A short introduction to the feminist magazine “Bitch”: The mission, the history and the name.
By Charlotte Frost Andersen.
There is no doubt that the print magazine “Bitch” is different and has a different mission than most women’s magazines. One only has to take a look at the cover of the magazine to notice some of the differences. On the cover you do not find any famous movie star with her hair blowing just right.
No skinny model with teeth so white that paper would feel embarrassed and grubby, had paper feelings. No words about fashion, make up, or meat-diets. As a matter of fact, on the latest issue there is not one woman on the cover. There are about 950. Drawings of women, that is.
And if you should be so bold as to actually open the magazine, you would not find any articles about: the kind of jeans that fit a “pear-ass” the best, or what kind of yoga mattress Gwyneth likes best…
In “Bitch” you can read articles like: “The evolution of bisexual politics” or “Who the hell uses gender-neutral pronouns,” or “Should we be suspicious of Hollywood’s latest baby boom”.
The mission:
“Bitch” is a self-declared feminist response to pop culture. A print magazine that is devoted to comment on the media’s reflection, visualization and exposition of women. Or as the founders Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler put it:
- “Bitch” is about formulating replies to the sexist and narrow-minded media diet that we all - intentionally or not - consume. It's about critically examining the images of femininity, feminism, class, race, and sexuality that are thrown at us by the media. And by media, we mean TV, movies, books, magazines, the music world, advertising, fashion, the web-and we also mean the messages that are sent through the news media, in schools, and on the streets.” (http://www.bitchmagazine.org/about.shtml)
A magazine and a mission that, last year, celebrated their 10 year anniversaries.
The history:
The first issue of “Bitch” was published in January 1996. “Bitch” was founded by Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler. Jervis and Zeisler had both been interns at New York magazines. Lisa Jervis was working as a freelance editor in San Francisco, but she felt she was more interested in writing critiques of pop culture and the media from a feminist perspective. When she could not find any magazine that would publish that kind of writing, she began “Bitch.” The first magazine was written and edited by Andi Zeisler, and the first 300 copies sold out in bookstores over the States. In the first issue, Lisa Jervis wrote:
"This magazine is about speaking up. Because when we hear, over and over again, without responding, what the mass media has to say-that women are stupid, shallow, incapable-we will believe it. Too much of the time we're told to shut up, to calm down, to take a joke. Well, we won't.”
“Bitch” was made a nonprofit magazine from the start. The magazine first had roots in the Bay Area, Oakland, but, in February 2007, it moved to Portland.
Being a non-profit magazine does not mean that the magazine does not advertise. However, you will probably not see adds for Lancôme in the magazine. The magazine’s goal is to work with smaller, independent advertisers “whose products and services are aligned with our mission.” Therefore you can find ads like “Lunapads.com” (Lunapads sells among other things “reusable silicone menstrual cups” and “padded underwear.”) along with ads for upcoming events, new CD´s etc. One of the ways the magazine also gets money is by contributions. The price of one magazine is around 5 dollars, but, if you subscribe, 4 issues of the magazines cost 15 dollars.
With the recent ten year of anniversary came the publication of “Bitchfest.” “Bitchfest” is edited by the “Bitch” founders, Feldman, Jervis and Zeisler, and is a collection of “essays, rants and raves” from Bitch´s ten years of existence, along with new pieces written for the anthology.
The name:
So what is up with the name? That is a question you might want to ask. I know that was what I asked myself when I first got here from Denmark.
I had, of course, heard of bitch. That is, the b-word, not the magazine. I had even been called by the b-word once or twice, which was not a positive experience. So what is up with a magazine, a feminist magazine that is, calling itself by the name most women hate and find offensive?
The answer I found on the magazine’s own website. And as it turned out, I was not the first to ask.
- “For as long as we've been publishing Bitch, there's one question that gets asked over and over. And over. "Why did you choose that word as the name of your magazine?"
