© Features the other press Barbara K. Adamski e opfeatures@netscape.net December 3, 2003 Publishing the Evolution A new wave of feminist magazines gives women voices Stéphanie Verge The Link MONTREAL (CUP)—Whether glossy and magazine-rack ready, or photocopied and circulated as underground ’zines, feminist magazines are experiencing a rebirth. Riding the third wave of femi- nism, and inheriting the legacy of such powerhouses as Ms. magazine, publica- tions like Bitch, Venus, and Herizons have taken on this mantle, but don’t always find’ it easy. “It is nearly impossible to keep afloat,” admitted Penni Mitchell, editor of the leading Canadian feminist magazine, Herizons. “We are always five seconds away from closing our doors. But what keeps me going is the fact that people real- ly, really love it. Readers will send notes scribbled on their subscription notices, or emails. Magazines like ours are important. If they make people—if they make femi- nists—feel good about their lives, that’s terrific,” she said from her home office in Winnipeg. Third wave of feminist writing? The divide-and-conquer nature of the mainstream media has led to the wide- spread adoption of the contentious third- wave moniker in an attempt to define and categorize present-day — feminism. Historically, feminism’s first wave was the suffragist movement, which secured, among other things, the right to vote. The second wave sought to move above and beyond this toward equality, and also began to analyze diversity within the movement. The third wave, the current generation, is continuing on with the same goals in mind. Andi Zeisler, co-editor with Lisa Jervis of Bitch magazine, is not a fan of the wave metaphor. “It carries this idea that one wave wipes out the next. If anything, I prefer the idea of a pan-wave magazine.” Zeisler maintained that categorization is generally risky. Her devotion to Bitch’s tagline “a feminist response to pop cul- ture,” has proven problematic since the magazine's inception eight years ago. “In retrospect, it was a bold and some- what hindering move for us to put the word ‘feminist’ right up front,” she said from her office in Oakland, California. “I wouldn't say that it’s the kiss of death, but it certainly doesn’t move you right along.” Surprisingly, most of the criticisms Bitch has received are not about the magazine's five-letter name, but rather its use of the “f-word.” “It’s definitely ghettoized us,” Zeisler said. “People make bad associations, archaic associations with the word ‘femi- nist.’ People call and ask us, “Do you hate men? And it’s really a shame because there are a lot of men who read Bitch. Yet people still ask us if we hate men, if we hate straight people. I really think part of the responsibility lies with the media, which hasn’t evolved to understand femi- nism as something other than this mono- lithic thing from the 70s. They haven't understood that it can be individual, that it encompasses a lot of different view- points.” In the underground The rise of the underground ’zine cul- ture in the 1990s affected the way women viewed the feminist movement, letting them know just how many like-minded people there were out there. Some ’zines faded away, while others survived and evolved. Amy Schroeder started the music-ori- ented Venus Zine as a 19-year-old college student. The first run was 100 stapled, black-and-white copies distributed out of her Chicago dorm room. Eight years later, Venus has a circulation of 50,000 and has finally started making a small profit. “We're doing okay right now. Thankfully, there’s a huge demand from our readers. We're 100 percent independ- ent, however, so we do rely solely on our subscriptions, newsstand sales, and adver- tising,” she admitted. “But it’s not that difficult, because I am so used to Venus being broke.” Back in 1994, Schroeder felt like some- thing was missing from alternative music publications, which seemed to focus sole- ly on male musicians. Although happy to be the one to fill the void, she explained that in an ideal world, Venus wouldn't have to exist. Mitchell agrees with both Zeisler’s and Schroeder's assessment of the current situ- ation. “The reason people read feminist magazines is because they don’t see their reality reflected in places it should be, like the mainstream media,” she said. “But ‘feminist’ has always been and will always be a subversive title. It is dangerous. Feminism comes with baggage. We think about things, and we think critically.” Mitchell said that she would like to reach more readers, but many are afraid of the feminist nature of Herizons. “We've never been able to fool anyone into buy- ing our magazine,” she said, laughing. “Our message is obvious, and is based on who writes for us, and what they are say- ing on gay issues and women’s rights, among others.” Herizons contributors include journalist and The Trouble with Islam author Irshad Manji, prominent feminist Judy Rebick, and former Chatelaine editor Doris Anderson. wae Page 18 © http://www-otherpress.ca Up against the mainstream The main difference, according to Mitchell, between Herizons and magazines like Chatelaine—which is marketed as a “woman’s magazine”—is that the latter pays lip service to women. “Chatelaine, with a circulation of 3.3 million, will have one article about feminism. Basically, it’s an advertising vehicle. We are not.” Herizons sells approximately 4,000 copies per issue, only 1,000 of which are sold on newsstands. With 80 percent of the magazines on Canadian newsstands coming from the United States, the space left is often taken up by mainstream pub- “If they make people—if they make feminists— feel good about their lives, that’s terrific,” Penni Mitchell, editor of Herizons lications like Chatelaine and Maclean’. Large bookstores do not generally carry alternative magazines because they are less lucrative. Zeisler agrees that the main financial challenge stems from being an alternative magazine, not from direct competition with other publications. This is different from fashion magazines, which conceiv- ably have to contend with a dozen clones on the market for women’s attention. Part of Bitch’s raison d’étre is to offer a viable alternative to the mainstream press, especially for women, whom Zeisler said, “have always been short-changed in and by the media.” Before Bitch, both Zeisler and Jervis worked at the groundbreaking and now-defunct teen magazine Sassy. “I started Bitch with Lisa and it’s a labour of love for us that stems from a deep, deep love of writing, magazines, and publishing. We’ve both had the corporate jobs with the good pay, but there was just a larger need in our lives to do something challenging.” The founding editors of Bitch were deeply influenced and inspired by Sassy when they broke out on their own. “We wanted to create something that resonated with teens and young adults in the same way. We wanted it to have an open-mind- ed and joyful flavour,” she explained. “I still remember when I first got a copy of Sassy. | was 15 years old, and I was being lulled into submission by Seventeen maga- zine and its articles on how to get a boy.” Image conscious Schroeder shares Mitchell and Zeisler’s frustrations with the mainstream press. “Just look at what constitutes front-page news. Politics. And who leads politics? Men. As for so-called women’s magazines, they are really just fashion and beauty magazines. One of my main motivations for starting a ’zine was definitely to count- er that image,” she said. As a matter of principle, Venus does not airbrush its covers. This policy has been a cause for concern at many record labels, but Schroeder refuses to back down. “With us you see the real deal,” she insisted. “In the media, you see a lot of images of powerful male artists as they are, but you don’t really see women like that.” She admitted, however, that the pressure on men to look perfect is also on the rise. “It will be interesting to see where this obsession with image and beauty will take us over the next 20 years,” she mused. Contemporary women’s magazines have evolved, emphasizing independence and self-confidence while trying to embrace new and subversive definitions of beauty. Herizons has celebrated its tenth year (in its second incarnation), as has the popular and influential New York magazine Bust. But there is clearly still more work to be done before “feminism” ceases to be a dirty word for the mainstream. “I have no idea why people think we live in a post-feminist era. I guess it’s because they read it in the media,” Zeisler said. “Often, feminists are painted as whiners who have gotten everything they wanted and still aren't happy. Well, the fact is women still don’t make as much money as men, and rape and abortion laws still leave a lot to be desired when it comes to women and their safety. In some ways, weve been compromised by a few small victories that have been represented as one huge victory by the media.”