The Red Issue of Bitch is about to hit mailboxes (that means you, 1500 new subscribers!) and now you can get a sneak peek of what's in store on our articles page!
There's "Pink Scare" (by Avital Norman Nathman, illustrated by JooHee Yoon), a feature on the media's growing interest in and —unfortunately—fear of "princess boys."
"Mothers of Intention" (featuring Renee Martin, Veronica Arreola, Arwyn Daemyir, Shay Stewart-Bouley, Deesha Philyaw, illustrated by Jasmine Silver) is a roundtable discussion with five bloggers who are pushing back against what makes a "mommy blogger," and was in fact inspired by commentary on how the article "Mother Huckster" (Primal, #50) did not adequately include the experiences of mom bloggers of color.
And finally, our book feature "Sealing the Deal" (by Jessica Jernigan, illustrated by Beth Austin), details the emerging genre of selkie (read: seal-people!) romance novels. After reading this article, I'm going to be very disappointed if selkies aren't the new vampires.
In our monthly newsletter (sign up on in the sidebar on the right!) we poll Bitch staffers and readers on their top five picks in a given category, posting the results here on the blog. Help us out and give us five, or suggest your own answers in the comments after the jump!
Australian badass and WWII heroine Nancy Wake passed away on Sunday. The Pursuit of Harpyness shares her amazing life story. Seriously, how cool was this lady?
Talk About Equality discusses the firestorm around a new petition to marry Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street. Still no word on how the two themselves feel about it.
We've been talking about why subscribing to Bitch is important for the past two weeks now, and many of you have responded by buying subscriptions for yourself and others, or joining our B-Hive of sustainers. Thank you! For those of you who haven't gotten around to it yet, today is the last day of our subscription campaign and we're asking for your support one last time.
So many wonderful blog posts from all over the Internet this week. Enjoy:
Facebook has gotten us all down at one time or another, am I right? Dr. Hugo Schwyzer at Healthy is the New Skinny explores how social media websites impact young womens' body images. Be sure to comment and share your own experiences.
Are women really free to dress as they choose? Decoding Dress explores Hemlines and Privilege. What do you think?
If you already know the story about how little Bitch Media receives for every issue of Bitch sold on the newsstand, then you should already be a subscriber or B-Hive member (and receive a complimentary subscription). If you need a refresher, you can read all about our newsstand profits here and about the unfortunate economics of the industry here, but I’ll tell you the bottom-line: for each issue sold at a store, Bitch Media nets about 7 cents.
I won’t go into the details of the newsstand industry again (read the past posts linked above for more info), but I will remind you that the best way to get Bitch is to subscribe, ensuring not only that we can continue to print the magazine, but also that Bitch Media receives a much greater portion of the money that you spend to buy it. And, I’ll give you yet another compelling reason to subscribe to Bitch or join the B-Hive: mission.
I’ve always been a magazine and zine hoarder, and have a personal archive of, well, way too many. The first-ever issue of Spin (1985, with Madonna on the cover); the British music papers, like Melody Maker, that chronicled the rise of Riot Grrrl well before the United States took notice. Details magazine, when it was a missive from New York's arty, gay downtown scene rather than a regularly offensive chronicle of male "bad-boy" celebrities. Shelter magazines ranging from one-offs (Living Room) to cult favorites (I miss you and your die-cut covers, Nest!) to unprofitable corporate experiments (Budget Living). Smartypants magazines like Spy, without which there would be no Gawker or Vulture, and Might, without which there may have been no McSweeney’s or The Believer. And, of course, feminist zines and magazines galore. I’ve returned to all of these print publications over the years, for inspiration, for information, and sometimes simply because re-reading an old magazine over a bowl of cereal is, for me, one of life’s ineffable pleasures.
Simply put, I love magazines because of their permanence, and I’m not alone in that.
Lots of people who come into our library ask to see the very first issue of Bitch magazine. For those who have had committed fifteen-year relationships with our print magazine, paging through that very first black and white zine is a walk through memory lane. Others, who have become quick friends with the magazine in recent years, are excited to hold that premier issue in their hands and consider how far the magazine has come. Some library visitors tell me about their first time picking up the magazine, others share stories about how the magazine held them over during difficult times spent in sexist environments. Dozens of people come into our library each week excited to talk about the magazine.
The blog, podcasts, and lending library aren't going anywhere, but if we're going to continue to print the magazine that the people who come into our library each week know and love, we need your support now.
We've been 
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