- “When it's being used as an insult, "bitch" is an epithet hurled at women who speak their minds, who have opinions and don't shy away from expressing them, and who don't sit by and smile uncomfortably if they're bothered or offended. If being an outspoken woman means being a bitch, we'll take that as a compliment, thanks.”(http://www.bitchmagazine.org/about.shtml)
So even though many people is put down by the word, the founders behind the magazine stands firm on the word, seeing it as a compliment for the outspoken women.
Bitch as a contrast
Standing on the kitchen floor dressed in an apron and a pair of deep red socks, watching an old repeat of Baywatch where the blond-babe-big-boobie-Pamela takes a slow-motion run in the sand, from the little kitchen television, it is difficult not to agree with the founders behind Bitch.
In the huge world of magazines, that live and breathe forever munching on culture, on fashion, on selling fashion brands, on celebrities, on the bold and the beauties, there is indeed the need for a contrast. There is a need, must be a need, for a women’s magazine that asks questions about the way women are presented in the media, and a magazine that does not show women as shopping-obsessed freaks whose number one concern here in life is their appearance, or how to make a none-at-all-extra-zero-zip-fat-free-chicken. A magazine that asks questions—questions that cannot be answered with a makeover.
“Bitch is about formulating replies to the sexist and narrow-minded media diet that we all - intentionally or not – consume. It's about asking ourselves and each other questions: Where are the female-friendly places in the mass media? Where are the things we can see and read and listen to that don't insult our intelligence?”
All that is left to ask: when will the Scandinavian or the European women get a chance to be asked these questions, and have something similar?
By Charlotte Frost Andersen.
There is no doubt that the print magazine “Bitch” is different and has a different mission than most women’s magazines. One only has to take a look at the cover of the magazine to notice some of the differences. On the cover you do not find any famous movie star with her hair blowing just right.
No skinny model with teeth so white that paper would feel embarrassed and grubby, had paper feelings. No words about fashion, make up, or meat-diets. As a matter of fact, on the latest issue there is not one woman on the cover. There are about 950. Drawings of women, that is.
And if you should be so bold as to actually open the magazine, you would not find any articles about: the kind of jeans that fit a “pear-ass” the best, or what kind of yoga mattress Gwyneth likes best…
In “Bitch” you can read articles like: “The evolution of bisexual politics” or “Who the hell uses gender-neutral pronouns,” or “Should we be suspicious of Hollywood’s latest baby boom”.
The mission:
“Bitch” is a self-declared feminist response to pop culture. A print magazine that is devoted to comment on the media’s reflection, visualization and exposition of women. Or as the founders Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler put it:
- “Bitch” is about formulating replies to the sexist and narrow-minded media diet that we all - intentionally or not - consume. It's about critically examining the images of femininity, feminism, class, race, and sexuality that are thrown at us by the media. And by media, we mean TV, movies, books, magazines, the music world, advertising, fashion, the web-and we also mean the messages that are sent through the news media, in schools, and on the streets.” (http://www.bitchmagazine.org/about.shtml)
A magazine and a mission that, last year, celebrated their 10 year anniversaries.
The history:
The first issue of “Bitch” was published in January 1996. “Bitch” was founded by Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler. Jervis and Zeisler had both been interns at New York magazines. Lisa Jervis was working as a freelance editor in San Francisco, but she felt she was more interested in writing critiques of pop culture and the media from a feminist perspective. When she could not find any magazine that would publish that kind of writing, she began “Bitch.” The first magazine was written and edited by Andi Zeisler, and the first 300 copies sold out in bookstores over the States. In the first issue, Lisa Jervis wrote:
"This magazine is about speaking up. Because when we hear, over and over again, without responding, what the mass media has to say-that women are stupid, shallow, incapable-we will believe it. Too much of the time we're told to shut up, to calm down, to take a joke. Well, we won't.”
“Bitch” was made a nonprofit magazine from the start. The magazine first had roots in the Bay Area, Oakland, but, in February 2007, it moved to Portland.
