- As a nonprofit news and media organization, Bitch Media's content is a feminist response to pop culture. Around for two decades, they now publish a quarterly magazine, online articles and weekly podcasts. On top of their publication, they host a number of programs for students and educators, including a community lending library in Portland, Oregon.
- public forum in which to air thoughts and theories on women, gender, and feminist issues, interpreted through the lens of the media and popular culture.
- They do a range of focusses: Screen, books, culture, art and design, politics, music and activism.
- The writing is articulate, analytical and interesting to read.
- Published every other month, BUST is a women’s lifestyle magazine and website that "with an attitude that is fierce, funny, and proud to be female." From celebrity interviews to thought pieces on crafting, sex and fashion, BUST is a cheeky and honest take on young women in today's modern world.
- The covers published in todays editions feel slightly less feminist than those that were chosen for editions at the earlier stages of the publication, as they depict women in a very presentable, attractive and appealing way.
- Founded in 1993, the BUST brand is the groundbreaking, original women’s lifestyle magazine and website that is unique in its ability to connect with bright, cutting-edge, influential young women. With an attitude that is fierce, funny, and proud to be female, BUST addresses a refreshing variety of young women’s interests, including celebrity interviews, music, fashion, art, crafting, sex, and news. Hip, humorous, and honest, BUST is a cheeky celebration of all things female and a trusted authority on up-and-
- From its founding, a big part of BUST’s practice has been to look over the history of female culture, and trying to identify and promote things that have value. This has meant lots of coverage of traditionally female activities: jarring, cooking, knitting. This has lately resulted in a bit of hand-wringing and confusion among an even younger generation of feminists, who seem not to understand what BUST is up to. “BUST used to be a feminist magazine, but now it’s more crafty and about making things out of yarn,”
LADYBEARD magazine/zine
- Name derives from the magazine's focus on not just feminism for women but for men too and from the discussions surrounding gender, body and sex and new perspectives.
- This is the most refined and interesting publication out of all of the ones discussed here. It includes really interesting illustrations and art with feminist focusses, including animations and films used to publicise about the incoming reveal of a new edition.
Nearly all of the feminist magazines are for the same audience: 20 years old and older, who are interested in the issues presented and discussed, and can afford the £7 to £15 prices.
Those which are for a younger audience tend to be made by younger people and are cheaply produced and priced (£2-£5). Most of these however are not as successfully designed, and the lack of refining and editorial skills is obvious. An example of this is a zine called GRRRL ASYLUM, which uses illustrations and artwork and simple puts them together with the text into a sort of booklet format with little thought to design.
Following Pat's suggestions that I should not look at audiences for my zine but at what should and should not be done when creating these types of print publications. This GRRRL ASYLUM uses default fonts, does not diversify the layout of text or images, and uses photos which are not well taken and are not well placed well within the page. There is no weight at the bottom of the page and so the designs feel awkward, especially with the use of blocks within the page format for images and text. There is also little design consistency between each page, apart from the fact that it uses rectangle photos on the left and text on the right. There needs to be some form of shape or colour that links these together.
Another affordable feminist zine called Girls Get Busy is a better example of what can be produced cheaply and quickly. While the designs for the pages for this zine do not experiment that much with double page spreads and alternating the layout of the text and images across the two pages (they are kept separate and distinctive in their own space), the variety of art (collages, illustrations, photography) is more interesting and more refined. There is also more design consistency between each page with the use of solid gradient colour on the pages designated for text, and the variety of colours used tend to lean towards pinks, purples and blues. There is also a level of an interactive element within the art, such as 'customise this woman with clothes'.
The use of poetry within these feminist zines also seems to be a central focus for the text, as there is little on news surrounding feminist events or stories, nor critical debates around the topic or problems. As Reductress is more of a satirical humorous blog with comedic articles the text within my magazine/insert the articles taken from the website would not be very serious but would be another way of critiquing the problems today for women rather than abstract discussions through poetry.
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