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Feminist zines are still alive and well

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What do you know about zines? If you were born in or after the 1990s, you might not have heard about these publications, but they served an important role in the modern history of the feminist movement.

Many people define zines as small-circulation publications that are produced at little to no cost. Zines, which can be traced back to the 1930s, were initially called "fanzines" — a mix of "magazine," because of its format, and "fan," since most authors of zines identified this way. While zines were initially written using typewriters and duplicated using mimeographs, 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.

By 1930 the first of a long-lasting trend of sci-fi zines were published in the United States. The Comet, by the Science Correspondence Club, was soon followed by Fantasy Commentator (1943), Spocknalia, the first Star Trek fanzine (1967), and others. In the 1970s, zine culture became connected with the punk movement, and popular punk zines with a grungier look were created to talk about bands such as The Clash and The Ramones, while in the 1980s and 1990s more zines became political and focused on social movements.

There are different zine formats, from booklets to pamphlets, and zines can be exclusively visual or can include text. In a zine, you may find collage, photographs, poems, illustrations — anything its author wants to use to tell a story. This handmade feel is an important characteristic of a zine, according to Rona K. Akbari, a writer, filmmaker, and zine-maker who created her first zine when she was in high school. "I always turned to zines as a way to learn more about myself, to archive my feelings and thoughts, to self-soothe," she told The FBomb.

Suze Myers is a graphic designer who, along with five other people, organizes the NYC Feminist Zine Fest, an event that has been happening since 2011 and offers a space to first-timers and old-school zine-makers to present their work and exchange ideas. The event started with $300 raised on GoFundMe and the purpose of "promoting the self-published work of zinesters of all genders, as they explore a variety of feminist topics through print media." The fact that zines are "created without any mediating influence from advertisers” is an important aspect of the form, Myers said. "A zine can be a lot of things, and because of this, its precise definition can be wonderfully, woefully difficult to pin down," she added.

Zines are perhaps most pertinent to the feminist movement because of their use by the riot grrrl movement. Riot grrrls fought for women's empowerment and representation in the male-dominated punk world; they encouraged girls and women to start bands, create zines, and be heard. Kate Angell, an academic research librarian and also member of the NYC Feminist Zine Fest, recommends visiting the riot grrrl collection at the Fales Library at NYU for understanding better the movement and what it meant for women. "It's full of zines created by a wide variety of everyday participants in riot grrrl culture," she told The FBomb.

By 1993, around 40,000 zines were being published in North America alone, according to a Canadian newspaper (as mentioned in the book Girls to the Front). Many of them were dedicated to riot grrrl music and politics, like Bust and Bitch, zines that first appeared in 1993 and 1996, respectively, and later became full-scale magazines.

Thanks to the advance of the internet, plenty of people have been declaring zines dead for years. Many people believed the internet would make communication easier and broader, and anyone would be able to reach more people more cheaply and effectively. But the promise of the internet being a democratic space wasn't fulfilled, as radical independent voices have not been, and still aren't, as loud as the big corporations that command the world wide web.

"The internet failed in providing full democratic meaningful spaces for dialogue and community building," Jonathan Valelly, editor of Broken Pencil Magazine, told the FBomb. But, Valelly added, zines are still out there, continuing to challenge the status quo.

To this day, feminist zines are still a considerable presence in the zine universe. "Feminism doesn't always connect to zines, but when it does, the impact is profound," zinester Elvis Bakaitis, another member of the NYC Feminist Zine Fest, told The FBomb. "Telling your own story, on your terms, is often restricted along lines of race/class (saying it the "right" way, with the correct words), or not fully believed. The ability to tell your own stories — goofy, serious, whatever — is power."

Nowadays, zines are more diverse too. There are a variety of popular collaborative zines created by groups of artists such as Plasma Dolphin, Pop Culture Puke, Cry Baby, and Cherry. It's easy to find these and other zines online thanks to initiatives like Barnard Zine Library, but you can also find them in physical format by visiting zine fairs such as the NYC Feminist Zine Fest.

It's also easy to create your own zine, thanks to tutorials like this one and guides like this one written by Akbari. According to Myers, if you're interested in getting into zines, it's better to start before you are ready. "If you're nervous about not knowing how to do it or what people will think, throw all caution to the wind and just do it. That's the zine spirit!" Valelly agrees. "There's no wrong way to do a zine," he said. "Do it, don't overthink it. Put your first issue out and see how it makes you feel."

More zines for you to get inspired:



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Regiane Folter
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