Tempest In A Tea Cup #3
(Louise, UK – xoverdramatickissxAThotmail.com)
I’m delighted that Louise has finally written another issue of her mental health perzine, as I loved the first issue to bits!  This issue is quarter-sized, printed on coloured paper, and features lots of vintage adverts as backgrounds, so the look is closer to issue #2 than issue #1.  It’s packed full of short pithy pieces, including masturbation, sex-positive feminism, feeling insecure about her talents, dealing with difficult customers in her job, tattoos, annoying pet names such as “darling”, and feeling sad.  Tucked at the back of the zine are a few short zine reviews.  Her writing style varies greatly in this zine – the piece on female masturbation has quite a dry journalistic tone, whereas “Borrowed money, a sausage roll and a pair of ripped jeans later…” is very prosaic and descriptive.  One piece that stood out for me in particular was “Why I’m a Bad Feminist”, where Louise talks about how she feels unable to call herself a feminist due to some of her lifestyle choices (such as the fact that she can “be quick to criticize other girls” and looks forward to getting married).  I identify with what she’s saying – I know I can be judgemental too, and sometimes I feel somewhat alienated from certain feminist circles for being in a male-female relationship.  I would’ve liked more personal analysis here, for Louise to explain why looking forward to getting married makes her feel like a bad feminist (maybe she’s encountered some judgemental holier-than-thou feminists who have chastised her?).  Nevertheless, I think Louise definitely can identify as a feminist!  While it’s a little jangly in places, Tempest in a Tea Cup is always very honest, interesting, and entertaining.

Not Lonely #2
(Hannah, UK – not_lonely_zineATyahoo.co.uk)

In the second issue of her mental health perzine, Hannah writes about a number of interesting topics, including not getting married and the feminist reasons behind that decision, and not going out dancing on a Friday night (something I’m writing about in Here. In My Head #6, and have written about in past issues).  There’s also a very useful piece on how to cope with mental health issues without medication, and some discussion of her university life and coursework deadlines, etc.  The article about not getting married was the most interesting for me to read, as a feminist currently engaged to a man – I think Hannah is right about a lot of things, including the oppressive patriarchal implications of marriage, and the heteronormativity behind it all.  The topics Hannah discusses are interesting, and she manages to write just enough to get you hooked without rambling or waffling (something I definitely struggle with sometimes).  A simple, clean layout, with typewritten and handwritten pages.  Very nice indeed.

Cooking Hearts Up At The Stove #1
(Cherry T, UK – chchcherrydarlingATgmail.com)

I’m a big fan of Cherry’s blog and her kick-ass drawings, so was very excited to read her first ever zine!  It’s a feminist perzine, covering subjects such as body hair, feminist stereotypes and myths about feminism, making friends, sexual harassment and violence, and procrastination.  Her drawings are my favourite thing about this zine, with at least one drawing to accompany each piece.  It was also very interesting to read her view of feminism, coming from an Indian background – she makes great points about how mainstream feminism tends to be “a white, middle-class concept” concerned with issues that aren’t applicable to women who don’t live in the West, such as the abortion debate and women juggling career and family.  She also discusses how torn she feels when it comes to body hair, as a dark-haired woman – one the one hand, the mainstream media insists that body hair is disgusting on women; on the other hand, the (mostly light-haired) radical community say that those who shave are selling out, which is easy enough to say if your body hair isn’t too noticeable.  This was a really interesting discussion that I hadn’t really thought about before, so that was great to read.  This was a really great first zine, and I look forward to subsequent issues!

 

Music News: The recording studio is booked for a week commencing the 13th September.  We’ve designed the album cover, but still need an album title.  Maybe it should just be self-titled, that might be easier.  I’m so excited about hearing the finished product, I hope you guys are too! 🙂


2 Replies to “Zine Reviews, Aug 2010”

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.