Articles to read
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.vice.com/amp/en/article/wjbbbb/how-feminist-zine-culture-has-evolved
‘Zine culture has been swelling for near half a decade to this turning point in independent print’
‘With the start of Print! Tearing It Up - an exhibition showcasing 100 years of independent magazines… it sincerely feels that the underground is having its breakout moment’
‘Comparable to Facebook groups or early-era Tumblr, the pages of Riot Grrrl zines essentially operated as blogs’
Case study: ‘The Bikini Kill fanzine - and similar title, Girl Germs - included manifestos for fat liberation, rants from readers about being groped at shows, and insular essays on how the Riot Grrrl movement could be more inclusive’
‘Twenty-first century female-led independent publishing has taken these personal musings, discussions, and debates championed in early feminist publications, and mined them into coherent, curated content’
‘The last five years have seen a new era of female and queer-led publishing being ushered in… many new zines blending high production value with feminist ideologies, with an aim to fill the vapid void women’s publishing has become’
Semiotics and aesthetics: ‘It also makes sense that a generation obsessed with near-constantly scrolling through our Instagram feeds find imagery the most relatable format for creative work… The inclusion of aesthetics and visual representation is, in my opinion, an important step forward in zine culture’ Gina Tonic stating ‘visual culture is an important aspect of our generation whether we like it or not’
‘The new wave of zine culture is giving power back to the picture’ (Gina Tonic)
‘This new era of zine-making has cultivated a whole community of its own. Beccy Hill, who runs Sister, values the importance of the events she runs concurrently alongside her zine as just as vital as the publication itself’. Hill argues that ‘the zine couldn’t exist without the event’, highlighting how ‘meeting people within the community can inspire you to collaborate or start your own zine… it’s not anti-online, as obviously we use the internet so much, but people still really want a physical connection’
‘Femme editors and their published counterparts are turning their once nonprofit publications into careers. Feminism is neoliberal, corporate, and commodified now, and this idea presents us with a whole new host of issues’
‘To ensure print isn’t just a plaything for the wealthiest among us, working-class feminist editors have to find a way to capitalize on their publication… Now, many zines are operating on the same level as larger, fully-funded independent titles, but with none of the investment or profit’
‘Some experts consider earlier political pamphlets as zines’ precursors, in that they advocated for different causes and exemplified how self-publishing can be a political tool for empowerment’
Rona K. Akbari discusses how she ‘always turned to zines as a way to learn more about myself, to archive my feelings and thoughts, to self-soothe’
‘Suze Myers is a graphic designer who… organises the NYC Feminist Zine Fest’. The event started with the purpose of ‘promoting the self-published work of zinesters of all genders, as they explore a variety of feminist topics through print media’
Arguments for the threat of the internet, according to Jonathan Valelly, is that ‘The internet failed in providing full democratic meaningful spaces for dialogue and community building’
Women’s zines ‘continue to provide women with educational resources and feminist responses to pop culture’
‘How does contemporary zine culture continue to serve the feminist agenda?’
‘During the third wave of feminism, self-published zines allowed women - specifically women of colour and those in the LGBTQ+ community to discuss topics outside the mainstream media’
‘The most widely discussed criticism of the third wave of feminism was its white, middle class-centric nature in the mainstream media’
‘Through zines, women feel invited to intimately share their most traumatic experiences. Zine-ing can serve as a cathartic experience of writing, ripping, cutting and pasting materials found in the home’
Case study: ‘The Feminist Burn Book on Rape Culture is a digitally accessible zine that was inspired by the visual elements from the teen movie Mean Girls (2004)’
‘When social and political messages are circulated in the form of zines, they destigmatize the issue at hand while providing a safe, informative outlet for readers’
‘Zine culture continues to influence the design principles of independent publishers and messaging on social media. Pastiches often include collage effects with added textures, noise and rough edges… relatively easy to access design softwares and digital photography have also allowed the aesthetics of zines to make a leap forward as a more visual form of communication’
Philosopher Iris Marion Young notes that zines are successful because they describe the ‘ideal city of life’; characterised by ‘variety and social differentiation without exclusion’
‘Many people hoped in the early years of the internet that this new model of communication would erase social inequalities, allowing space for marginalised voices’. Contradicting this, ‘new media studies… found that women continued to be simultaneously ‘othered’ while provided with a sense of empowerment’
‘Zines serve as an effective medium of communication providing social commentary, therapy, and vehicles for political change’
‘Zine aesthetics have become a culture recognisable in and of itself across generations - symbolising solidarity among women, inclusivity and the nuances of womanhood’
‘The new wave of feminism or self-proclaimed ‘Web Gurls’ are here to stay’
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