On a recent visit to the offices of the Frisky, a site launched in October 2007 as part of Time Warner's Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network, editor in chief Amelia McDonnell-Parry described the origin of her site. "The main idea was to create a women's site where it would be women talking about the things women are interested in—in the way women talk about them."

She described its voice as "Very conversational, very honest, not holding back."

McDonell-Parry and her team (which includes as many as 12 writers, some on staff, some freelance) produce 60 posts a day ranging in subject matter from feminism and fashion to celebrities, sex, relationships, and Burqa Barbie. (Seriously.)

"It's been interesting to see what our audience actually wants," McDonnell-Parry told Portfolio.com. "I've been most happy to see how much women want a space online to talk to each other and to read about each other's experiences and share their own."

First-person essays, McDonnell-Parry says, are the "meat and potatoes" of the site, attracting intense commentary from readers and spawning new ideas. "Our readers may strongly disagree with the way someone handled a particular situation—or may not even have that much in common with the person—but I've noticed that there really is this strong respect for people sharing. Especially if they do it in a way that's not insanely sort of self-absorbed."

Speaking directly to Slate's absorption of DoubleX, McDonnell-Parry is unsure if it will have any impact on the Frisky or other women's sites, but says, "It bums me out. I'm always a little bummed when I hear about a women's site being sized down. I think it's unfortunate."

DoubleX's Rosin, for one, is keeping positive about the changes at her site, calling the move "a way to keep the brand alive in a very hard economy." It may not be out there on its own, but DoubleX will continue to reach an audience of, in Rosin's description, "women influence makers."

She even sees an upside. "Slate's traffic is huge," she said. "It's a much bigger audience for us."