Death of Print: Zines

I really wanted to write a zine when I was younger. I'm pretty sure that's why I have a blog now: I never got my zine. Oh sure, I made a few distributed only between my cousin and me. But lacking an entrepreneurial spirit (and friends who worked at Kinkos), I never pursued it any further.

Fast forward a decade and I'm a blogger. So is everyone else. And her mom. And possibly her cat. Before you could say "Jordan Catalano" zines were gone. Uh huh, they're still some out there, but given the ease of starting a blog -- or even a Twitter manifesto (provided your manifesto is fewer than 140 characters) -- cutting and pasting a zine seems like a huge timesuck. As much as I love the idea of push-button publishing, I still pine for paper zines. Plus zines were a huge boon for third-wave feminists. A new book, Girl Zines, focuses on "the careful study of the zine movement in girl culture is a powerful and convincing articulation of the ways women's and girl's activism has developed, and the creative forms it has taken."

Says Jezebel:

Zines are perhaps one of the most democratic forums for disseminating ideas and concepts. In contrast to glossy fashion mags, zines provide a rough-edged place in which to cut and paste, tear and build. The almost Dada-ist aesthetic of haphazard construction plays with and speaks to "feminine" arts and crafts while also partaking in the angry sneers of the punk/grunge/riot movements. While the material inside is fascinating, Clark rightly focuses on the unique form.

Related Links links:
"Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism" is a history of an art form (AfterEllen)
Riot grrrl library (Broadsheet)