Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Radical Feminist Magazines

Kaka has a great post up about trying to determine if a magazine is really feminist.

I was so excited to see this being discussed, because I realized I could pick people's brains. I didn't want to hog her comment space, so I'm doing it over here.

Please, help me find something to read!

When I was a young fightin' feminist, I read Ms. Now that I've come back to feminism, I'm not sure what's what. What do people think of Ms.? Is it worthy? I just subscribed to Bitch, and some of it is truly excellent. Some of it made me snarl and start to foam at the mouth.



So, please, lend a hand to a prodigal feminist. I'd like to find a radical feminist magazine, but will settle for a reliably feminist magazine.

I just commented that I don't have enough time to read all the feminist blogs I want to read. :) Ah, well. I'd appreciate any feedback about magazines you love or like. And ideas about wolves in sheeps clothing would be handy, too.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've worked in the periodicals room of a major academic/research library for years, and it is my humble opinion that "Bitch" is the best feminist rag out there. You may also want to check out "Off Our Backs."

Amy said...

Ms. bugs me. There is some good stuff there, but they also slip in a bunch of reformist assumptions all the time, so it's always work not to slip into their mindset. I'd buy it on the newsstand first and see what you think before subscribing.

OOB is a similarly mixed bag; lots of good news, particularly international news, that you won't find in the mainstream. Lots of grassroots personal commentary that sometimes can be radical, more often not, sometimes boring or pointless.

I didn't like Bitch; it's too heavily influenced by the queer/trans movement and "sex-positive" feminism for me. Haven't read Bust.

For reliable radical feminism, Rain and Thunder wins every time in my book. I only wish it came out oftener. Their website seems to be down but you can write them at rainandthunder@yahoo.com.

spotted elephant said...

Thanks, anon.

Amy-That's exactly what I was wondering. I don't want to read a "feminist" magazine with my guard up, you know? Sometimes I just like to relax and take in new ideas, and not have to respond/filter the way I do for the rest of the world.

The first (and only)issue I've read of Bitch had some minor things that were bugging me, and then I turned the page to see a story on "the new burlesque". Sigh.

Thanks very much for referring me to Rain and Thunder.

hexy said...

I don't think we have any down here. :( Even the regular dyke mag I read is pretty far from radical.

spotted elephant said...

Witchy-woo-I hope you're able to find it again. Figures that a great magazine would go out of business (maybe).

Hexyhex-That sucks. Why does everything have to be so middle-of-the-road don't ever take a chance? I have to believe there's enough of us who would buy the radical stuff. But, it must be hard to find an audience. If Amy hadn't directed me to Rain and Thunder, I wouldn't have known about it.

Anonymous said...

The first issue of Subtext magazine should be coming out soon... there are some great radical fem articles in it. :)

(Not at all promoting myself here, you understand lol)

http://www.subtextmagazine.co.uk/

la somnambule said...

Yes the UK is definitely lacking in the magazine department (looking forward to Subtext!) I read Bust as my sister has a subscription but I'm not sure I would describe it as feminist - perhaps just less offensive than British women's magazines.

spotted elephant said...

Laurelin-Thanks for the link. I hadn't heard of it. Sometimes I think I live in a cave.

la somnambule-Bust as "less offensive" than British women's magazines. Ha! Sometimes we really have to settle. Hopefully, Subtext will take care of that for you.

Kim said...

I like Bitch. I've sent them a few letters about some sex-pos stuff, as Amy says, but I do like it.

Anonymous said...

witchy-woo -

Sadly, T&S stopped publication about 6 years ago. They are trying to get themselves organised to post the archive on the web, but it's a slow process:

for progress to date