About

In an effort to keep the main page as clean and accessible as possible, we've created various pages to answer questions about The Jane Project itself, submissions, moderation, administration, and technical details. If you have a question that is not answered here, please contact us (See Where Should I Submit Ideas and Feedback for The Jane Project below). Not only will we answer you promptly, we will probably update this page to reflect your question/answer or clarify the item you're asking about.

• What is The Jane Project?
• How did The Jane Project Begin?
• What are People Saying about The Jane Project?
• Who are the Admins?

What is The Jane Project?

If women had complete anonymity, what we say about being and living as a female in this modern world? The Jane Project serves as a safe place to speak out about our own truths through art, letters, stories and pictures. We are not a social experiment; we are a gathering of women with the purpose of better understanding one another and thereby securing the means for change in how we view one another and our gender as a whole.

How did The Jane Project Begin?

The Jane Project is the brain child of two women who pondered the question, "Why do women allow ourselves and one another to be hurt, harassed, assaulted, bullied, and objectified?" Our question certainly doesn't mean that we think it is the fault of women-kind when these things happen; our question means that we wonder why women are so willing to turn a blind eye or even participate in these activities.

Our opinion is that we, as females, have labeled one another the enemy. We become defensive when another is skinnier, prettier, smarter, faster, or stronger than we are. We are in a constant state of competition that has left the members of our gender isolated from one another at our very core.

We are online friends. We have never met in person but communicate through email, sometimes several times a day. We have realized that, because of the nature of our relationship, the need to compete and compare ourselves to one another just doesn't occur in our online relationships. Because of the non-proximal nature of our online friendships, we felt more open and even compelled to tell one another things we wouldn't dream of sharing with those closest to us in "real" life.

This is the idea that birthed The Jane Project: The need for a completely safe space to share the female experience. Here at TJP we encourage you to do what feels comfortable to you. If you choose to remain anonymous, we hope you will feel safe to open your heart to all of us without fear of judgment. If you choose to post under a pseudonym or your real name, we like that too. As a matter of fact, one of us has chosen to retain complete anonymity, while the other did not.

We will post excerpts from the early conversations leading up to this site's creation and hope that some of you out there will bring your emotions, intellect, opinions and your true selves to share in TJP. Only through expression can we truly understand one another.

What are People Saying about The Jane Project?

We are pleased to be able to share just a few of the comments we've received on The Jane Project:

• From the director of a shelter for battered women: "The Jane Project is a useful operation, and I will be using some of the submissions to discuss with our entrants and will definitely be encouraging our entrants to share their own stories."
• "I looked at the site. It's really good. I wouldn't change a thing!"
• Via e-mail: "Dr. Janet Rose (drjanetrose) is now following your updates on Twitter."
• "I feel that TJP is valuable learning tool. I have begun taking topics and letters from the Project and using them to broach topics with my patients in group therapy sessions. I hope you will continue to do what you all are doing. We could all learn so much from one another."
• "Just wanted to let you know I am totally in love wtih the Jane Project. I'm passing the word on to as many gf's I see. G'luck with it because it's a very helpful and insightful site."
• "I have become hopelessly addicted to this site!" We published one long comment as a post.
• From a resident in a drug rehabilitation program, "Some of the ladies at our center read the submissions and comments from TJP to the others who are not able to read. We're encouraging work on a group entry that we can type so that they can share with TJP as well."

Who are the Admins?

• MellissaY - A freelance photographer, housewife, and mother of five with active online social life.   
• Admin.Jane - A technology worker and freelance writer with an avid interest in speculative fiction. 
• Riot.Jane - An obnoxious, opinionated, outspoken, pushy, and brilliant woman with a voracious appetite for all things stimulating and self-destructive (including Maker's Mark and fine European cigarettes).