Jay Cee is the editor of Ladies' Day magazine. She skillfully manages all the difficult people whom she has to deal with, and she does it diplomatically; she is a good manager and organizer. She wears suits, hats, and thick eyeglasses but tries to make herself more feminine with pastel-colored blouses and flowers (artificial) pinned to her hats. In general, she could be described as having bad taste. She sends telegrams to the girls after they become sick because of the tainted crabmeat at the magazine luncheon. When Esther falls behind in her work at the office, Jay Cee calls her in and gives her some advice. She suggests that Esther study languages as a key to becoming successful in the business of editing magazines or any other work in publishing. When the girls are being photographed, toward the end of their stay, Jay Cee wittily tells the photographer that Esther "wants to be everything."
Jay Cee's major function in the novel is that of a successful career woman, a woman, however, whom Esther is not particularly interested in emulating—even if she is married.