Being a non-profit magazine does not mean that the magazine does not advertise. However, you will probably not see adds for Lancôme in the magazine. The magazine’s goal is to work with smaller, independent advertisers “whose products and services are aligned with our mission.” Therefore you can find ads like “Lunapads.com” (Lunapads sells among other things “reusable silicone menstrual cups” and “padded underwear.”) along with ads for upcoming events, new CD´s etc. One of the ways the magazine also gets money is by contributions. The price of one magazine is around 5 dollars, but, if you subscribe, 4 issues of the magazines cost 15 dollars.
With the recent ten year of anniversary came the publication of “Bitchfest.” “Bitchfest” is edited by the “Bitch” founders, Feldman, Jervis and Zeisler, and is a collection of “essays, rants and raves” from Bitch´s ten years of existence, along with new pieces written for the anthology.
The name:
So what is up with the name? That is a question you might want to ask. I know that was what I asked myself when I first got here from Denmark.
I had, of course, heard of bitch. That is, the b-word, not the magazine. I had even been called by the b-word once or twice, which was not a positive experience. So what is up with a magazine, a feminist magazine that is, calling itself by the name most women hate and find offensive?
The answer I found on the magazine’s own website. And as it turned out, I was not the first to ask.
- “For as long as we've been publishing Bitch, there's one question that gets asked over and over. And over. "Why did you choose that word as the name of your magazine?"
- “When it's being used as an insult, "bitch" is an epithet hurled at women who speak their minds, who have opinions and don't shy away from expressing them, and who don't sit by and smile uncomfortably if they're bothered or offended. If being an outspoken woman means being a bitch, we'll take that as a compliment, thanks.”(http://www.bitchmagazine.org/about.shtml)
So even though many people is put down by the word, the founders behind the magazine stands firm on the word, seeing it as a compliment for the outspoken women.
Bitch as a contrast
Standing on the kitchen floor dressed in an apron and a pair of deep red socks, watching an old repeat of Baywatch where the blond-babe-big-boobie-Pamela takes a slow-motion run in the sand, from the little kitchen television, it is difficult not to agree with the founders behind Bitch.
In the huge world of magazines, that live and breathe forever munching on culture, on fashion, on selling fashion brands, on celebrities, on the bold and the beauties, there is indeed the need for a contrast. There is a need, must be a need, for a women’s magazine that asks questions about the way women are presented in the media, and a magazine that does not show women as shopping-obsessed freaks whose number one concern here in life is their appearance, or how to make a none-at-all-extra-zero-zip-fat-free-chicken. A magazine that asks questions—questions that cannot be answered with a makeover.
“Bitch is about formulating replies to the sexist and narrow-minded media diet that we all - intentionally or not – consume. It's about asking ourselves and each other questions: Where are the female-friendly places in the mass media? Where are the things we can see and read and listen to that don't insult our intelligence?”
All that is left to ask: when will the Scandinavian or the European women get a chance to be asked these questions, and have something similar?
Research:
- This blog is based on the following articles and websites:
Bitch homepage: www.bitchmagazine.org/about.shtml
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitch_(magazine)
Articles form: The independent, The Portland Mercury.
-“You're welcome to bitch” by Steve Rhodes (from the March/April 1997 Mediafile)
Boston.com News: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2006/09/03/andi_zeisler_and
_lisa_jervis/?page=2
At http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R608160900 you can hear a radio interview with the founders.
- It was not possible to get an interview whit the founders before deadline of this blog. If an interview does become possible, this blog will be updated.
Short market data on bitch:
Current print run: 47,000.
Each copy of Bitch is read by an average of 3.5 people, bringing readership to more than 150,000.
72% of the subscribers have purchased products or used services advertised/reviewed in Bitch, and another 57% have recommended products and services to friends
The median age of Bitch readers is 24.
(Data collected at the bitch homepage)
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