the edge of the revolution," and if you believe the graphic, she's poised in heels and big hair. But Amazon City's a pretty serious site. It began as a Web design company for women-owned businesses, and it just kept growing. It's now a meeting place for women-owned businesses and non-profits — non-profits get free Web space and businesses pay a little. But anyone can use the networking boards to meet other working women, find a job, or get advice on starting a company. The City doesn't try to hide the fact that it's got a mall, but just like a real city, you can tell the shops from the cafes from the kooks on the corner. (reviewed 11/22/96)